Ride 2 Recovery Wraps Up Another Charity Trek - This Time in Tampa

Posted Oct 31, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Oct 30, 2011 at 11:14 PM

Shortly before the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, I wrote about a 540-mile charity bike ride for an organization called Ride 2 Recovery, which offers service men and women physical and psychological rehabilitation programs featuring cycling as the core activity. From indoor spinning training at military installations to long-distance rides, the program is designed to help injured veterans “heal through the challenge of cycling long distances.”

Sunday, the organization was at it again, this time with a 450-mile trek across Florida that ended at the Westwhore Hyatt Place parking lot.

My colleague Josh Green covered the event and here’s the top of his story:

When Dexter Durrante pedaled into the Westshore Hyatt Place’s parking lot on the back of a tandem bicycle Sunday, he was sweaty, hungry and exhausted, having just ridden 450 miles across Florida.

“I call Aug. 17 my ‘born again day,’ because you’re starting life all over again,” said Durrante. “At first you want everything to be back the way it used to be. But as soon as you can get all that behind you, then you start living again.”

Click here to read the full version.