Soldier Ride, the annual benefit for the Wounded Warrior Project, returns on July 15 with a 24-mile cycle taking participants from the Amagansett Firehouse to East Hampton and Sag Harbor before returning to its starting point.
The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization that supports post-Sept. 11, 2001, service members. Its 18 programs include benefits services, family support, financial education, mental health and wellness, peer support, physical health, and Warriors to Work. All of its programs are provided free to wounded veterans and their families.
In addition to raising money for those programs, Soldier Ride is intended to help veterans build confidence and strength through shared physical activity, connection, and camaraderie. The ride is meant to empower wounded veterans to find solace and healing to help them realize their potential.
Those wishing to cycle alongside injured veterans can register at bit.ly/3rdOIP2. Registration costs $75 for adults and $35 for children. Participants can also register in person starting at 7 a.m. on the day of the event.
An opening ceremony at 8:45 will be followed by the ride at 9. Cyclists will ride to Marine Park in Sag Harbor before returning to the Amagansett Firehouse, where there will be a barbecue lunch.
“Soldier Ride,” said Peter Honerkamp, an owner of the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, where Soldier Ride was conceived, “became a rehabilitative tool so the wounded could get out of their hospital beds, empowering themselves and their fellow wounded, setting an example for the incoming wounded, and going out into the communities they sacrificed so much for.”
In 2004, Chris Carney, then a staffer at the Talkhouse, bicycled 5,000 miles across the country, an effort to raise awareness of the needs of injured service members. “I was working at the Talkhouse when Peter had a benefit for a local guy on Long Island who got wounded,” he told this reporter in 2013. “We raised a little bit of money, but there was overhead.”
Afterward, he and Mr. Honerkamp were among those pondering a means to raise money for injured soldiers. He had recently participated in a fund-raising ride for multiple sclerosis research and treatment.
“They had thousands of riders do a 60-mile ride,” he recalled. “I said, ‘What if, instead of having thousands of riders do a short distance, one rider goes thousands of miles, and see if we can get the same type of sponsorship?’ I thought it was a far-fetched idea that would be laughed at and quickly dismissed.”
But Mr. Honerkamp, whom Mr. Carney described as “an action guy,” took him up on the idea. “He said, ‘Wait a second, that could work,’ “ he remembered. “The next thing you know, I was riding my bike across the country.” He was accompanied by Tek Vakaloloma, another Talkhouse employee, who followed in a support vehicle. Mr. Carney repeated the ride in 2005, that time with two wounded soldiers.
Soldier Ride has since expanded to four teams across the country serving more than 14,000 injured soldiers and family members at 650 fund-raisers. On eastern Long Island, more than a dozen volunteers provide logistics and support.
Another Soldier Ride will be held on Friday, July 14, in Babylon.
