Valor Ride brings up veterans' issues

"The Valor Ride was a heck of a trip that I'll never forget," Curtis Friede of Kurt's Polaris said. "I learned that many veterans deal with complications from war every day. Not everyone's world is a fun, happy or safe place."

Friede and other veterans completed the 5,337 mile Valor Side-By-Side Ride 2023 on schedule Oct. 10, taking 22 days to ride from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to El Paso on the Texas-Mexican border. The 22-day trip was designed to increase awareness of veterans and their needs. The ride signifies that a veteran commits suicide every 22 minutes.

Through the ride Friede said he has been in touch with many veterans' organizations. Many told him the trek he was taking would be a dream for other service men and women. Hiking, camping and fishing in the mountains were talked about in detail, Friede said.

"We're planning three trips for veterans next year," Friede said. "They are going to be shorter trips in side-by-sides, staying alongside rivers or lakes so the veterans can fish. The side-by-sides make it possible for anyone to participate."

Valor Ride sponsors also provided 140 Hero Boxes for Friede and his crew to distribute to VFW and American Legion posts along the way. The boxes contained snacks, socks, coffee mugs and everyday items.

Through distributing Hero Boxes, veterans told Friede that there's a lot of things that veterans can't shake.

"The stories the veterans shared with us were gut-wrenching and made me teary-eyed. They're not all doing so well," Friede said. "When they come out of the service, getting back into the everyday grind has not been easy for them. Some people have a hard time coping with it."

"We can't help everyone," Friede said. "I've learned there's people that want and need help and we've got to figure out how to help them."

Friede's crew included a videographer and a social media manager, neither of whom had been on a side-by-side trip before. Friede was the only driver. Their support vehicle was driven by a team of two, who carried an extra side-by-side in a trailer, along with extra gas and tools.

The support vehicle met them at the end of the day. Some days Friede knew he would not be encountering any towns and carried extra gas.

"Mapping issues were an obstacle," Friede said. "Sometimes Google maps and OnX don't jibe. A few times the road ran out and we had resolved to keep going. We would have lost hours if we had to backtrack. Soon enough the road showed up again."

The side-by-sides Friede used were Polaris Expeditions. The only modifications included licensing and kits to be street legal, approved DOT tires and a Smart Link set-up for remote internet for cell service and mapping.

Throughout the ride over $16,000 was raised and donated to Mission 22 and The Special Forces Foundation.

The goals for the ride were to raise funds for active duty and retired veteran suicide prevention, while showcasing the exceptional performance and dependability of donated vehicles, states valorride on Instagram.

For updates check http://www.valorride.org and @valorride on Instagram.