As a Paralympic triathlete, Kelly Elmlinger wasn’t particularly concerned about the physical challenge the Soldier Ride 250 posed.

She’s been physically active since she was a child and was confident about the route, though she doesn’t usually ride a bike for hundreds of miles every day. As an amputee, there were other challenges she had to consider too.

Instead of focusing on the physical task of the long adaptive cycling ride, Elmlinger considered the mental toll. As an Army combat medic, there were times she wasn’t able to save somebody’s life. For a long time afterward, she worried she had failed.

Elmlinger said she spent a lot of time focusing on her mental health, and the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride 250 offered her the chance to showcase it.

Elmlinger was part of the group that rode from Norfolk, Virginia, to the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. on Monday. The broader, 1,000-mile ride includes 80 disabled veterans, making the trek from Jacksonville, Florida, to Ground Zero in New York.

Twenty veterans are each riding 250-mile segments.

“A lot of times we look at disability just in general, as a whole society, but I don’t look at disability — matter of fact, I don’t really care for that word,” Elmlinger told WTOP. “I look at it as there’s ability, and our ability may look different than, I would say, most people or the general public, but there’s still a lot of ability.”

The ride was organized in partnership with America250, the congressionally established group planning events across the country in honor the nation’s 250th birthday this summer. It aims to honor veterans and celebrate 250 years of America’s independence.

Jason Tarboro, who was part of the group that arrived at the Lincoln Memorial, said the trek featured many hills, but “as soon as you start feeling even a little bit tired, you have the people to your left, to your right, behind you, telling you, ‘You can keep going.’”

“It’s just been a beautiful, beautiful experience, lots of miles, lots of sweat, we’ve had some wipeouts, so a little bit of blood, but we’ve all made it here, safe and sound, in one piece, together,” Tarboro said.

During the ride, Tarboro said he thought about his friends who were soldiers and “didn’t make it back.”

For Elmlinger, who said she had a leg amputated because of toxic exposures during her early deployments, the Memorial Day decorations near the National Mall prompted similar emotions.

“You’ll find that a lot of veterans, especially the veterans here on this ride, our ability is still there,” Elmlinger said. “We can still participate, we can still give, and we can still be active members in our community.”

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