Local Veterans to Cycle in UnitedHealthcare Ride 2 Recovery California Challenge

Jamie Rihn, a medically retired Marine from Oceanside, and Alex Victorino, a medically retired Marine from San Diego, will join more than 200 injured veterans and their supporters on Sunday, Oct. 18, on the UnitedHealthcare Ride 2 Recovery California Challenge, a seven-day, 516-mile bicycle ride along the scenic California coast from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles.

Ride 2 Recovery (R2R) provides physical and psychological rehabilitation programs for injured veterans, featuring cycling as its core activity. This is the sixth year UnitedHealthcare is serving as R2R’s title sponsor, providing financial, in-kind and volunteer support to help America’s injured veterans. For more information, visit www.ride2recovery.com.

Rihn joined the Corps in March of 2003 and has been deployed four times; three were considered Combat tours to include her last deployment to Afghanistan. While with her last unit, she refueled aircraft, rotary wing and fixed wing. Rihn retired from the Marine Corps on July 30, 2014 due to medical reasons (Combat PTSD and TBIs). Rihn now manages the Project HERO group at Balboa.

Victorino, Staff Sergeant, retired after 16 years in the Marine Corps. He was injured in Afghanistan while based at Camp Leatherneck/ Camp Bastion. Victorino continues to deal with symptoms from his injuries such as Combat PTSD. He has been with Project HERO Balboa since 2013.

PHOTO (April 27, 2015) -- Dr. John Mateczun, president, UnitedHealthcare Military & Veterans, presents a bike to Retired Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Alex Victorino at a ceremony this morning on the U.S.S. Midway Flight Deck. UnitedHealthcare presented 16 replacement bikes to Ride 2 Recovery’s Project HERO Balboa group of which Victorino has been a participant since 2013. To his left is Jamie Rihn, Ride 2 Recovery’s Project HERO Balboa coordinator.