Accessible Cycling

Obviously, the Penny Farthing in the picture above isn't an example of an accessible bike. I think that even if you didn't have additional needs it wouldn't be accessible!

When George was very young, we bought him a child's bike with stabilisers on it. At this point we didn't know that he had dyspraxia, so would find it very difficult to ride a bike, even with stabilisers. George had ridden tricycles at nursery, so he knew how to use the pedals, but he couldn't keep his balance on the child's bike, even with the stabilisers, and the bike just kept tipping over.

There's a playground a few miles from where we live, which is accessible for all children, where they have quite a few tricycles of different sizes, for all of the children to use. George used to love riding one of their tricycles around at the playground, and it was fabulous to see him having such a great time, without the worry of him trying to keep his balance.

At George's primary school, when the children were in Year 5 they did Bikeability Level 1, and they did Level 2 in Year 6. Unfortunately, George didn't have a bike because of his balance issues caused by dyspraxia, so I looked into getting him his own tricycle to enable him to take part. There was nowhere safe for George to use a tricycle near to where we lived, so I was looking for a tricycle that could be split for transporting in the car.

I found a company, Tomcat, in Gloucestershire that made tricycles like that. I contacted them and they said that they did home visits to assess the needs of the rider and to check measurements to get a tricycle of the correct size. I asked at George's primary school if the Tomcat assessment could be done there, as there was more space there than at home. The school agreed and Tomcat went to the school with a couple of different tricycles for George to try and to check his measurements. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there, but some of the school staff said it was brilliant to see George whizzing around on the school playground, when he was trying out the different tricycles.

Tomcat got in touch with their recommendations for a tricycle for George, which came to a cost of around £2,500 . Unfortunately, accessible items usually cost a lot more than other items that don't need to be accessible. Fortunately, I was able to get a grant from a disability charity to pay for most of it and I paid £500 towards it. George chose the colour red for his new trike and the order was placed.

When it was completed, Tomcat got in touch and said that they would be unable to deliver the trike for a few weeks, but I could get it straight away if I collected it and I wouldn't be charged for delivery. I arranged with George's school for him to have a day off to collect it and we headed off to Gloucestershire. George had a go of his new trike on Tomcat's carpark and they checked the measurements were OK. Finally, they showed me how the trike could split and it was put in the boot of my car.

Now that George had his own trike he was able to do Bikeability Levels 1 and 2 at school, with his classmates. We went out to different places, so George could ride his trike too. Eventually, as all children do, George grew too big for his trike and couldn't ride it anymore, but while he could ride it, he really enjoyed it.

Clearly a trike wouldn't work so well for John, as he's not going to see where he's going! However, tandem bikes are great! John can pedal, while someone else steers and brakes. The tandem bikes that most people are used to have one person sitting at the front (the guide) and the other person sitting behind them. These don't work so well for John because he can't hear what the guide is saying to him, as he's facing their back. There are tandem bikes that allow the two users to sit side-by-side. The guide or carer, as they're usually referred to with this type of tandem, sits on the right and controls the steering and brakes. The other person sits on the left.

Again, the side-by-side tandems are very expensive, as they're usually used by people with additional needs. Plus they are quite large, so there's an issue of storage and transportation. We would love to have a side-by-side tandem for John and I to use, but there are issues of cost, storage and transportation to think of.

There is a charity called Green Door, based in Stoke-on-Trent, that hires out side-by-side tandems, as well as other types of bikes - such as a hand trike (pedalling with hands instead of feet) and other accessible bikes/trikes. You can hire them for 30 minutes or an hour and ride them around Westport Lake, which is where Green Door are based.

John and I visited the other day and hired a Van Raam Fun2Go side-by-side tandem. Unfortunately, the previous hirers brought it back with the carer's seat soaking wet, so Green Door removed the cushions and put a couple of towels in their place. It wasn't too uncomfortable, so John and I set off on our pedal (not paddle!) around the lake.

There are a lot of Canada geese around, who really don't care if they wander in front of you(!), so you do have to be on the look out for them as you cycle around.

There is really nice cafe nearby, so once we'd finished pedalling around the lake, we went and had a hot drink, and something to eat.

It's definitely worth a visit if you're in the area.