"Ride 2 Recovery will do anything necessary to get a Wounded Warrior that wants to ride on a bicycle. The rider in the front lost his left leg below the knee in Vietnam and the rider on the back was blinded in Iraq. Together they make a team," said D...
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md.--An Army engineer is cycling in his second long-distance bike ride of the year to honor the nation's wounded warriors, after raising more than $10,000 for a ride earlier this year.
David A McClung, an engineer for the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's communications-electronics center, is currently participating in the Ride 2 Recovery Minuteman Challenge.
McClung and the other 200 riders, both wounded veterans and their supporters, will cycle for six days through colonial Boston to Connecticut, across the Long Island Sound and north to West Point, N.Y. to complete the 330 mile Minuteman Challenge. The ride started Sept. 10 and will end Sept. 16 with a memorial ride at West Point. As they pass through New York City, riders will stop at Ground Zero and the National September 11 Memorial for a wreath-laying ceremony, according to the Ride 2 Recovery website.
"We were able to ride through the submarine base at New London late this afternoon," wrote McClung Sept. 12 in an update to family and friends about the ride through New London, Conn. "A few hundred sailors and civilians were out to cheer us on. It always makes the miles easier."
McClung, at 60-years-old, participated in the Ride 2 Recovery Don't Mess with Texas Challenge in April of this year, cycling 350 miles across Texas and raising more than $10,000 for wounded veterans.
Ride 2 Recovery partners with the Military and Veteran Affairs Volunteer Service Office to raise money for cycling programs that benefit the rehabilitation of the country's wounded veterans through the Mental and Physical Rehabilitation program, said Maria Alvarado, a Ride 2 Recovery spokesperson.
"It's a life changing experience to have the opportunity to ride any distance with a wounded warrior," said McClung. "If you have the chance to do it, you absolutely should. It's so worthwhile to experience part of their journey."
Related Links:
Read more about McClung's journey with Ride 2 Recovery
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
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