September was
Bay State Bike Month in Massachusetts, and this year’s event listings included opportunities to try adaptive biking and adaptive mountain biking on Cape Cod. These events were part of Spaulding Adaptive Sports Center’s regular offerings, which are open to the general public with disabilities as well as Spaulding patients. Adaptive cycling is one of many
adaptive sports that Spaulding offers.
Spaulding’s adaptive cycling is available in Boston and on the North Shore as well as on Cape Cod. Many participants are ages 50 and older, although in an average year they work with riders from age six to 96. Participants include people with spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, amputations, Parkinson’s, visual impairments, and Autism, as well as people recovering from surgery or a stroke. Physical, occupational, and recreational therapists staff each session, and they have a wide range of bikes to meet individuals’ needs, including upright and lower recumbent bikes, leg-powered and hand-powered bikes, and bikes that can be connected together into a tandem. Staff tailor the bikes for each participant, such as adding cushions for people with sensitive skin or Velcro wraps for people who need extra grip support, and also adapt the bikes over time as participants’ needs change.
Sessions last 90 minutes and cost $20. New participants begin with an intake process so staff can get to know them, understand what type of supports they need, and prepare a bike for them. One or two staff accompany each rider on their ride. Some riders participate as part of a recovery process or to make progress on a physical therapy goal, while for others the rides are recreational. Riders who can ride 24 miles can sign up for a special season-end ride on Martha’s Vineyard every October.
Amrith Fernandes Prabhu, a regular participant in Boston and North Shore sessions, explained that when she began, she needed the upright hand cycle, but as she biked more and grew stronger, she was able to transition to the lower recumbent bike, which goes faster: “I didn't even know I was capable of riding the lower recumbent until they suggested that I might be strong enough to do so, and it was really a combination of my working on strengthening as well as the staffs' encouragement that has propelled me forward. Earlier this summer, I couldn't have biked more than five or six miles at a stretch, but I recently completed a 25-mile ride in just a few hours. The opportunity that Spaulding provides really helps me feel like I've accomplished something,” she says.
For those who get serious about cycling, Spaulding maintains a list of grant opportunities and provides a letter of support to riders applying for funding to purchase their own adaptive bike. For riders biking in traffic, Keja MacEwan, Network Coordinator for Spaulding Adaptive Sports Centers, notes that dedicated bike paths and separated bike lanes can be particularly helpful for riders who use recumbent bikes, which are lower and thus may be out of the direct view of drivers. Spaulding also recommends that riders put bright orange flags on their bikes to increase their visibility. Riders who purchase their own bikes are still welcome to participate in Spaulding's sessions: "Even people who buy a bike sometimes come back here for the social aspect," shares Kathleen Salas, who oversees Spaulding's Boston and North Shore cycling.
