Staff Sgt. Nieves Rodriguez couldn't just sit around.  He had to do something.

His life would go on and he had to show others that theirs would, too.  So Rodriguez starting bicycling.  Not having the use of his right arm wasn't going to stop him.

He has since recruited Sgt. Robert Mathews and the two can't get enough.

The two participate in rides with the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization dedicated to honoring and empowering wounded warriors, according to its Web site.  The project's purpose is "to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women, to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of severely injured service members."

Rodriguez, a native of Beeville, is a former Marine who joined the Army in October 1997.  He was serving his second deployment to Iraq in 2005 when the guntruck he was riding in was hit by a speeding car near Tikrit.  The truck flipped over and a .50-caliber gun cut off his arm at the elbow and shattered his femur.

Mathews, a Vidor native, was in Iraq for a third tour in December 2006 when he was shot in the back of his right tricep.

Both men had to learn to use their left hands to carry out tasks.  It came naturally for Rodriguez.  It was frustrating for Mathews at first, but eventually became a fun learning process, he said.

Rodriguez ended up at Fort Hood, first at its Noncommissioned Officers Academy and then the Warrior Transition Unit at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center.  Mathews was also assigned to the Warrior Transition Unit.

Both eventually got re-assigned to West Fort Hood's Operational Test Command after meeting Command Sgt. Maj. Lawrence Wilson, its former senior noncommissioned officer.

Transitioning from line units--truck driving for Rodriguez and infantry for Mathews--to Operational Test Command was a big change.  Not only were they still learning how to re-adjust to life without the use of their arms, they were now in a unit that was a far cry from their 88 Mike and 11 Bravo beginnings.

Rodriguez was used to using his hands, so it was a big change working in the protocol office and serving at the general's driver.  Mathews learned that he had to approach situations differently working as a training room noncommissioned officer.  He has to be more gentle than proactive and aggressive.  Plus, this is the first time he has worked with women, he said.

Both men want to stay in the Army and continue to serve until they retire.  Rodriguez, 36, has nearly 17 years of service and 25-year-old Mathews enlisted right after graduating high school.

Rodriguez learned about the Wounded Warrior Project online and knew he wanted to get involved.

The first time he hopped on a bicycle for an organized ride, he rode 50 miles.

"It was just the greatest thing ever," he said. "You're alone in your thoughts."

Mathews' first ride was just as enlightening.  He went the whole time without having to take any medications.  He was in pain, but he was too focused on how much fun he was having.  It's addictive, he said.  He went home on a natural high, feeling refreshed.

Both men ride bicycles developed specifically for them by a Temple shop, Sun Country Bicycles.

Rodriguez has since participated in four Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Rides throughout the United States.

There are so many negative issues surrounding wounded soldiers, that participating in events like these shows the public that there are still good things going on with these men and women, Mathews said.

It also shows other wounded service members how to get their lives back and continue forward.  Too many choose to sit at home and think about their problems, Mathews said.  Yet, there are people who are 10 times as worse--those with no legs pushing others to go on.

"If these guys can, I can, too," Mathews said of moving past his injuries.  "It doesn't change who you are."