Bike First! in the news
We love to see Bike First! in the news. Please send news stories
to annbikefirst@gmail.com.
Oregon Outdoor Recreation Summit: “Bike First! Inclusion
through Community Programming”
https://www.oregontrailscoalition.org/summit
December 5-7, 2024
Floor Director Emma Flynn and Leader and Asst. Safety Coordinator Owen McLafferty presented Bike First! Inclusion through Community Programming during the Oregon Outdoor Recreation Community Updates Plenary and Office Hours portion of the Oregon Outdoor Recreation Summit in Bend, Oregon. They shared the importance of inclusion of people with disabilities by sharing about how Bike First! focuses on rider safety and building confidence and independence.
The conference had many other presenters and organizations in attendance to discuss inclusion in their programs. The Bike First! team had the opportunity to connect with other recreation organizations, advocates, and supporters to continue teaching the importance of inclusion for all.
Including Students with Disabilities in Safe Routes to School Activities
https://www.oregonsaferoutes.org/including-students-with-disabilities-in-srts-activities/
Students with disabilities should be included in SRTS activities. There are countless benefits of participating in SRTS activities, including mental and physical. Please see below for some benefits, recommendations, and learning opportunities.
Benefits:
Learning bike and/or pedestrian safety
Understanding transportation options
Building confidence and a sense of independence
Empowering students
Contributing to social skills development
Recommendations:
Create SRTS materials that recognize students with disabilities.
Include pictures of students with disabilities in program messaging to highlight that SRTS programs are suitable for all students.
Reach out to parents and caregivers of students with disabilities to understand their specific needs and to collect input on the SRTS program.
Invite all students to participate in SRTS events and activities.
Before an event: Provide clear and easy-to-understand information on what to anticipate, how to engage, and explain the process of the activity.
Talk about disabilities in a thoughtful way to normalize the different ways people can be pedestrians or bicyclists.
Share the honest limitations the SRTS team may have in including students of all abilities while being open to creative and unexplored ideas from the school staff, parents, educators, etc.
–San Mateo County SRTS March Newsletter
Learning Opportunities:
Attend the SRTS National Partnership May 15th webinar from 11-12 pm on Engaging and Including Students with Disabilities in Safe Routes Programs.
Read the SRTS National Partnership write-up on Engaging Students with Disabilities in SRTS.
Thank you to Ann Donaca, Founder and Director of Bike First!, for the fantastic photos.
National Safe Routes to School: Bike First! Presentation
”Engaging and Including Students with Disabilities in Safe Routes Programs”
Walk, Ride, and Roll Webinar Series, May 15, 2024
Giving kids a first on two wheels
By Liz Blodgett, News Editor
March 19, 2019
Bike riding is among the many childhood stepping stones most people have taken. However, many adults, teens, and children with disabilities don’t know how to ride a bike or even have the skills to. Bike First is a way that these individuals can learn the skills to ride a bike.
Ann Donaca started this program 16 years ago when her son, Cody Sullivan, wanted to ride his bike with his friends. Realizing that typical bike riding methods wouldn’t teach Cody to ride a bike, Ann found adapted bikes that help teach them the skills needed to ride a typical bike. Since then, Bike First has grown to where it is today. Each year, the program allows many children with various disabilities with the ability to ride a two-wheel bike by the end of the week.
“Bike First! opens eyes to the importance of providing healthy, robust lives for everyone,” Donaca said.
Each of the volunteers gets to experience Bike First! in different ways. Some volunteers are running behind the rider, ensuring they are stable and biking at a safe pace. Others run in front of the rider to keep them engaged and show them where to ride. Others are on the sidelines cheering on the riders as they pass by.
Clackamas Community College student Noah Kurzenhauser has volunteered at Bike First! for four years.
“At the end of the day, it boils down to ‘inclusion’”, Kurzenhauser said. “So often, the kids want to learn so they can bike with their friends during summer break without training wheels or join their family on bike rides. It’s the concept of normalcy, really,”
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Learning to ride a bike builds confidence for disabled kids
Mason couldn’t seem to get the hang of riding a bike.
“He was using training wheels, and every time I raised them, he wouldn’t ride,” said his father, Jeff Frenzel.
Frenzel heard about a program in Portland called Bike First! that helps kids with Down syndrome, like 15-year-old Mason, learn how to ride. Father and son traveled from Albany and lived in a hotel during the week-long clinic at Concordia University in Northeast Portland last week. On the first day, Mason did really well. Tuesday was not so good, but by Wednesday, he was up on two wheels. “Tears were flowing down my cheeks,” Frenzel said.
And by Friday, Mason was wheeling around the former tennis court outside the gymnasium like he’d been riding for years. The Bike First! program was launched six years ago by Concordia Professor Ann Donaca to help her son, who has Down syndrome.
“Cody was ten years old and weighed 100 pounds,” Donaca said. “He wanted to ride, but he couldn’t do it.”
She read an article about an organization called Lose the Training Wheels, a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit devoted to helping kids with disabilities ride bikes. “I couldn’t bring Cody to the camp, so I brought the camp here,” Donaca said. She formed a Portland affiliate and attracted sponsors such as River City Bicycles and Multnomah Athletic Foundation.
The camp is always held the first week after school lets out. Volunteers, many from local high schools or recent graduates, work with the kids. Each session includes eight students and goes for 75 minutes. With five sessions a day, that works out to about 240 kids since 2006.
“We have a 97 percent success rate,” said Hillary Dodge, a 16-year-old Grant High School junior volunteering at the camp for five years. “Kids with autism or Down syndrome have balance problems,” Dodge said. “What takes a typical kid two hours, they take a week.”
But they get there with special bikes and a lot of support and encouragement. “It’s impressive what kids can do,” said Elliot Vaughn, a recent Wilson High School graduate.
Bike First! cyclists take summer for a spin during Bike First! 2015
It was a week of triumph and achievement for the 52 aspiring cyclists enrolled in Bike First! and Quick Start! / Refresher Clinics. For the tenth year running, Bike First! week-long clinic brought smiles to the faces of the riders, volunteers, parents, and guardians alike. Cyclists of all ages and abilities made excellent progress developing the skills needed to ride typical two-wheeler bicycles.
The spirit of the community and inclusion rang loudly throughout the week as 45 outstanding volunteers contributed their time, energy, and compassion.
Thank you to Original Joes and Boomers BBQ for lunch each day (they’ve been with us for ten years!), Concordia University for donating the use of the gymnasium (eight years!), Multnomah Athletic Foundation (eight years!) and Safe Routes to Schools (seven years!).
Read more at www.cu-portland.edu/about/life-fast-lane