Wounded Warriors Hit The Streets & Battle High Winds For Annual Bike Ride

MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – Veterans of the Wounded Warrior Project took off from Miami Beach Thursday morning for their annual bike ride.

They battled, on average, 15 mile per hour winds as they rolled through the city.

"Two years ago I think it was 35 degrees and windy so we'll take the sunshine and the wind today. We go as fast as the slowest warrior. We stay together stay right and stay safe," said veteran Adam Faine said.

The annual ride holds meaning to those who've fought in war.

Some soldiers come riding with visible wounds like Patrick Nugent, who was shot in leg. He now has no function of his sciatic nerve.

"I started off in a hospital bed for about eight months and then gradually to a walker to crutches to a cane," he said. "I've tried out about six to seven different advanced orthotic devices just to try to get me to walk on my own which I'm able to do finally."

For others, certain wounds are invisible.

"It's the post-traumatic stress or whatever else that we have going on, but more importantly it's all about our health and fitness," Col. Michele Spencer explained.

This ride went from 14th and Ocean Drive to Marlins Park.

It is a 24-minute ride by car that brought arguably the bravest, boldest, bike-loving group on the beach.

The best part of the ride for everyone we spoke to is the relationships they've built and healing together.

"This is a life-changing event for the Warriors. When I leave the military there's this sense of camaraderie lost. It shows them that when they come out that camaraderie that support, so they are still alive," Faine said.