I was asked to by the teammates of a soldier KIA to ride in his honor from George to Florida. Bought a bike on Craigslist and trained for about 3 months. I red lined for 400 miles over 3 days I thought I was going to die, it took me a month before my right hand had the strength to turn the key on my car and I had zero a$$ left 😆
But when we finished seeing his family at the finish waiting, something very special.
My charity added a bike program for wounded soldiers to rehab with road bikes back in shape and often back to service . Participants have had multiple gun shot wounds; been hit by IEDS, mortars, one was hit by a grenade. Many are missing limbs but they have gone on to win medals at the Warrior Games and one is trying to make the US Paralympic cycling team. We have put hundreds of soldiers in bicycles and this year was our 14th honor ride.
I got the bug on that ride and have been riding ever since. I’ve almost got 5,000 miles for the year and the ride to Florida not quite as hard but still very special none the less 🇺🇸