WINDHAM — The Adaptive Sports Foundation (ASF) will conduct its first of eight Warriors in Motion® (WIM) summer events next week, as it will host its first road cycling event in Windham and the neighboring areas on May 14-16.
The ASF is expecting 10 U.S. military veterans to participate next week, and they are scheduled to arrive at the Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center on Tuesday at lunchtime. U.S. Air Force veteran Ken Hernandez, who will be participating in his first WIM summer event, is excited to hop on his bike and ride.
“I recently received a grant for a hand cycle, but because the weather has been crazy, I’ve only dabbled a little bit with it here and there,” Hernandez explained. “I can’t wait to get out there on the open road in the fresh air and the nice scenery. I’m stoked to get my bike out and put it to the test. I’m always up for a challenge and I’m excited to see where it leads.”
After the WIM participants arrive and meet with the ASF staff and volunteers, the group will get fitted for their bike and safety equipment and will sit down for lunch. Once everyone is ready to ride, the group will depart for a seven-mile trek through the streets of Windham and Hensonville. After the ride, the participants will check in to their hotels and relax a little bit before they’re invited back to the ASF for a 5:30 p.m. dinner catered by Jessie’s Harvest House.
Wednesday will feature an all-day ride in Columbia County on the Albany-Hudson Electric Trail, a primarily off-road section of the Empire State Trail that has both paved and stone-dust surfaces. The warriors will be picked up by the ASF shuttle bus from their hotels at 9 a.m. and will travel to Hudson, where they will begin a 22-mile journey. The participants will head northeast for 11 miles to the town of Kinderhook, where they will rest and enjoy lunch at Rothermel Park. Once everyone is ready, the WIM group will make the 11-mile trek back into Hudson to get picked up where they started. Once again, the warriors will have time to relax at their hotel before dinner at the ASF lodge.
On Thursday morning, the warriors will check out of their hotels and meet at the ASF lodge for their final ride, a nine-mile trek west from the Windham Mountain Club parking lot to the Prattsville Town Park. The participants will be picked up from the park and return to the Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center, where they will enjoy a barbecue lunch before they depart.
“Veterans are on the same playing field in programs like the ASF, everyone has a disability, whether it’s visible or invisible,” Hernandez explained. “We all get together, and we prove all those people who told us, ‘you can’t’ or ‘you’ll never be able to’ wrong. We have two options, we either prove the naysayers right or we prove them wrong, and it’s up to us to decide what we want to do.”
Thanks to grants received and private donations, the ASF is able to provide bicycles (to those who need them), helmets, water bottles, all meals, hotel rooms, snacks, water, sports drinks, sunscreen, bug spray, ponchos (if necessary) and maps, both digital and paper copies.