Retired Army Capt Will Reynolds of Bethesda lost leg in Bagdad IED blast Nov04 #Ride2Recovery DCtoVaBch #WTOP pic.twitter.com/sNU8IAo6a8
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) May 25, 2015Wounded warrior cyclists Doug Smith & Boe Fern of VaBch at kickoff for #Ride2Recovery DCtoVaBch #WTOP pic.twitter.com/X8F8iuATaA
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) May 25, 2015VP Biden kicks off wounded warrior cyclist #Ride2Recovery DCtoVaBch #WTOP pic.twitter.com/HH01DW7mvE
— Kristi King (@kingWTOP) May 25, 2015
WASHINGTON – Almost three decades ago, Darrin Snyder overstretched the ligaments in his knees during a sandy training run in California.
The former Marine now has calloused hands from his wheelchair.
“Can’t run, can’t be a Marine,” he says.
But veterans like Snyder can cycle. He rides a specially designed bike, which requires him to ride lying down, to accommodate his injured knees. And he’ll use that bike to ride all the way from D.C. to Virginia Beach – a 360-mile trek that will take a group of veterans and their supporters five days. A group of more than 175 veterans and supporters left from the vice president’s residence Monday morning.
The memorial challenge is organized by Ride2Recovery, which provides injured veterans with the bikes, gear and training to participate in the multi-day rides that are held across the country throughout the year.
This will be Snyder’s fourth challenge. Like many of the participants, he rides for the inspiration, motivation and camaraderie.
“It’s nice to inspire other guys and have other guys inspire you,” says Snyder, who lives in Virginia Beach.
Cycling alongside Snyder will be Stefan Leroy and Chad Doncaster, who were once roommates at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda.
After 17 months, Doncaster remains at Walter Reed as his knees and shoulder continue to heal. The former Marine joined the National Guard and was injured overseas while on patrol. He began riding with a cycling group based at the medical center in February.
He’s looking forward to spending the next five days outside the hospital walls, challenging and competing with himself. But for Doncaster, the ultimate goal is not to reach Virginia Beach, but to one day go home to Middletown, Delaware, he says.
“They say it’s not a race, but you always try to race yourself and get better. And that in turn helps you with your recovery. It definitely pushes you to work out and get better and try to get back to your real life,” Doncaster says. “I have a daughter at home, so I want to get better, get done and go home.”
His once roommate Stefan Leroy is now retired from the Army and lives in Vienna, Virginia. He turned to handcycling after he was injured in Afghanistan in 2012. To describe his injury, he says that he was “blown up.”
“I stepped on an IED while carrying my buddy to a helicopter,” Leroy says.
He couldn’t walk, let alone run, and was struggling with his prosthetics. Wheelchair exercises weren’t cutting it. But handcycling provided a cardio workout that helped him maintain his physical fitness during his recovery at Walter Reed.
This will be his third memorial challenge.
The cyclists’ route will take them through Manassas, Fredericksburg, Richmond and Williamsburg before reaching Virginia Beach.
