 adaptive bike (photo from Kids Wish Network) |
based on a news article in the Petoskey News
Kids with special needs will have one more place to enjoy the outdoors, possibly as soon as this summer, thanks to Challenge Mountain
Challenge Mountain, a non-profit organization based in Boyne City, Michigan, is dedicated to enriching and improving lives for the mentally and physically challenged through outdoor recreation.
They already provide opportunities for kids with special needs to ski, using special equipment to adapt to each special situation in the least restrictive manner possible. Now, board member Bob South says, "The end result we’re shooting for is having an adaptive trail where kids can learn mountain bike skills. It has to be adaptive for kids who have never ridden before and for kids with a variety of disabilities."
South has been planning the adaptive trail for about twelve years. On March 15, volunteers began walking the Challenge Mountain property to being choosing a route for the trail. A skills course of about 1.5 miles will be the first project.
Coupled with the trail building, a separate committee will work on raising the money needed to acquire a variety of adaptive bikes for kids to use. Such bikes are often custom built, and can be quite expensive. In addition to bikes which can be powered by a single child, some bikes will be special tandems, and other will be bikes with side-cars.
See XChallenge Mountain
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3 comments:
Challenge Mountain is a very appropriate name for the spot to build such a trail. What a wonderful idea.
My son goes skiing at Challenge Mountain. It's a wonderful place with great volunteers. It's great that they are adding even more facilities.
What a beautiful thing! Love to see people helping people.
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