Two former soldiers are cycling down a good portion of Route 66 as part of a 4,200-mile ride from Bakersfield, Calif., to Washington, D.C., to help raise awareness on veterans’ issues.
The Wall to Wall Cross Country Bicycle Ride is being undertaken by Wesley Barrientos, a double amputee who was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq, and Jeremy Staat, a retired Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end and an Iraqi War veteran, in a standard bicycle and hand crank bicycle.
It’s called the Wall to Wall because it began at the Wall of Valor in Bakersfield and will finish at the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington.
According to its website:
Our overriding purpose is to raise awareness of and support for our Nation’s Veterans, Veteran organizations, Veteran suicide awareness, and to promote Veteran centers on all college campuses throughout our Nation.
Given the fitness qualities that bike riding imparts, We have a secondary motive of drawing attention to the increase in childhood obesity, and most importantly how this epidemic can be prevented through good lifetime fitness activities, specifically bike riding.
They started their ride on Feb. 19 from Bakersfield and picked up Route 66 in Barstow, Calif. They’ve hopscotched off and on the Mother Road, including visiting the towns of Goffs in California; Kingman and Holbrook in Arizona; and Albuquerque, Santa Rosa and Tucumcari in New Mexico.
The Guadalupe County Communicator, its March 22 print edition, reported about the duo’s stop in Santa Rosa:
With their unique stories, modes of transportation and personal stories, the two have the power to draw a crowd. Although their arrival in Santa Rosa got little advance notice, dozens of people, including local residents and veterans supporters from the surrounding region turned out to greet them in downtown Santa Rosa. They arrived accompanied by police and fire vehicles in a motorcade from the city limits.
Richard Talley at Motel Safari in Tucumcari wrote in an email Saturday:
Jeremy and Wesley arrived yesterday in Tucumcari on Route 66, with a Veteran’s welcome at the Chamber of Commerce, had dinner at Del’s Restaurant and then hunkered down for some Safari time.
Talley said they were heading to Vega, Texas, for an overnight stop, with a meal at Boot Hill Grill & Saloon in town.
In Texas, they’re also visiting Amarillo, Groom, and Shamrock. In the Sooner State, they’re scheduled to hit Elk City, Weatherford, and Oklahoma City before heading south into north Texas.
As of Monday night, the two were in Amarillo.
If you want to donate to their cause, go here.