Missouri Guard to send team to Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride

A group of Missouri National Guard Soldiers, Airmen and Families is preparing to participate in a 26-mile bike ride to support wounded Veterans.

The Soldier Ride is an annual event that helps to raise awareness about the Wounded Warrior Project. The project provides services that help to meet the needs of severely injured Veterans. It also acts as an advocate for wounded service members.

Sgt. Abigail Buhr said this is the first year the Missouri National Guard has sent a team to the ride. That being the case, she said, the team is more concerned with togetherness than being competitive. In the coming years, though, the team may be more competitive, she said.

"Our goal for this first year is to start together and finish together," Buhr said.

The race will take place on Sept. 19 in suburban Little Rock, Ark. The course will be a 26-mile loop, starting and ending at the Jacksonville Museum of Military History.

Buhr said the idea for the team came when Sgt. Shawn Junker and his wife, Sgt. Robin Junker, both of Nevada, saw a feature about the ride on television. The two contacted Buhr, and they began putting together a team.

Buhr went to the 27th Recruiting and Retention Battalion to see if they could provide the team's T-shirts for the event. The battalion decided to use the team as a recruiting tool, which helped spread the word about the ride.

"It all kind of snowballed from there," Buhr said.

The team currently includes 22 members from both the Army and Air Guards, as well as several spouses of Soldiers and Airmen. Buhr said the total was higher at one point, but a Soldier Readiness Processing event on the same weekend prevented some people from participating. Several team members were hesitant to participate since they didn't own a bicycle, Buhr said, but the Outskirts Bike Shop in Little Rock has offered to provide bicycles and helmets to participants.

To train for the ride, Buhr said she and many of the other participants have been running and doing other exercises that build lower body strength, such as lunges. Because most of the participants aren't regular cyclists, Buhr said many of them have been working on long-distance riding, as well. Buhr said the team sees the event as an opportunity to support their fellow Soldiers and Airmen.

"We're just going out there to support our wounded warriors," she said.

"We've all had friends that were injured. Just to show that kind of support is very important." Anyone interested in participating may contact Sgt. Abigail Buhr at (573) 619-4052 or Abigail.buhr@us.army.mil or Sgt. Shawn Junker at (417) 667-7611 or shawn.junker@us.army.mil