Local vet on a 2100+ mile journey for a good cause

Veteran cycling 2,100 miles for Wounded Warrior Project

Jodie Knox is a retired U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander. She retired after suffering a traumatic brain injury. Now she's cycling 2,100 miles — from Key West, Florida, to Kittery, Maine, to help raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

WASHINGTON - A local veteran is going a very long way for a very good cause.

The backstory:

Jodie Knox is a retired U.S. Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander. In 2022, she was hit by a car while cycling to work.

Knox suffered a traumatic brain injury that required months of outpatient care at Walter Reed. She also deals with injuries to her hips and back that make it difficult to walk and run – but not to bike.

Getting Back on the Bike:

"Getting back on the bicycle was extremely hard," Knox said Thursday. "Just the trepidation and the anxiety about that, the jumpiness at any intersection, and then eventually getting to where I felt comfortable on it again, and then I felt alive on it again because I could move fast. I could go far."

As it turns out, very far.

Knox is currently more than halfway through what she’s calling "Key West to Kittery," a roughly 2100 mile bike ride from Florida to Maine. She's doing it in hopes of raising $30,000 for Wounded Warriors Project and Achilles International.

"I just wanted to do something. I have an adventurous spirit. I’m like afflicted with the need to just live fully," she said on a stop in her hometown of D.C.

"I think if I were to say I’m proud of myself on anything, it’s just that I haven’t quit," Knox added. "Can I do it 27 days in a row? I guess the answer is yes. Can I do it 42? We’ll see."

What's next:

Knox plans to hop back on her bike and continue her journey Saturday. Her hope is to make it to Maine by May 20.

If you'd like to donate – or if you want more information about "Key West to Kittery" – you can click here.