Improving Program Reach: Recumbent Trikes
Accessibility is important in creating equity for all in cycling, and adaptive cycles are a huge factor in creating a more inclusive cycling space where everyone feels welcome and encouraged to ride. In December of 2020, the BEST program acquired two recumbent trikes, Maverick TerraTrike x8s, to use for school programs, allowing students with adaptive needs to more fully participate in the programming, as well as giving non-adaptive students the opportunity to try out and understand the experience of riding recumbent. Before adding these trikes to the fleet, students with adaptive cycling needs were able to use striders (bikes without pedals), or bikes with training wheel stabilizers, but the options were more limited.
Recumbent trikes put less pressure on the rider’s back, knees, and hip joints, and the braking and shifting functions are part of the handlebar grip. After a recommendation from Wasatch Adaptive Sports, BEST moved all the shifting and braking functions to one side of the trike, allowing greater accessibility for riders who might not have full mobility with both arms. At one recent school program, a student with impaired mobility and left side adaptive needs was able to participate in the programming at the same level as their peers because of the trike and its one-sided functions, and they had a blast! At the end of the day they told BEST staff, “It’s great having everything [brakes and shifting] on one side!!”
Wheels for Wellbeing, a UK-based charity that works to increase access to cycling for disabled folks, carried out a survey in 2017 about the realities facing adaptive cyclists. They found that 69% of disabled cyclists find cycling to be easier than walking, and that 1 in 3 had been asked to dismount or walk their cycle, even though they were using it as a mobility aid. They also found that more than a third of disabled cyclists had experienced abuse and hate from bystanders while riding. The cost, infrastructure, and societal barriers surrounding adaptive cycling makes the activity both harder to access and to participate in.
BEST’s new recumbent trikes allow students who need them the ability to participate with their classmates and fully engage with the program’s learning material, as well as giving them an early introduction to cycling that fits their needs. The trikes also allow non-adaptive students to ride recumbent and get a feel for the experience, building empathy and understanding, ultimately helping to break down the barriers of prejudice surrounding adaptive mobility in the cycling community.
