The Air Force Cycling Team converged at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, N.C., to begin a four-day, 340-mile bike ride to the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Va. This year, 225 riders set off on the Memorial to Memorial (M2M) Ride from Sept. 12 to 15. The ride raised more than $40,000 for AFA’s Wounded Airmen and Guardians Program.
Conceived by former Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David L. Goldfein and retired Brig. Gen. Robert “Surf” Beletic, the event launched three years ago with three objectives: Celebrate Air Force heritage, promote fitness and recruiting, and support Wounded Airmen and Guardians. Reflecting the true feeling of teamwork that embodies the event, both Beletic and Goldfein don’t just organize the ride, they participate in the entire journey too.
This year’s ride featured nearly 100 more riders and raised twice the funds as 2023. The ride has grown almost entirely by word of mouth, Beletic said. Many of the riders indicated they were convinced to join this year after a friend or colleague had done so last year. And though each rider made the journey in support of AFA’s Wounded Airmen and Guardians Program, many also had personal motivations. For some, it was an opportunity to test themselves in a physical challenge. Others came in honor or support of a wounded Airman they personally knew. Many joined as a means of reconnecting with the Air Force after retiring.
Paula Roy, formerly AFA’s Director of Airmen and Family Programs, said she has supported the event every year since its inception “for the cause and for the Air Force family to support the needs and funds for those that have given so much of themselves.”
While the riders’ motivations were as unique as the individuals themselves, one consistent theme cut across the entire peloton: fun! Not surprisingly, most riders were already cycling enthusiasts, so the chance to bike for hours at a time through serene landscapes while connecting with other Airmen and Guardians was too great to pass up. Even after coming into a rest stop 91 miles into a 106-mile route with heads covered in sweat, the smiles on their faces were eclipsed only by the determination to push through the last 15 miles of the day.
The entire event is marked with camaraderie, support, and enthusiasm—even from spectators. Motorists and other cyclists cheered or gave a fist pump to the riders as soon as they saw their Air or Space Force insignia on their kits. By the end of the journey, all the riders had forged new friendships.
AFA sponsored two wounded Airmen from the Air Force Wounded Warrior (AFW2) Program to participate in the ride. They shared their stories with their fellow riders and supporters both to inspire everyone to push to the last mile and to remember that, amid all the fun, is a great cause they are supporting.
Beating Cancer and Stereotypes
Senior Master Sgt. Nikki Favuzza and her family were eagerly awaiting the arrival of their third child in 2018 persistent headaches and a lump on the hard palate in her mouth led her doctors to order screening tests. Then, just before she went into labor, they delivered the news: She had cancer. Not one to back down from a challenge, her focus immediately shifted to recovery. “Everything moved so quickly,” she recalled about hearing the news. “I didn’t really have a lot of time to think. I just looked to the doctor and asked, ‘What’s next?’”
Favuzza’s daughter was born without incident, but her journey to recovery was just beginning. Diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare form of cancer in the salivary glands, Favuzza and her husband had to juggle treatment and three young children at home. She underwent 30 rounds of radiation, twice-a-day injections, and a 10-hour surgery to remove parts of her jaw. After her maxillectomy, she would have to learn to eat and speak again.
But perhaps the worst part of her treatment was the time she missed out on with her baby. “I couldn’t hold her because of the radiation,” she said. “But I’m spending all my days making up for it now.”
Favuzza was automatically enrolled in the Air Force Wounded Warrior (AFW2) Program. At first, she admits now that, she was “bitter” about having yet another obligation to tend to in between all her medical appointments. When she learned of the adaptive sports though, her outlook changed. She would rediscover her love for sports and even pick up some new ones, including archery, rifle shooting, powerlifting, and of course, cycling.
What excites Favuzza the most about cycling and the M2M ride is that it’s a team sport. “It’s almost symbolic of people who have gone through major adversities because whenever you feel like you’ve hit that wall and you’re running out of fuel, you can just drop off and someone else will pick up that slack,” she said.
Favuzza views the ride as a means of giving back to organizations that helped her through a difficult time. “My whole purpose is to thank everyone. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the program.” Favuzza set up a fundraiser page for the M2M ride and even brought her oncologist along to join the ride. Next year she hopes to talk her husband, an athlete himself, into joining as well.
Favuzza believes her optimistic attitude was key to her recovery and that this confident, upbeat mindset can help other patients or wounded warriors get through their struggles too. While the type of cancer she has is never truly cured, her condition is currently classified as NED, or no evidence of disease. “I don’t live with cancer,” she said. “Cancer lives with me.”
Teamwork in Trauma
Retired MSgt. Chris Jachimiec’s positive attitude belies a painful past. Starting in July 2017 and in the span of just nine months, Jachimiec faced a rapid succession of losses and no time to properly grieve. On Independence Day, he first learned about the death of a close friend and fellow Airman. Shortly after, he received an urgent message from his stepmother. When he called her back, he learned his brother had died by suicide.
Jachimiec soon learned that another close friend and colleague had also chosen suicide. In what would be his breaking point, on the very day of this friend’s funeral, he learned that yet another colleague had just died by suicide too. Reliving his story, he pondered, “What more can one human being go through?”
Soon Jachimiec found himself spiraling. “I coped with work and alcohol. I couldn’t stop,” he recalls. “I felt like the job was the distraction from me processing my emotions and when I got home, the alcohol was what fueled me from processing all the trauma and grief that were bubbling up.”
He is very open about his experiences because he focuses on the eventual positive outcome. “All of that is just part of the story. But it’s like, what’s the good that came of that? That’s where my mind goes.”
In early 2019 Jachimiec enrolled in the Wounded Warrior Program to help cope with of his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) where he met with other wounded Airmen who would become the basis of his recovery. Being able to share his ordeals with sympathetic ears finally provided him the outlet he needed to begin working through his trauma. “Those were the better therapists than actual mental health therapists, that peer-to-peer support.”
The program rekindled a passion for sports and gave him something to drive toward. He resumed cycling and later found out about M2M through his involvement in AFW2. He sees in cycling the same teamwork that got him through his recovery, emphasizing that Airmen do not need to go through their recovery alone. He sums up his advice to other wounded warriors in just seven words: “A pain shared is a pain halved.”
Now retired, Jachimiec’s Air Force career didn’t end the way he would have liked, but he stays connected to the Air Force through AFA and events like M2M. He also uses opportunities such as M2M to tell his story, give those around him an extra push to succeed, and ultimately, to just spread joy. “You never know who you’re going to inspire and make that day better for somebody.”
Ride With Us
The M2M ride has grown steadily each year, both in ridership and funds raised, with no sign of stopping now. If you’re interested in joining the community, visit afcycling.com/m2m-ride.
If you’d like to support Air and Space Forces Wounded Warriors like Nikki Favuzza and Chris Jachimiec, make a donation by scanning the QR code.