The 18-mile Soldier Ride organized by Wounded Warrior Project started Friday morning with wind whipping across the parking lot of the Southside building where the nonprofit organization's headquarters is located off Butler Boulevard.

Pedaling against the wind added to the challenge for riders seated on bicycles and handcycles. But testing themselves physically is part of what they seek from Wounded Warrior Project.

"It gets me going and I get to ride with other veterans," St. Augustine resident Karlton Berry said. "It gives that camaraderie again. We push each other along when we're on on these rides."

Berry served in the Army from 2005 to 2017 including in Afghanistan as he rose to the rank of staff sergeant. A 40-foot fall during a military training accident seriously injured him. He uses a wheelchair so for the Soldier Ride, he was among the riders propelling themselves forward in handcycles rather than bicycles.

He recently completed an entrepreneurial program through JAX Chamber and plans to use that while working with his father who is a farmer. Long-term, he said he wants to run a business that will rent vehicles equipped with hand controls that drivers with disabilities can operate.

After finishing the 18-mile trip through Jacksonville on Friday, he and other riders hit the road again Saturday for a similar journey through St. Augustine.

Wounded Warrior Project does Soldier Rides across the country with some of the biggest turnouts each year in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago and Miami and Key West. Soldier Ride did 103 events in its 2024 fiscal year.