Day Two of the UnitedHealthcare Texas Challenge is the longest day of the Challenge and the first Century Day of the year. The continued improving weather kept the spirits of the riders up despite the long road ahead.

Project HERO Day is always an exciting part of any Challenge. We are able to showcase an important program within R2R and nearly all of the 50+ first time riders come from the Project HERO program and the 40+ locations around the country.

One of the new riders comes from the Project HERO program in Hawaii. Kimo is a retired Navy SEAL with 17 years of service. He suffered a stroke 2 years ago that left the left side of his body paralyzed. He also lost most of his ability to speak and communicates with his hands and big smile.  He hand cycles his specially adapted bike using only his right arm. He can keep up quite well on the flatter country Texas roads and only needs a push when he gets to the more challenging hills.

Kimo has not ridden much, only 3 months on a hand cycle, and never a century. When he finished his first century today, he had a huge smile on his face. Although he could not speak, he was able to tell everyone how much riding each and every mile today meant to him. How much pride and joy he had. He said he cried the last 20 miles because he could not contain the emotional high of riding 100 miles. He is a true inspiration to everyone on this ride and he wants to continue riding more Challenges.

Tomorrow is Sponsor Jersey Day and also Women's Day. The shortest route of the Challenge from Georgetown to Killeen gives the riders a break from the past two high mileage days. With even better weather in the forecast, the riders are excited for the remaining days of the Challenge.