Written By: Farah Vitale

Veterans from the Ride 2 Recovery’s Project HERO Veterans Cycling Program are now helping other vets transition into the community. The program is called Veterans Helping Veterans for Bikes. So a vet from the HERO program is paired with a new vet and together they repair a bike. At the end of the program the learning vet gets to keep the bike and the helmet and lock. This gives them a confidence boost and lets them learn to love bicycling.

Participants ride 49 miles from Manassas to Fredericksburg, Va., during the 2013 Ride 2 Recovery Memorial Challenge. As a 501(c)(3) organization, R2R helps injured active duty service members and veterans improve their health and wellness through individual and group cycling.
Photo by Tiffini Skuce, Ride2Recovery

Cycling is an important part of healing and rehab for vets.

It helps boost self esteem, promote healing and wellness and gives them a new start on life. Vets struggle with motivation while looking for jobs and restarting their life, so cycling becomes a motivator in life. Ride 2 Recovery has four programs, Project HERO, Honor Rides, Special Events, and Challenges. They have many multi and single day cycling challenges they hold to raise funds for vets participating and raise awareness of the PTSD mental health crisis. They’ve made a difference in the lives of over 10,000 of vets, along with their families, since 2008

Project HERO is a rehab exercise also provides training for vets. The program supports cycling programs at military hospitals, Army Warrior Transition Units, Marine Wounded Warrior Units to help vets. The mission is to helps them jump start their life again and overcome different obstacles they face. The project started in 2010 at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center. Group riding proves effective. Project Hero vets show a huge drop of prescribed drug use by as much as 65 percent. They also have greater injury recovery rates, improved sleep habits and overall improvement in daily tasks.

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