ROBERTSDALE, Alabama -- On Tuesday, March 5, if you see a group riding bicycles along the highway in Baldwin County, you might want to stop and salute. Chances are, they are active military personnel or veterans who are recovering from injuries.

For the second year, the Gulf Coast Ride 2 Recovery Challenge will leave from New Orleans on Sunday, March 3 on a six-day, nearly 400-mile journey to the State Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla.

“This is a rehabilitation challenge,” said Ride 2 Recovery spokesperson Debora Spano. “Soldiers from all branches of the military participate in both mental and physical challenges as part of their recovery.”

On Sunday, riders will head from New Orleans to Gulfport, Miss., approximately 75 miles, before making the 64-mile trip from Gulfport to Mobile on Monday.

Then on Tuesday, participants will ride from Mobile a total of 61 miles to Orange Beach, including a stop for lunch at Oscar Johnson Park in Silverhill before continuing on through Florida, riding from Orange Beach to Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on Wednesday, from Fort Walton Beach to Panama City on Thursday, then from Panama City to Tallahassee on Friday, March 8.

“This is a good ride for those who don’t have a lot of experience riding,” Spano said. “It’s basically flat terrain the entire way.”

And getting to ride more than 130 miles along the beach from Gulf Shores to Panama City isn’t so bad either, she added.

Ride 2 Recovery began in California in 2008 as a way to provide rehabilitation for wounded soldiers, Spano said.

The first ride, which consisted of about 18 riders, was staged in Palo Alto, Calif. Later a ride was organized from Washington, D.C. to NASCAR’s Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, a ride of just under 200 miles.

“It has grown a lot since then,” Spano said. “More than 2,500 men and women have gone through the program over the last five years.”

The Ride 2 Recovery Challenge, which is put on by the Fitness Challenge Foundation in partnership with the military and Veterans Administration Volunteer Service Office, now consists of seven rides ranging in length from 350 to 450 miles.

Each ride is limited to 200 participants because of hotel space availability, Spano said, and thanks to sponsorships from corporations like United Healthcare, the rides are put on at no cost to the participating military personnel.

“All of their equipment, gear, rooms, meals, everything is provided by our sponsors,” Spano said. “We couldn’t do this without them.”

This year’s challenges began in January with the Vegas MTB Challenge followed by next week’s Gulf Coast Challenge.

In April, riders will participate in the Texas Challenge from Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio to Fort Worth, then the Memorial Challenge will take place beginning Memorial Day weekend in Washington, D.C., ending June 2 in Virginia Beach, Va.

In July, riders will participate in the Italy Challenge, which begins July 9 in Vicenza, Italy, ending at the Tour de France July 20 in Grenoble. The Great Lakes Challenge from Chicago to Detroit will be staged in August, followed by the Minuteman Challenge from Boston to Philadelpia in September and the California Challenge from San Francisco to Santa Monica in October.

For more information on the Challenges or for information on how to become a sponsor, visit ride2recovery.com or call 1-818-888-7091.

To see a gallery of photos from Wednesday's departure from Orange Beach, visit: http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com/area_news/collection_602d4ae0-8682-11e2-b418-001a4bcf887a.html