Veteran rehabilitation program cycles through town
On March 24 more than 200 wounded veterans and active-duty service members will stop in Georgetown during the sixth annual UnitedHealthcare Ride 2 Recovery Texas Challenge.
Ride 2 Recovery, or R2R, is a cycling event in which veterans and active-duty service members ride hundreds of miles as part of a rehabilitation program. Civilians may also participate in portions of the ride.
Our goal is to aid injured veterans through the physical and mental healing [of] cycling, R2R spokeswoman Debora Spano said. This gives them that opportunity to get that runners high again.
Veterans may be referred to participate in the challenge by medical personnel working with R2R programs at military bases and Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals or can sign up online, Spano said.
They will recommend the program to their vets for rehabilitation, she said.
R2R will host six challenges throughout the nation this year, all with the same goal of helping wounded veterans heal, Spano said.
Most of the riders will tell you they found a place thats very safe and comfortable for them [in the ride], Spano said. Other riders have been through similar experiences. They dont have to pretend to be anything. They have support there. Its a place for them to be themselves.
Non-injured vets and general public who wish to ride must each raise at least $3,000 to participate.
Its not an inexpensive proposition, but its a very worthwhile proposition, Spano said.
The money pays for riders lodging and food costs, as well as assisting R2Rs mission to provide adapted bicycles for injured veterans, which are constructed to allow riders with disabilities the ability to ride and stay active, she said.
The Texas challenge course begins in Houston, with overnight stops in six communities. In Georgetown, La Quinta Inn and Suites, Holiday Inn Express and Candlewood Suites will provide lodging.
It is a honor and privilege to work with the men and women who served our country, said Dave Belt, Candlewood Suites director of sales.
Georgetown resident Jonathan Dade, a Navy veteran, will ride in the event for the third time this year. He participated in one day of the ride in 2011 and in the entire event in 2012 in Washington, D.C.
When I first came out of the military, I struggled with the transition, he said. I didnt know where I fit in life.
Finding and participating in R2R helped Dade bridge a gap between military and civilian lifestyles, he said. He has been cycling ever since.
Other riders are still serving in the military, such as Army Staff Sgt. Kennetta Gunns, who was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and is stationed at Fort Hood with the Warrior Transition Battalion.
Since returning, she has been diagnosed with snapping hip syndrome, making it difficult to participate in higher-impact sports, and retinitis pigmentosa, which is slowly causing her to lose her sight.
[R2R] helped me get some perspective on the feelings [about the illnesses] I have, Gunns said. Ride 2 Recovery is all about showing me what I can do.
Ride 2 Recovery, 818-888-7091, ext. 2. www.ride2recovery.com
