Disabled veterans promoting active lifestyles in cross-country ride

Paul Bremer spent 14 months hoping to spread freedom in Iraq, a U.S. presidential envoy who spearheaded the country’s rebuilding efforts after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Now, he’s pedaling to promote the unlimited possibilities for disabled veterans, the most high-profile rider in the “Sea to Shining Sea” cross-country bike tour that made a pit stop Thursday in Colorado Springs for a visit to the Olympic Training Center.

Eighteen cyclists from all five military branches, many of whom were wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, are participating in the 3,696-mile trek, which started May 22 on the Golden Gate Bridge and ends July 24 in Virginia Beach, Va. The riders spent nights in Naturita, Montrose, Gunnison and Salida, and they’ll head to Denver, Fort Morgan and Wray.

The point of the inaugural journey, made possible through financial aid from State Farm, is to pay tribute to the nation’s service members and challenge the perceptions of disabled athletes, showing they can keep active lifestyles. That’s why they’re talking to veterans at military bases and preaching their message to civilians at popular tourist destinations.

Some riders are pedaling their way across 14 states on standard bikes, the kind you would find at a local bike shop. Others are using specially designed bikes, a must for one-legged cyclists going through sweltering deserts and treacherous mountains, like Monarch Pass.

“It helps the disabled athletes to show that they still can be happy and productive in new challenges,” said Bremer, who led the Coalition Provisional Authority from May 2003 to June 2004, overseeing the reformation of Iraq’s political and economic structure.

“They’re not showing off,” Bremer said. “They’re trying to show an example that goes beyond the wounded warriors, that goes to all disabled Americans and all able-bodied Americans. … It’s not like being at war, but you’re sort of at war with nature.”

Bremer’s nephew, Colorado Springs modern pentathlete Eli Bremer, greeted riders before the OTC tour. He said their mission is inspiring because they “are doing something able-bodied athletes would have trouble doing. … Everybody recognizes the sacrifice they’ve made to the country and the scars they’ll take with them for the rest of their life.”

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