These wounded veterans can really get around.
Nearly 50 injured veterans bicycled from Manhattan to Ft. Hamilton on July 16 in the first stretch of the Wounded Warriors Project’s Soldier Ride — a four-day bicycle tour that winds through New York City before heading out to the eastern end of Long Island.
The riders got a hero’s welcome when they rolled into Bay Ridge, one vet said.
“People were honking horns, showing their patriotism — that’s the real adrenaline that you get from the ride,” said retired Col. Greg Gadson, who served 26 years in the U.S. Army, lost his legs to an explosion in Iraq in 2007, and pedaled a hand-powered cycle in his first Soldier Ride.
Gadson and 44 other injured service men and women from the U.S., Great Britain, and Israel began the ride in Manhattan, storming over the Brooklyn Bridge before heading south to the city’s only Army base at Ft. Hamilton. The next day, they took their ride to the suburbs, eventually making it all the way to the Hamptons, a spokesman said.
Police and fire department officials escorted the heros on their tour de Brooklyn, he said.
The ride helps build confidence and friendship among soldiers, but it also serves a practical purpose, Gadson said.
“It’s a very good way for me to exercise — my ability to do aerobics without my legs has changed significantly,” he said. “I’ve probably ridden more miles after the injury than before.”
