San Marcos — San Marcos American Legion Post 144 will host a dinner for the men and women participating in the “Ride 2 Recovery” bicycle ride's second annual Texas Challenge Tuesday, April 6, at 6 p.m. at the San Marcos Conference Center at Embassy Suites.
More than 100 bicyclists will depart from the Center for the Intrepid at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio the morning of April 6 to start a seven-day trek that will carry them to Arlington on Sunday, April 11.
Their journey to San Marcos from San Antonio will be on back roads that will take them by Seguin, with the final leg on McCarty Lane to Embassy Suites where they will spend the night.
For the second year in a row, San Marcos will be the first of six towns where the cyclists will spend the evening.
The cyclists are “wounded warriors” – U.S. veterans who have received war injuries – who have turned to cycling to boost their physical and mental rehabilitation.
The Ride2Recovery is produced by the Fitness Challenge Foundation, a 501C3 nonprofit, in partnership with national sponsor UnitedHealthcare, the military and VA Volunteer Services office.
The organization assists wounded warriors with mental and physical rehabilitation through bicycling.
The founder of the Fitness Challenge Foundation is John Wordin, a professional cyclist and U.S. Marine Corps veteran who was a standout high school and college athlete.
Wordin participated in three U.S. Olympic trials and won a bronze medal in the U.S. National Championships in 1989.
According to Wordin, the idea for the program originated a few years ago when he was invited to do a ride with veterans from the Palo Alto, Calif., Veterans Affairs facility who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. The facility had started a cycling program as a regular part of the patients' mental rehabilitation.
“Participating in cycling helps speed up their recovery and rehabilitation process,” Wordin said. R2R supports Spinning® Recovery Labs and outdoor cycling programs at military and VA locations around the U.S. to help injured veterans overcome obstacles they face.
“There have been a lot of studies done on physical activity, and there are two things it does. One is it decreases depression. The second thing is that doing a physical activity helps develop your muscles,” he says.
More information about the program is available on the organization's Web site at http://ride2recovery. com.
The Ride 2 Recovery is produced by the Fitness Challenge Foundation, (501C3).
Local American Legion and Auxiliary dinner hosts are finalizing plans for their April 6 San Marcos welcome. The San Marcos VFW Post and American Legion Auxiliary Units 41 from Lockhart, 245 from Seguin and 177 from Luling have volunteered to assist.
For more information or to see how you can assist, call American Legion Auxiliary President Pat Murdock at 353-1943.
