Project Echelon Honored with the 2022 American Red Cross Brave Heart Award
We educate, equip, and empower veterans and their families through physical activity and self discovery.
The Veteran Community
Veteran Feature Story
by: Scott Seeberger
I am extremely honored to be included in your Project Echelon newsletter. My wife and I reside in Bluemont, Virginia (located near the Appalachian Trail along the Blue Ridge Mountains) with our two golden retrievers. We also have four children who are now grown and living on their own. I have enjoyed cycling throughout my life, yet I only truly began to embrace the sport during the last 10 years. Traditional methods of exercise can affect your joints over time. Thankfully, cycling is an activity I can enjoy without this concern. There is definitely something freeing about cycling and I find the solitude of riding along the back country roads of Virginia extremely therapeutic. I am sure many of you can relate to this.
Years ago, I graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and began a career as a naval aviator. I flew a cold war relic known as the Lockheed P-3C Orion sub hunter - it was a great aircraft to fly. We had a crew of 12 personnel onboard and would often fly 10+ hour missions searching for a needle in a haystack. Given the fairly large crew and difficulty of locating a submarine in the middle of the ocean, teamwork and precision were required to achieve success. I learned a great deal about communication, professionalism and leadership while flying this aircraft. Most importantly, as a mission and patrol plane commander, I learned the significance of taking care of your people. Besides flying the P-3C, I also served as a Navy instructor pilot, worked for NATO, trained pilots in the Iraqi Air Force and worked with our Navy’s surface warfare community. I was privileged to learn from many great Navy leaders and was honored to command a handful of Navy units. Just as I learned the importance of taking care of your people in my early days of flying, I learned the same on a larger scale as a commanding officer.
Today, I work as a commercial airline pilot for United Airlines flying the Airbus A320 out of Washington Dulles Airport. I also train new pilots on the A320 as a Line Check Airman and conduct check-rides in our A320 simulator in Denver, Colorado. I have been flying for United for 25 years and have flown the B727, B757, B767, and B777. It has been a fulfilling career, although there have been some storm clouds and turbulence - including 9/11, company bankruptcy, a merger with another airline, and the more recent COVID pandemic. These events required a certain degree of resiliency on the part of all airline employees.
Two years ago, I became involved with a United business resource group known as United for Veterans (U4V), where I serve as the Washington DC Chapter Director. U4V is dedicated to helping Veterans within our company, as well as within the local community. It is through U4V that I first became connected with Project Echelon. Our Washington DC U4V chapter has cycled in the Armed Forces Cycling Classic for the past two years and supported Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). TAPS provides compassionate care for family members navigating the difficult process of losing a service member. Rob Laybourn of Arlington Sports (organizer of the Armed Forces Cycling Classic) asked me late last year if United would consider supporting a professional cycling team that performs a mission similar to TAPS. I was all ears as he explained what Project Echelon was about and fully appreciated their resolve to address the serious issue of suicide in our armed forces. This discussion led to United providing support for the team at this year’s Cycling Classic, while we collectively raised $26,000 for TAPS. I am proud to see United partner with Project Echelon and help support their effort to turn Veterans’ struggles into strengths.
Thank you again for the opportunity to tell a little about myself and thank you for all that you do for our Veterans. I hope the United Airlines and Project Echelon partnership continues to grow. If you are ever flying United, please stop by the flightdeck before departure and say hello. Perhaps you will see yours truly piloting your flight!
----------
Dennis Connors Repeats as national Champion
Dennis will be representing Team USA in the 2022 UCI Paracycling World Championships in Canada during the month of August.
Matthew Richards wins the State Criterium championships
"Coming into the Wisconsin State Criterium Championship I was in perfect form to take home the win and I knew it was possible. The game plan was to go out and try to push the pace on the front early on to see how the field would react. I never had the intention to make a strong enough attack to make it stick, but wanted to make it hurt for everyone, including myself. Roughly halfway through the race, I wanted to sit up a bit and let everyone else work to bring back the solo break that was 20 seconds up the road. Conserving energy was my motive toward the end.
The instructions that I got from my coach were to be first into the last corner to secure the top step of the podium. With 2 laps to go everyone started getting restless but I knew I had everyone outsmarted. Into the last 400 meters, I sat 4th wheel waiting for the marker where my coach and I discussed I needed to be 1st coming into, which was about 50 meters from the final corner and 100 meters from the finish. Took a perfect line on the inside coming into the finishing stretch in first and the victory was mine." - Matthew
Corey Fitzgerald Wins his first-ever bike race
“I have been working with Project Echelon since 2019, although riding bicycles much longer and racing since 2017. My focus was mostly on criterium racing and cyclocross events as they were shorter and fit my style of racing better. This year I decided to change it up after some talks with some other close veteran athletes within Project Echelon and focus more on XC racing and making a push for XC Marathon Nationals this coming fall.
It’s been quite the change this year as the endurance needed for these events is longer than what I am used to. Because of this, three words that I have come to embrace this season more so than ever are, consistency, trust and perspective. Although the results didn’t come as quickly as I would of thought or liked, the progress has been steady and the trajectory increasing. I scored my first win (ever) just a few weeks ago and was able to follow it up with another podium the following week. Keeping it all in in front of me, knowing what the end goal is keeps me motivated through out the season. Being consistent with my training and being efficient in said training is key. Along with trusting the plan laid forth by my coaching will get me to that end goal is key.
With the support of Project Echelon and my fellow teammates like Kyle Dow and Adam Zimmerman, I’m confident going into this fall season with Nationals right around the corner. Thanks to our supporters, sponsors and everyone who helps with this amazing operation!”
* * *
Project Echelon is always looking to connect with new veterans, as well as veteran friends and family. Contact us on social media or through our website at www.projectechelon.org.
Take That Hill and Purple heart homes
Project Echelon will be collaborating with Purple Heart Homes this fall to host the Take That Hill event which was held both virtually and in person in 2021. Brad Borders is one of the leaders behind the event which raised more than $55,000 last year. Here's more from Brad:
In 2020 the world shut down and non-profits doing good were forced to rethink traditional ways of generating revenue, and no one knew what would work. Phil Gaimon rode his bike up a hill a bunch fo times in his first “Everesting” attempt and raised over $100,000 for a charity called No Kid Hungry. I love riding bikes and saw this effort and thought, “I could do something like that”. At the time as a fairly fit 54-year-old cyclist, Everesting was out of the question. I am a Veteran and serve at a charity called Purple Heart Homes and we provide housing solutions for disabled Veterans. With that in mind, I thought we should call it “Take That Hill” and I’d ride 10,000 feet in one ride to honor my friends who fought in the mountains of Afghanistan. My expectations were moderate at best. But then folks started hearing about the plan and offered to ride with me. And it grew, we didn’t know what we were doing. I found this amazing organization called Project Echelon and reached out to the co-founder in Eric Hill and it was on from there. So, the event was scheduled for Oct 24th, 2020 and we had a team of 17 cyclists riding a 2-mile stretch of road 16 times. In that crowd were Veterans, friends, and pro riders from Project Echelon. And it was amazing, stupid, hard, long but so meaningful. We came up with a catchphrase called completely stupid but not utterly pointless, and it was all that!
I thought we’d raise a few thousand dollars, but instead, it was $30,000, and then we did it again in 2021 raising $55,000. Our board said “Great job, do better!”
So here we are in 2022 and we are doing it again with a few changes. In 2020 and 2021 we were limited to a few riders due to COVID and that hill repeats on a tough climb would not safely accommodate a bunch of riders. And we needed a proper venue to expand the event. So we made some changes to get more folks out. We are still taking that hill, but just once and competing for the KOM. We have three different routes, 80, 60, and 35 miles, and the 80 will be mixed surface as well. We are starting and ending at Southern Distilling in Statesville NC and we will have a festival feel all day. And each rider will get a 12x18 American flag to carry in honor or memory of a Veteran they love.
I’m most excited because not only are we raising support for Veterans through Purple Heart Homes, but we are also including Project Echelon in the proceeds raised. I not only believe in the mission of Project Echelon, but I’m a Veteran athlete within that community and benefit greatly. We are trying to create a destination event in the fall that folks will want to come back to year after year, have an incredible time, see the amazing countryside and be a part of something bigger than themselves all while doing something we love, turning cranks on our bikes.
Project Echelon Racing Team News
Project Echelon is in the midst of its most successful season in team history. First up was the Redlands Bicycle Classic where Tyler Stites finished 2nd on Stage 1. It wasn’t long before Stites took the win in the Stage 3 time trial which put him into 2nd on GC heading into the infamous Sunset Loop road race.
The team executed perfect team tactics to place Stites in the winning move which vaulted him into the GC lead for good. Stites’ Redlands win was one of the biggest results in Project Echelon’s history, but there was much more to come…
A few days later, Project Echelon was in Silver City, New Mexico for the high-altitude Tour of the Gila. The team’s performance was one for the history books as they earned three stage wins, five stage podiums, and the overall Points Classification with Stites.
Next up was the Walmart Joe Martin Stage Race in Fayetteville, Arkansas, one of the biggest US races of the year for its professional UCI-ranking. Stites continued his fiery form by earning three consecutive 3rd place finishes in the opening days. Hugo Scala Jr. made it into the finishing breakaway in Stage 4 where he would go on to finish 3rd – Stites overcame a nasty crash to finish in the lead group and hold onto 3rd Overall at Joe Martin.
In between Joe Martin and the National Championships, Project Echelon headed to Virginia for the Armed Forces Cycling Classic. In addition to the races – where Scala Jr. finished 5th on Day 2 – the team met with United Airlines whose new partnership will raise over $25k for TAPS, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.
The National Championships are one of the biggest objectives of the year for every rider, and this year was no exception. First up was the US Pro National Championships in Knoxville, TN where Project Echelon would take on the nation’s best domestic and international pros.
Project Echelon put on a show in the US Pro Time Trial, finishing 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th with George Simpson, Zach Gregg, Tyler Stites, and Stephen Vogel. Scala Jr. finished 5th in Friday night’s US Pro Crit, and then it was time to rest before Sunday’s epic road race.
The US Pro National Championships Road Race course is notorious for heat, humidity, and the Sherrod Road Climb. This year, the men’s pro peloton tackled the climb more than ever before, but that only played into the hands of Project Echelon.
Gregg and Scala Jr. made it into the break of the day alongside professional riders who have spent most of their careers in Europe. That breakaway nearly made it to the line, but they were caught by the small peloton on the final lap of the race. Scala Jr. overcame cramps to make it back to the head of the race, and he was even chasing down moves in the final miles.
In the end, one rider was able to get away, but Stites launched out of the field to win the sprint for second – 2nd at US Pro Nats is the biggest result in Project Echelon’s history, and it was so fitting that it came from such a strong team effort.
The following week, a small team headed to the US Elite National Championships where they would face many of the country’s top amateur riders – there are many amateur teams which can also compete at the US Pro National Championships, including Project Echelon.
Gregg repeated as US Elite Time Trial Champion while Dr. Vogel finished 3rd. The following day, Project Echelon set out to win the road race. I (Zach Nehr) joined the team for my first national-level road race since 2019, and we blew the race to bits on the final climb of the day. Unfortunately, there were still seven miles to go and we got caught by the peloton.
But that didn’t stop Scala Jr. and Will Hardin from finishing 2nd and 3rd in the field sprint. So close… Two days later, the team lined up for the US Elite Criterium Championship. Scala Jr. finished 5th at the end of the day, frustrated again to miss out on the win, but also showing that he is one of the strongest and best all-around riders in the domestic peloton.
In July, Monk Feehery overcame a massive crash to finish 5th at the Boise Twilight Criterium – that result puts him into the lead of both the Sprint Classification and the Overall Classification in the American Criterium Cup.
The team will head to Europe this summer for an action-packed calendar of racing unlike anything in the US. In between that and the Green Mountain Stage Race, the team will head to a number of national-level criteriums, regional stage races, and the US Track National Championships.
----------
2022 Sponsors: Bio-Tech Pharmacal, Bryton, Brioso Coffee Pirelli Tires, Koo, & Vafels
Bio-Tech Pharmacal is an industry leading, veteran owned, family operated nutraceutical company based out of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Fayetteville is a booming cycling community and Bio-Tech has seen the benefit that cycling tourism and the industry as a whole has brought to their region. We couldn't be happier to be partnering with them to educate others on the importance of proper nutrition and equip them with top of the line, science-based training tools like tri-salts and vitamin D3.
Bryton is a Taiwanese-based company that is making waves in the cycling computer industry. Their top of the line computer graphics, maps, data tools, and affordable price point, make them the device of choice for the team.
Who doesn't like coffee and bikes? This small town Columbus, Ohio based company has big dreams of changing the coffee industry in the United States. Inspired by some of the best cafes from around the world, you won't be disappointed by the unique roasts produced at Brioso. Sign up for their subscription service today!
We ride with confidence with Pirelli. Whether you are ripping the final corner of a crit, descending down slopes of a mountain, or throwing some dust on the mountain bike, Pirelli is our tire of choice and gives us the confidence to perform at the highest level.
A clear vision is the key to success. Koo eyewear is one of the best in the industry in both performance and style.
Don't let your rides get boring with the same old ride food. Switch it up and get excited about reaching into your back pocket with Vafels.
----------
Follow Project Echelon on Social MEdia
Instagram: Project Echelon (@projectechelon) and Project Echelon Racing (@projectechelonracing)
Facebook: Project Echelon and Project Echelon Racing
Thank You to All Our Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Credits:
Photos by Snowy Mountain Photography and Kai Caddy