By Shannon Collins, DoD News, Defense Media Activity
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Athletes took on heat, headwinds,
the altitude and sharp turns during cycling competition at the 2018 Department
of Defense Warrior Games outside the U.S. Air Force Academy stadium here
yesterday.
The day began with the cycling time trial, the first cycling
time trial in the Warrior Games’ eight-year history.
Army Staff Sgt. Ross Alewine, an infantryman stationed at
Fort Belvoir, Virginia, was excited to compete in the time trial, since it’s a
sport he will compete in at the Invictus Games in Sydney, Australia, for the
U.S. team in October.
Alewine said he has been training hard for the Warrior
Games.
“I’ve put in the work. I’ve dropped 41 pounds in almost
three months. When I was out there, I was just thinking about my breathing and
giving it my all until the end,” he said.
Alewine, who’s transitioning out of the Army, said he’s
proud to represent his service branch.
“We’re the baddest Army in the world for a reason,” he said.
“My first duty station was at Fort Carson, so I’m going out where I came in.”
Alewine took bronze in his category for the time trials.
Medically retired Australian army Cpl. Jason McNulty took
gold in his category in the cycling time trials.
“I think there’s a true place in veteran recovery through
cycling. I’ve been in some very bad places, and my bike’s my psychiatrist,” he
said.
McNulty earned bronze in time trial at Invictus last year in
Toronto, Canada. “I was beaten by the British -- that was a bit of a punch in
the face,” he said.
This year, McNulty beat a British athlete. “There’s one back
for you,” he joked.
During the road race, athletes complete a set distance in
the fastest time so they are out on the course riding alone.
Road Race
As the day progressed, heat and a threat of lightning but no
rain delayed the road race by a few hours. The temperature was slightly cool, but
added humidity and a headwind presented challenges for the competitors.
Canadian navy Lt. Allison Laker, a naval warfare officer
stationed in Ottawa, Ontario, said the first half of the course was downhill,
where the cyclists could pick up speed.
Then they hit a few hills, had a gradual climb, a sharp turn
and another steep hill to go through before it flattened out, Laker said. They
hit another incline before the course flattened into the finishing stretch.
“The wind was completely in your face. The course was really
challenging, but everybody put their hearts out on the line today and did
awesome,” she said.
Laker rode with the Canadian flag on her upright.
“Everyone’s been amazing,” she said. “I’ve made some lifelong friends.”
McNulty and teammate, retired Army Maj. Tim Grover, let Team
U.S. Special Operation Forces Command’s Army Staff Sgt. Jimmy Covas take the
early lead for the first two laps of the men’s upright, but then they stepped
it up and took a commanding lead. They finished hand-in-hand at 35:35. Grover
took the gold, McNulty and their teammate, Air Force Flight Sgt. Ben Morgan
took third, with Australia sweeping the podium.
“We were just going to work as a team and just see how it
goes. Just put it on the line, win or lose,” Grover said. “It’s a great
experience to stand up there, all Australians.”
Army Sgt. 1st Class Hyoshin Cha, a medical logistics
specialist from Fort Bliss, Texas, worked with teammate, Army Staff Sgt.
Tiffany Rodriguez-Rexroad, a military intelligence system maintainer from Fort
Huachuca, Arizona, to earn bronze in hand cycling. Rodriguez-Rexroad took
silver.
“The course was very rough and challenging,” Cha said. She
took bronze in the time trial earlier in the day.
“We drafted off each other,” Cha continued.
Rodriguez-Rexroad, she said, first took the lead position.
“And then when I saw her kind of struggle, I took lead,” Cha
said. “We weren’t going to leave each other. Never leave a fallen comrade
behind. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter as long as we finish
together.”
Cha said the Army team is like a family, and she wouldn’t
have medaled without her family. “We couldn’t have made it as far without one
another,” she said.
Overcoming Injury
For the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force Warrant Officer
Simon Chapman, who’s been serving for 32 years, this was a chance to show the
younger generation he could still compete, and an opportunity to compete on an
upright again.
While training for a time trial, he was riding at 44 mph
when a vehicle hit him head on at 65 mph in 2007. He injured his quadriceps
muscle and now has two prosthetic hips. “It knocked my confidence a little bit
on the bike. I felt I lost a lots of power, and I thought I wouldn’t be able to
get back on a bike again,” Chapman said.
He began training and began swimming again. He went to the
U.K. trials, and trained and competed with some of his teammates here at the
Warrior Games.
Though they were in different disability categories, six
U.K. cyclists worked as a team in a pack, drafting and taking care of each
other, focusing more on finishing together than on the medals, Chapman said.
“We worked as a team and we’re so proud of each other for
doing that,” he said. “We stuck together. They pushed it until the end, even
though they knew they probably wouldn’t get any medals. But that’s the team
spirit.”
Medals are secondary, Chapman said.
“It’s the guys overcoming what they’ve had to deal with, and
actually mixing it with the best and that’s not just the U.K., that’s the U.S.,
the Canadians and the Australians, too,” he said.
Many of the cyclists have post-traumatic stress and/or
traumatic brain injuries, and being able to maintain their focus on the course
took strength, Chapman said.
“To keep that distance together for that length of time that
we did. The mental strength that takes -- not just the physical strength.
Because when you’re drafting a couple of inches from your colleagues, you have
total trust. And that’s what the military is all about, isn’t it?” he said.
Cycle Crash, Recovery
Air Force Master Sgt. Lisa Goad, 49th Security Forces
Squadron, Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, came down the first hill hard
during the time trial. She did a 360-degree flip on her hand cycle, and hit her
head, face first. Her bike’s gears had locked up and the chain fell off. She
said two volunteers rushed to fix her bike, and she refused medical help so
that she could get back into the race.
“I actually caught up to the third-place girl and came in
three seconds behind her,” Goad said. “I just wanted to finish, no matter what.
So that felt really good.”
Later, Goad prepared to compete in the road race course. “I
thought, ‘Well, it can’t get any worse than this, so just keep going.’”
Because of the earlier crash, Goad said she took some turns
a little slower than she normally would. Yet, she still earned the silver medal
in her disability category.
Goad said her team has been like a family, cheering her on.
“We truly are a team,” she said. “Everybody is helping each
other and taking care of each other. This is an amazing experience.”
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