BikePGH Partners with Wounded Warrior Project

On Nov. 11, Bike Pittsburgh will collaborate with Wounded Warrior Project ® (WWP) for the second consecutive year to host a Veterans Day bike ride. It will be a 22 km (13.7 mi) ride for veterans registered with WWP. It will depart from the WWP office in downtown Pittsburgh, which is near two Healthy Ride stations. The ride will get onto the Eliza Furnace trail from downtown and ride along the Great Allegheny Passage toward Washington, DC. Wounded warriors will meet their families after the ride and line up to get on a float for the parade.

This collaboration provides a chance for warriors to practice some bike handling skills under the guidance of a League Certified Instructor. Some skills may be brand new to the participants while others are not. This ride will also provide a convenient chance to get a helmet, try a Healthy Ride bike-share bicycle, and learn some biking skills on basic through advanced levels.

Why 22 KM?  

The significance of the number represents the approximately 22 veterans who take their lives each day. This ride aims to raise awareness for veterans’ mental health while providing a positive social experience and physical activity for vets before they head out to the Veterans Day Parade. In a WWP survey of the injured warriors it serves, 29.6 percent of survey respondents expressed physical activity helps them cope with stress and emotional or mental health concerns. The WWP Pittsburgh office provides programs and services that honor and empower veterans in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio who have a service-connected injury incurred on or after 9/11. WWP programs focus on mental and physical health and wellness, financial wellness, independence, government relations, and community relations and partnerships; all are offered to wounded warriors free of charge. WWP is honored to collaborate with other organizations in the continued effort to reduce veteran suicide.

If you think this ride is for you, get in contact with Luke Koval, lkoval@woundedwarriorproject.org!

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