KEY LARGO, Fla. — Nearly 15 years after his first Soldier Ride, Bill Hansen joined dozens of wounded veterans cycling along the Overseas Highway on Friday, including a stretch over the Seven Mile Bridge, for the annual Florida Keys event.
A total of 45 men and women and their supporters are participating in the cycling event, which the Wounded Warrior Project organizes, with the ride beginning Friday and running through the weekend.
Hansen said he lives with pain every day and has learned to manage it. “I wake up in pain every single day. I’ve gotten used to a level of pain,” he said, adding that physical activity still matters to his mental health and his relationships with other veterans. “And so doing physical fitness, things like this, I know I’m gonna be in a little bit of pain, but it’s worth it for my mental health and for just my comradery with other vets.”
Hansen, who served more than two decades in the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army National Guard, participated in his first Soldier Ride in Phoenix in 2012. He said he suffered a serious neck and back injury, became addicted to pain medication, and later connected with the Wounded Warrior Project, where he said he found other injured veterans and built a support system.
On the route, Hansen described riding over the Seven Mile Bridge as a longstanding goal. “One of my bucket list events is to ride a bike over the Seven Mile Bridge,” he said. “I mean, what an iconic thing to do, and it’s part of America, part of our heritage. And so this is gonna be fun for me, because I get to do this. Plus, I’m gonna be able to help other vets.”
The ride through the Keys began Friday. While some riders are missing one or more limbs after combat injuries and use bicycles fitted with special adaptive equipment, the event notes that other injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder, are not always visible.
Wounded Warrior Project CEO Walter Piatt said movement is central to healing. “The path to healing always starts with movement,” he said, describing the purpose as getting veterans outside and reconnecting them with the people they serve with. “This is about getting them outside, getting them reconnected with people they serve with, and people are going through the same thing they are.”
The group started its day with a 17-mile (27-kilometer) ride from a Key Largo VFW post to the Theater of the Sea in Islamorada. After lunch at the Marathon fire station, riders traveled another 10 miles (16 miles), including over the Seven Mile Bridge, and stopped for the day in Big Pine Key.
Along the route, a large crowd of Coral Shores High School students cheered on the riders during a break in Tavernier, and smaller groups of residents lined the roadway as the group moved through the island chain. “I want them to see that we appreciate what they do,” Keys resident Carol Dieck said.
The event’s cycling trips, including the cross-country and Keys rides, the Wounded Warrior Project says are intended to provide inspiration and rehabilitative opportunities while raising money for others recovering in American military hospitals. The funds generated, the organizer says, help foster veterans’ independence, develop peer-mentoring programs, and arrange transport between home and hospital when needed.
The Florida Keys Soldier Ride continues Saturday through Key West, with an additional community ride where members of the public can cycle with the warriors. On Sunday morning, the group is scheduled to swim with dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon.