Soldier Ride — The Hamptons, a community event to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, returns to the South Fork on Saturday, taking participants from the Amagansett Firehouse to Sag Harbor and back.
The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit organization that supports post-9/11 service members. Its 18 programs include benefits services, family support, financial education, mental health and wellness, peer support, physical health and wellness, and Warriors to Work. All of its programs are provided free to wounded veterans and their families.
In addition to raising money for those programs, Soldier Ride is intended to help veterans build confidence and strength through shared physical activity, connection, and camaraderie. The ride is meant to empower wounded veterans to find solace and healing to help them realize their potential.
On Saturday, registration and pickup of packets, comprising bibs and earned fund-raising rewards, begins at 7 a.m. at the firehouse. An opening ceremony happens at 8:45, and the community ride begins at 9.
Participants will cycle to Marine Park in Sag Harbor. There, after a rest, the cyclists will do a “hero’s lap” through Sag Harbor Village and return to Marine Park, before pedaling back to the Amagansett Fire Department, where a light lunch will be provided.
Registration is $100 for adults and $40 for children. All participants must wear helmets and proper footwear. Parking will be available along Amagansett’s Main Street and in the field at 555 Montauk Highway. Participants have been asked to allow time to walk or bike from their vehicle to the firehouse.
In 2004, Chris Carney, then a staffer at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, bicycled 5,000 miles across the United States, an effort to raise awareness of the needs of injured service members. “I was working at the Talkhouse when Peter [Honerkamp, an owner of the venue] had a benefit for a local guy on Long Island who got wounded,” he told this reporter in 2013. “We raised a little bit of money, but there was overhead.”
Afterward, he and Mr. Honerkamp were among those pondering a means to raise money for injured soldiers. He had recently participated in a fund-raising ride for multiple sclerosis research and treatment. “They had thousands of riders do a 60-mile ride,” he recalled. “I said, ‘What if, instead of having thousands of riders do a short distance, one rider goes thousands of miles, and see if we can get the same type of sponsorship?’ I thought it was a far-fetched idea that would be laughed at and quickly dismissed.”
But Mr. Honerkamp took him up on the idea. “He said, ‘Wait a second, that could work,’ “ Mr. Carney remembered. “The next thing you know, I was riding my bike across the country.” He was accompanied by Tek Vakaloloma, another Talkhouse employee, who followed in a support vehicle. Mr. Carney repeated the ride in 2005, that time with two wounded soldiers.
Wounded Warrior Project, Mr. Honerkamp told The Star, “continues to provide critical support to those who sustained critical physical and mental injuries serving our country. Soldier Ride began 21 years ago at the Talkhouse, and thousands of soldiers have been helped by the scores of rides that occur year after year across the country.”
Another community soldier ride happens tomorrow in Babylon.
