Road 2 Recovery Day Three
Sent: Monday, April 6,
2009 3:17:44 PM
Subject: Fw: Day 3
Please Pass this to your Districts Units
Thanks
Trisha Newsom
1st Division President
Sent: Thursday,
April 02, 2009 9:47 AM
Subject: Day 3
See below. Please pass this information on to the American Legion Family.
Thank you!
Diana King
Department of
VA&R Chairman
P.S. I won't be available to forward information to you about the
next two
legs of the ride, as I will be an active participant. By active
participant, I don't mean riding a bike! I'll be one of many cheering the
riders on when they arrive in
you there!
:-)
Subject
Day 3 Austin to Ft. Hood...Night of
Stars
It was the start of another great day in Texas as the R2R group was
strengthened by the arrival of several new riders including Preston from
the League of American Bicyclist, Ryan from Team Astana, and 12 members of
the Army Cycling Club.
As we left
they lined the road to greet the wounded warriors. They really got into it
as we did a second pass through the kids giving high fives and waving
signs.
Last night, several of the riders paid a visit to a local bike shop to get
some gear. Among the most common purchase was new shoes.
For those of you
who do not ride much, cycling specific shoes make a
big difference in both
power and efficiency. Comfort also improves greatly with harder soled
shoes. If you try to ride a 6 day ride with tennis shoes, your feet are
going to hurt. One of our CFI riders was not sure he was even going to
ride, did not know if he even liked to ride, and just came along at the
last minute. Ryan Clark is an amazing person. He is an engineer and has a
Master's degree. When he is discharged, he will have lot's
of job offers
and as engineers are, very analytical about making decisions.
After a lot of lobbying, he decided to invest a modest sum into a pair of
cycling shoes. After a brief tutorial on how to use his pedals and cleats,
he was ready to ride. After about an hour, he was the happiest man in the
group. 100% better he gleamed as he headed off the front of the group.
The riders were outfitted with deFeet arm warmers as
part of the gear they
received at the beginning of the event. It should come as no surprise that
arm warmers are being used for very creative use's by
the wounded warriors.
check out this photo as arm warmers are used as sun
protector's.....
One of the new rider's today was General Gary Cheek. He is the director of
all of the WTU's for the Army. The WTU's (Warrior Transition Unit) are
where all of the wounded warriors goes as they rehab.
Most of the wounded
warriors that participate in Road 2 Recovery come from WTU's.
As the
Commander, he is very interested in programs that help rehab the soldiers,
whether it is physical or mental rehab that is needed. He had heard some
things about R2R and wanted to see first hand about how the program worked.
Gen. Cheek
Gen. Cheek got the full blown Wayne Stetina
treatment, kitted up and spent
the day talking to the wounded warrior participants to get their
perspective on how the program helps or not their recovery.
The ride was fast today with the big tailwind and we got to the finish more
than 1 hour early, which gave everyone a chance to get some extra rest
before heading off to
Rick Lynch. Gen. Lynch was one of the commanders of the recent surge in
General's Cheek, Wenz, and Lynch
More than 400 people paid tribute to the wounded warriors of Road 2
Recovery. It was one of the best evening's in the
history of R2R....
now onto
Regards,
Executive Director
Road
Making a Difference in the Lives of Wounded Warriors
www.TheRoad2Recovery.org