Eight men, seven legs and 3,051 miles: war-wounded British ex-servicemen race across America by bike (15pics)
A team of seriously-wounded British servicemen is about to complete one of the world's toughest endurance contests by cycling in the Race Across America. The handover for Team Battle Back was seamless as Mark Allen sped into the pit-stop in a tiny Colorado farm town and Steve Arnold powered off towards the swirling dust-storm obscuring the horizon. It was the latest stage in Race Across America, a coast-to-coast relay bicycle marathon through deserts, mountains and plains that is one of the most formidable endurance events in the world. The contest would be tough enough for the fittest able-bodied competitor. But Sgt Allen was riding with a prosthetic leg. And Staff Sgt Arnold was pumping the pedals of a hand bicycle with his arms from his near-horizontal position just inches from the road, the stumps of his missing legs in front of him. Supported by the charity Help for Heroes, the two men are members of a team of eight British war wounded with just seven legs - and a string of se