One of the challenges faced by armed forces members is how to adapt to the different kinds of life that they are presented with after returning home. The truth is that it’s pretty difficult transitioning from combat life to civilian life after spending most of your life as a military person. This becomes even more challenging when returning home with a psychological or debilitating physical injury.
That’s genuinely an added burden for a veteran. The environment off the field is a different place compared to the military grounds. You’re always planning and preparing for the worst-case scenario on military grounds. You get to witness and combat constant violence and deal with getting used to someone being injured or killed almost daily. It can be hard to readjust when you return home from all of these.
The Bicycling Initiative
It’s been discovered that there’s something about a bike ride that brings healing, therapeutic, calming, and rejuvenating feelings. You’ll rarely return home worse than you left. From the sounds of nature to the hollering and hooting of other cyclists behind you, the playful challenge of navigating through the rocks all over the trail, and the laser focus which enables you to keep your tires going on the trail’s narrow head, you’ll have enough to engage your mind and body. Several veteran support groups have now harnessed these bike riding initiatives in helping to engage veterans as they adapt to the new life at home. Here are some of the bike programs for veterans.
1. Adaptive Adventures
Adaptive Adventures’ mission is to offer outdoor sports opportunities progressively in helping to enhance the quality of life for kids, adults, and veterans who have physical disabilities. Their main office is in Lakewood, Colorado, while their satellite office is located in Franklin Park, Illinois. This program offers several sports opportunities such as dragon boat racing, rafting, scuba, wakeboarding, waterskiing, skiing, paddle boarding, kayaking, climbing, and cycling.
They also offer an exceptional mobile program. In this mobile program, they travel all over the country with fifteen trailers of adaptive equipment and provide their services and programs to areas of the country that are underserved.
2. Bicycling Blind
The Bicycling Blind is a United States cycling program that helps to increase the involvement and participation of blind or visually impaired individuals in the thrilling tandem cycling sport. This program helps to provide education about tandem cycling, disseminate info about tandem cycling clubs, opportunities, and upcoming events, and connect visually impaired and blind cyclists with sighted cyclists. Veterans with sight injuries from the military grounds also get to be significant beneficiaries of this program.
3. Face of America – Gettysburg
This is another American program that creates inspiring athletic activities for both non-disabled and adaptive participants. The program helps to empower people with confidence as they are enabled to overcome emotional, technical, and physical challenges. The Face of America is a program that honors military veterans’ exceptional service and dedication while in service.
4. Free Wheel Foundation
This program helps to enhance the recovery process for injured military heroes. They help to engage veterans’ participation in sporting activities, majorly cycling.
These bicycling programs are contributing tremendously to the provision of support for veterans. They serve as platforms that help integrate these iconic men and women into their society again after retirement.