As part of National Bike Week, from 14-22 June, Activate Coast and Countryside, in partnership with Wessex Accessible Cycling Club (WACC), are holding an accessible cycling open day on Saturday 21 June.
Based at Moors Valley Country Park and Forest, WACC provide cycling opportunities to disabled people and to those who are unable to ride a conventional bike. They have a number of paracycles, including handcycles, trikes and trailer bikes, which meet the needs of those with a wide variety of impairments, and all of these will be available at the open day.
Added to this the CTC, a national cycling organisation, will be providing approximately 10 extra cycles and Team Hybrid, a paracycle manufacturer, will also be bringing a selection of their bikes along to the event.
For the event Moors Valley are closing off a section of their car park to provide a safe, traffic-free environment for people to trial the bikes and, for the more adventurous, WACC will have some rides around a few of the forest trails, led by their experienced ride leaders.
Event Organiser and Chairman of WACC, Terry Dennis, said: “The open day is vital for us to promote the paracycles that we now have available at Moors Valley and how they can make the park more accessible to people. They travel around the forest trails so much more easily than conventional mobility aids, so people can get to parts of the park that they would never have seen before.
“That’s without considering the health benefits. Statistics show that 80 per cent of disabled people aren’t doing any sport or physical activity at all, and here is an opportunity to gain some exercise in the fresh air, free of charge.”
He also wished to stress that this event, and the cycles that are based at Moors Valley, are not just for the use of disabled people. “We’re trying to encourage people to cycle, including families and friends of disabled people as well as those who don’t consider themselves as a disabled person but just can’t use a conventional bike. Everyone is welcome.”
The open day is being run on a drop-in basis, with no need to book, from 11.00am through to 5.00pm on Saturday 21 June. For further details email info@wessexacc.org.uk
