From Wheelchair To Bicycle -- Specialized Bikes Allow Disabled To Experience Freedom Of A Ride

The most memorable feeling at the Summer Academy? The light-stomached rush of a good bike ride.

Students at the RCH Technical Institute's Stepping Stones Summer Academy for the disabled stormed the Burke-Gilman Trail last week on specially designed bicycles as part of their training.

For many of the 22 students attending the summer program, the bicycle ride was their first.

"All of a sudden, they have this great sense of movement," said Johna Peterson, director of SKIFORALL, the Bellevue nonprofit group that provided the bicycles and training for the class at Tracy Owen Station Park in Kenmore.

Peterson, a recreation therapist, said the bicycles were built by a variety of companies around the country. Some of the bicycles have three or four wheels and some were built for people who can only use their upper bodies. One model can carry a person who has very little mobility at all.

"I love it," said 18-year-old Mandy Hess, gearing up to take off on a three-wheel bike she pumps with her arms. "I want my mom to come and see this."

Hess, who was born with spina bifida and spends most of the day in her wheelchair, said she has a three-wheel bicycle sitting at home in Bellingham. But it has regular foot pedals, and she doesn't have the strength in her legs to use it.

On the new hand-powered bike, Hess quickly disappeared down the trail.

SKIFORALL rents out the bicycles, which range in cost from several hundred to several thousand dollars, at a rate of $20 for about four hours. It also offers in-line skating, river rafting, hiking and other sports for people with various disabilities. Peterson said she just recently organized a hiking program for the blind.

Todd, a 16-year-old who became a quadriplegic after an accident with a gun, went for a spin on a two-seater bike with SKIFORALL volunteer John Stevenson.

"He told me it was reminding his body that he's still alive," Stevenson said.

RCH Technical Institute, formerly the Resource Center for the Handicapped, is a 15-year-old private technical college that teaches computer programming and other skills to people with disabilities. It runs the six-day Stepping Stones Summer Academy each year with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.