More stories about 2007 Face of America bike ride
If you are looking for a cycling event that will lift your spirits as well as your heart rate, check out the “2007 Face of America” ride April 28-29 that honors U.S soldiers severely wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The two-day, 110-mile ride from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, is being sponsored by World T.E.A.M. Sports — T.E.A.M. stands for The Exceptional Athlete Matters — whose mission is to use “the powerful platform of sports to bring together the disabled and able-bodied communities.”
As an able-bodied rider, you will be cycling through the rolling Pennsylvania countryside with disabled athletes, many of whom are soldiers who lost limbs in Iraq or Afghanistan and who will be riding hand-crank bikes and two-wheeled bikes with the aid of prostheses.
“This ride offers the unique opportunity for anybody to ride side by side with these heroes and personally encourage them and let them know that they can still be active athletes,” according to World T.E.A.M. Sports, a nonprofit organization that has sponsored similar athletic events worldwide.
The organization has formed teams of disabled and able-bodied athletes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and to ride the length of Vietnam with a team of veterans from both sides of the Vietnam war.
In 2002 World T.E.A.M. sponsored a ride from Ground Zero to the Pentagon in honor of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. About 1,500 cyclists, many injured during the 9/11 attacks, participated in the three-day ride along with friends and family members who had lost loved ones on 9/11. Others from around the world who had been injured as a result of terrorist acts, also took part in the ride.
I was fortunate to be a part of the Ground Zero to Pentagon ride, and it was like no other cycling event I had ever participated in. It was humbling and uplifting all at the same time, and I met some remarkable people I will never forget. If this year’s Face of America ride is anything like the Ground Zero ride, it will be an amazing experience.
If you are an active-duty member of the military, able-bodied or disabled, there is no charge to participate in the Face of America ride. For everyone else, there is a $500 minimum fundraising goal. All monies raised will be used to pay for the active-duty participants, including accommodations, food and use of bikes, according to World T.E.A.M. Sports.
If you can’t participate in the ride physically, you can still experience it virtually. If I get my technology act together, I will be filing live posts along the way to bikingbis.com, which will include text and images. And when I return from the ride, I will post images on my website, www.bpfphotography.net.
For more information about the ride, including the route and travel logistics, visit World T.E.A.M.’s website at www.worldteamsports.org.
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