Al Lewis kept his promise.
A pilot in the Air Force, Lewis returned from his fifth tour in Afghanistan on Oct. 17. After picking up his dog in Colorado and taking a short family vacation, Lewis started training for the 28th annual El Tour de Tucson.
He had just three weeks to go all-out, but went through it for one main reason: The 31-year-old promised Army troops he was with he would wear a jersey promoting the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that helps soldiers once they return home.
"They gave me this shirt and I told them I'd ride in it for them," said Lewis, who finished 60th in the 109-mile race in 4 hours 36 minutes 44 seconds. "I'll take some pictures and e-mail it over to them. It's neat knowing that it's not just a random jersey. There's a lot of pride in this jersey."
Lewis, who also rode El Tour last year, is stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and has been to Afghanistan four times with the Air Force.
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Last spring, Lewis was given two days notice that he was headed back overseas to work with the Army. His main assignment was preparing Army generals for distinguished visitors.
When he had some free time, he got some work in on a stationary bike, but as Lewis pointed out, "it's nothing like racing through the streets of Tucson."
He spent seven months overseas before he returned to Tucson
So, what's next for Lewis?
Priority No. 1 is to get those pictures to his new friends in Afghanistan.
"I've already been communicating with them through e-mail and will continue to," Lewis said. "After I get them the pictures, I'll send them a bunch of coffee at Christmas. There's also a couple of guys over there that love signed baseballs. So, we have a baseball floating all over the country now and we're each signing it and passing it on. Hopefully we can get it to them by the holidays, because this is a rough time to be over there."
And when he's done with that, maybe Lewis will have some time to start preparing for his third El Tour.
