A bicycle built for two is good, but a tricycle or handcycle may be even better.
Despite needing a motorized wheelchair to get around, Ranae Beeker was excited to show others at the recent Bikes for All event how adaptive bikes can create the same empowering experience as a classic bicycle. It took a bit of help from friends, but she and Sandi O’Kelly found themselves seated, strapped in and pedaling side-by-side in a recumbent tandem bicycle built for two.
“Biking is a great initial step (to get outside),” Beeker said. “We live in such a beautiful area that has beautiful parks and trails and ways to get around. It seems like a win-win.”
Arcie Elli brought her sons to the event. “I wanted them to have something more for themselves. This was right up their alley, and it helps us try to find something for longevity for them.”
Showcasing the bikes was program manager Taylor Moseley with Outdoors for All, an organization that began with a skiing-focused effort in the late 1970s before expanding to other activities like biking. “We’ll see kids get on when we put on an event like this for four hours,” Moseley said. “I don’t know if I can even ride for that long, but it shows just how much it means. It’s independence, socialization with your friends, and so many benefits of self-powering yourself.”
Tandem bikes are popular among these folks because they are social, powered by more than one person. Moseley explained that tandems have that catch-all design that makes them a go-to for just about anybody while assuring at least one person is in control of the bike. Seat positioning can also be key. “We call (the side-by-side) tandem a social tandem because—say it’s like a parent and a child that maybe has behavioral issues, the parent can see that and talk and manage that,” he said.
Meanwhile, therapy trikes come with all the fixings: back support, straps that help hold its rider on, built-in straps on the foot pedals and a fixed gear ensuring the pedals are always moving. “This is a great option for someone with coordination issues or muscle tone, weakness on one side, and they have trouble making circles with their feet,” Moseley said. “This bike does it for you.”
Of course, the parent or caregiver maintains some level of control as to where it goes with a special bar behind the backrest of the trike that reassures the rider and maintains that sense of independence.
Handcycles were also showcased as a solution for folks with lower body impairments. Moseley spoke about the science behind handcycles—which rather than using the alternating pedals of a typical bike, syncs the pedals for both arms. “Your legs are a lot stronger than your arms, so that (alternating) motion with your feet makes sense because each leg can push. With this, you’re able to use your triceps and biceps at the same time, so you get a lot more muscle out of it basically.”
Beeker, outreach coordinator for the Kitsap County Accessible Communities Advisory Committee, is credited as the brain behind Kitsap’s free annual on Bikes for All event, an afternoon of adaptive bike demonstrations and test rides for kids and adults with the help of Outdoors for All. Beeker said she had been on the committee only a short time before recognizing the similarities in the organizations’ missions to get everybody moving.
“We want to make sure that everybody identifies a way to get outside,” she said. “It was a little bit more challenging than we anticipated, but I am tenacious, and we figured out how to do it.”
