This summer, iCan Shine is hosting a bike camp for kids with disabilities to learn how to ride a conventional two-wheel bicycle.
Research shows that over 80% of people with Autism and 90% of people with Down syndrome never experience riding a bike during their lifetime.
A Bike Camp for Kids with Disabilities
iCan Bike uses adapted bicycles, a specialized instructional program and trained staff to enable individuals with disabilities to learn to ride a conventional two-wheel bicycle. For five days in a row, riders attend one 75-minute session where they learn to ride while being accompanied and encouraged by volunteer “spotters.” Over the course of the week, they modify the bikes’ stability in order to challenge students’ balance as they learn to ride.
The iCan Bike summer camp outcomes have been described as amazing by parents, teachers, and therapists. Approximately 80% of riders will be able to ride a traditional two-wheel bicycle independently after one week. The remaining 20% make significant progress.
Camp Information:
Ages 8 and up
June 21st to 25th, 2021
75-minute sessions per day
Location: Ranch Events Complex 5280 Arena Circle Loveland, CO 80538
Hosted by: Northern Colorado Down Syndrome Association
For more information on how to register for the camp Click Here.
Background on the iCan Bike Summer Camp for Kids with Disabilities
Dr. Richard E. Klein, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his students spent more than two decades developing a customized iCan Bike program. Dr. Klein left his academic position at the University of Illinois in 1998 and founded the first bike camp for kids with disabilities in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1999.
Dr. Klein and his wife, Marjorie, spent the next few years devoting a substantial amount of their lives to expanding the bike program to three fleets of bikes and roughly 30 camps by 2006. Dr. Klein and Marjorie are now co-founders of Rainbow Trainers, Inc. (www.rainbowtrainers.com), the company that makes adapted bicycle gear that is used in the iCan Bike program.
About iCan Shine
iCan Shine is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization whose mission is to provide quality learning opportunities in recreational activities for individuals with disabilities. Through the iCan Bike program, iCan Shine has conducted over 100 five-day bike camps and after-school programs throughout the US and Canada teaching approximately 3,000 individuals with disabilities how to ride a bicycle each year. Since its inception in 2007, iCan Shine has successfully taught approximately 20,000 people with disabilities to ride a conventional two-wheel bicycle.