R2R – Gulf Coast Challenge Day 2

Day 2  Gulfport to Mobile

The ride and the temperature heated up a bit as day 2 got underway. The current day warriors got a chance to visit the official veterans home of Mississippi. There are Vets living there from WWII all the way through Vietnam. The generational interaction is great to see and warriors, no matter what conflict, share the common experience of war.

There are 75 first time riders on this Challenge. They come from VA’s, WTU’s and Military hospitals all over the country. They have come from the positive word of mouth that is a big part of R2R. Many of them just started riding and found the benefits made a big difference in overcoming the struggles that they’ve had to deal with.

Ralph Casselli of Sarasota, Florida is part of the group from Ft. Leonard Wood. He is one of those first timers who by day is a law enforcement officer and also part of the National Guard. He was injured and assigned to the Ft. Leonard Wood WTU. He soon joined the Project HERO program there and was hooked. He found the first 2 days of the Gulf Coast Challenge even better than he thought.  He is looking forward to riding every mile to Tallahassee.

Tomorrow we ride to Orange Beach and will get a rousing send off from the City of Mobile.