Tyler King, a veteran who lives in Tampa, Fla., wasn’t sure she was going to be able to do the Hamptons portion of the three-part New York State Soldier Ride. But after riding through her hometown of Brooklyn and through Babylon, she knew that she needed to complete the route.
“I didn’t want to miss out on the feeling of being able to come in with everyone on the last leg,” she said. “And I said, ‘What can I do? What can I do to make this happen?’ ”
Ms. King found a local bike shop and got a bike seat cover. This allowed her to push through and be one of the many veterans biking through Amagansett, East Hampton, and Sag Harbor on the easternmost leg of the annual bike ride, a fund-raiser for the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that supports post-9/11 veterans.
“I feel like it was God or the Holy Spirit that really put this in my mind,” she said. “I completed it, felt a whole lot better, and I’m just so thankful.”
On Saturday, Ms. King was one of several veterans from around the world who cycled the South Fork roads in the charity ride. The event attracts veterans and civilians from far and wide.
Olaf Jones, who served in the Royal Air Force and lost his arm, took part in the ride through a partnership between the Wounded Warrior Project and Blesma, a British charity for limbless veterans. “I am absolutely overwhelmed with the level of community support for the veterans,” he said. “We don’t have that relentless community support back in my country.”
The initial idea for the ride came in 2004, when Chris Carney, Peter Honerkamp, and Nick Kraus decided that Mr. Carney would bike from Long Island to San Diego to raise awareness of the Wounded Warrior Project’s mission. His journey attracted national attention and the next year, several veterans joined him on his next cross-country trek. The event grew, morphing into not just a fund-raiser but also a way for veterans to bond and find community. Wounded Warrior Project now also hosts Soldier Rides in Florida and California.
On Saturday, the riders pedaled from the Amagansett Firehouse and onto East Hampton, before taking a celebratory lap in Sag Harbor, and then making their way back to the firehouse for a cookout.
“It just feels very Norman Rockwell Americana. It makes you feel proud of something that you are doing to give back,” said Marc Zand, a part-time Springs resident and longtime civilian participant.
“It just gives you goosebumps,” said Bill King, who does the ride almost every year with his brother, Larry King. “They are so resilient,” he said of the veterans he has met through the ride. This year, just minutes after the ride was over, a heavy summer rain came down from the sky. As the veterans ate their lunch and listened to the music of Two Shoes, a local acoustic cover band, they reflected on their three-day journey.
“This has been the best experience I’ve ever had. I’ve been telling people, ‘I feel more welcome now than when I actually came home,’ “ said Sabrina Mohammed, who retired from full-time duty in 2009, but was part of the Army National Guard until 2024.
“For me, my confidence, being able to just let go of my everyday stress and anxiety and just be clear in the moment. When they said that in the beginning, I didn’t know until I was actually out there riding and I’m like, this is amazing, to not have to worry about what’s going on and the bills and the stress.”
Elizabeth Nemesszeghy, who is from Puerto Rico and served for 32 years in the Army, emphasized not just the personal growth she experienced, but also the community she found.
“If you stay home, you procrastinate there, and your mind doesn’t work properly sometimes,” she said. “So doing these events brings you back to reality and meeting all these wonderful people here.”
