Lancaster County native Floyd Landis was expected to begin a six-day, 480-mile bicycle ride from Washington, D.C. to Charlotte, N.C. today in support of wounded military veterans.
The Road 2 Recovery ride was slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. with a send-off by U.S. Sen. John Kerry, a bicyclist and Vietnam War veteran, from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The ride is intended to raise funds to purchase indoor stationary bicycles and to promote outdoor cycling for injured military personnel for recovery and rehabilitation.
The ride was organized by John Wordin, manager of the former Mercury professional cycling team. Landis, winner of the 2006 Tour de France and a former Mercury rider, will ride along with military personnel, including those who are riding with prosthetic limbs. Other famous cyclists joining the amputees are Olympic silver medalist and World Champion Mari Holden, former 7-Eleven rider Thomas Craven and Olympic cyclist Wayne Stetina. Film star Mike Vogel (Cloverfield) is also reportedly participating.
The ride ends Sunday after riders take a victory lap around the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, before the start of the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race, USA Today reports.
