Bicyclists to trek 450 miles to honor 9/11 victims

Greg Amira, who was in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, and was later severely injured while serving in Iraq, isn't sticking around for the full day of commemorative activities in New York on Sunday.

Instead, the 42-year-old Trinity resident will hop on a specially made bicycle and head out on a 540-mile journey to Washington D.C.

Amira and about a dozen other Tampa Bay residents will be among hundreds taking part the Ride 2 Recovery 9.11 Challenge.

Ride 2 Recovery is a program that offers service men and women physical and psychological rehabilitation programs featuring cycling as the core activity. From indoor spinning training at military installations to long-distance rides, the program is designed to help injured veterans "heal through the challenge of cycling long distances."

The eight-day ride will help fund the group's rehabilitation efforts for wounded vets. It will begin at the Liberty State Park on New York Harbor, travel to the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, Pa. and end at the Pentagon on Sunday, Sept. 18.

The cyclists - veterans using hand cycles, recumbent and traditional road bikes - will include riders who were injured in the terrorist attacks, joined the military as a result of the attacks or were first responders as well as family members and supporters.

Amira, who was severely injured when the towers fell, suffered traumatic brain injury, spine injuries and broke his nose, eye socket, jaw and cheekbone on Jan. 26, 2007, when his convoy was attacked in Iraq.

Ride 2 Recovery, he said, enabled him to get part of his life back when they provided him a recumbent bicycle.

"You are not testing yourself against others," he said. "You are testing yourself against yourself."

Not everyone taking part in the ride was injured in war.

Mike Runyan, 61, was a boom operator on KC-135 Stratotankers flying out of MacDill Air Force Base from 1979 to 1991. Like others supporting the ride, he will donate about $3,000 to take part – a dollar for every life lost on 9/11.

Runyan, who earned the nickname "The Boomer on the Bike" because of the 300 miles a week he bikes training for events like this, has been on Ride 2 Recovery treks before.

He said he can't wait to ride on Sunday.

"You can't come away from having the experience with those people without feeling they are genuine," he said. "They don't consider themselves disabled, just something they have to deal with."