A pack of about 60 bicyclists in the Road 2 Recovery program rolls south from Santa Cruz Monday morning on a 420-mile trek. Christopher Lawrence (right) of Milwaukee joins the ride with a prosthetic leg.

About a year ago, Christopher Lawrence was in Iraq, serving as a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps when he lost his right leg in an explosion. Now, he’s included an epic bicycle trip on his road to recovery.

“For four months, I couldn’t walk,” he said. “Now I’m putting my body to the test and pushing it.”

On Monday, Lawrence was in the dining room of the UC Santa Cruz University Inn, eating breakfast and preparing for the second day of a 420-mile “Road 2 Recovery” bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

“I do physical therapy every day,” he said. “That’s my job. This is just an extension.”

The morning sky was foggy and cool, a hint of mist floating on the light breeze — “perfect riding weather,” said one cyclist as he prepared to depart.

Lawrence joined about 60 other riders, most of them active duty or former military. Many of them were injured veterans themselves.

Although Lawrence relies on a prosthetic leg to walk, he said it hasn’t hindered his ride.

“That’s my good side,” he joked. “That’s where my power comes from. The only thing that stops you is yourself.”

“I’m in good shape for a marine, but this is something completely different,” he said.

The Road 2 Recovery ride was produced by the Fitness Challenge Foundation and the Veteran’s Affairs’ Voluntary Service Office. The goal of Road 2 Recovery is to promote bicycle riding to help the recovery of veterans with mental and physical injuries. The seven-day ride will pass several military bases in California.

Many of the veterans participating in the ride have visible injuries. Several cyclists have prosthetic limbs as a result of traumatic injuries suffered in various conflicts. Less tangible, but no less debilitating, are the injuries that lurk below the surface, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, which is being found in a growing number of people returning from war.

“We’re trying to raise the awareness of the benefits of cycling to heal injuries,” said John Wordin, an organizer from Road 2 Recovery. “No matter what their injuries, anyone can ride a bike.”

Wordin said he started with Road 2 Recovery about a year ago after a ride with the Palo Alto Veterans Administration.

“What they found is that riding makes a difference in the overall health of the vets,” he said.

Nick Lerma has been in the Marine Corps for nearly two decades, and has served in Somalia and Iraq. He said he began experiencing symptoms of PTSD after his first tour of duty. He joined a recovery program, and started riding a bicycle to alleviate stress about a year ago.

“A year ago I would have been in the corner, eating by myself,” he said. “This trip has really helped me get out there socially. I’m putting challenges back in front of myself.”

The cyclists ranged from veterans who returned from Vietnam more than three decades ago to those recently injured in Iraq, from business professionals to warehouse workers and from Olympic-level riders to those who haven’t been on a bike since they were children. All the riders, however, found a community by focusing on the same goal.

“All different backgrounds seem to level out,” said Jim Perseyres, a professional bicyclist who served in Vietnam and began riding soon after he returned. “There’s no social stratification here.”

Road 2 Recovery is supported entirely by donations and sponsors.

One sponsor is Patricia Kennedy, a Los Angeles resident who has been a supporter of dance for more than two decades.

About a year ago, she decided she wanted to do something to promote world peace. Kennedy sponsors an organization for dancers whose careers have been sidelined by injuries, and decided she wanted to do something similar for veterans.

Kennedy founded Step Up 4 Vets, a nonprofit organization committed to helping returning veterans make the transition from active military service to civilian life.

“We’re not here to say the war is right; we’re here to say the warriors are right, and that’s as far as it goes,” she said. “This is about our kids who are going into harm’s way.”

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For information or to sponsor a rider, visit Road 2 Recovery at http://r2rriders.com or www.stepup4vets.org/about.html

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*Photos by Tarmo Hannula*

(Published in 9/30/08 edition)

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