RALEIGH, N.C. — There are about 40 state parks that are accessible to people with disabilities in North Carolina. One Triangle organization is working to increase that number while also introducing people with physical disabilities to the world of off-road cycling. A recent $20,000 grant from Dominion Energy is helping make that happen.
What You Need To Know
North Carolina Adapted Sports is a Triangle nonprofit working to make off-road cycling more accessible to people with disabilities
Adapted bikes are often wider than upright bikes which means paths or trails are not always easy to ride on
The organization’s co-founders are currently widening bridges and paths on trails at Lake Crabtree
A recent $20,000 grant from Dominion Energy is helping make those changes possible
This time last year, Tony Luparello and Wes Hall couldn’t safely ride on trails at Lake Crabtree County Park.
“I enjoy the challenge, exercise, the community it develops. Just kind of being out in nature more than anything else,” said Hall, the co-founder of North Carolina Adapted Sports.
Their bikes are adapted to their physical disabilities, making them wider than upright bikes, and most trails aren’t designed with that in mind.
“I have to navigate this bridge very carefully to get across it without dropping my wheels off the side,” Hall said.
With bridges in particular, they often have to stop in order to guide or “spot” each other.
“On a trail we want some flow and speed, this greatly reduces it. And I'm comfortable with this, I've done this enough, but for a beginner rider this will be very terrifying for them to get on. Could be worried you would drop off and the consequences aren't that bad. But if I drop a wheel off, I'm going to roll over. It's just guaranteed,” Hall said.
Pinch points, or areas on trails between two close trees, are also tricky for them.
They’re using their nonprofit, North Carolina Adapted Sports, to remove those barriers. They want to introduce cycling to more people with disabilities, but first the trails have to be wide enough.
“We're working with Wake County Parks and Rec and then through the grant from Dominion Energy, we're now moving forward. We already have moved forward on some bridges, but to get the bridges and the parks accessible and then change some pinch points or create some bypasses around some certain features,” Hall said.
The goal is for everyone to be able to ride on trails like the ones they recently updated at Lake Crabtree.
"We want to advocate for more accessible trails to become the norm. Normalize disability, normalize universal design and trail design. Not to make trails easier, but make trail equitable access to all. Then the main part of it is we want to ride people with disabilities. We want to get them on the trail riding and enjoy the woods, the nature, the challenges of it," Hall said.
Hall says that opportunity sparks independence and confidence, because there are fewer obstacles to slow them down.
“It's part of the healing process. I mean, I am not going to run like I ran when I played soccer, but I'm still pretty fast on my crutches. It’s finding your new sport, your new path in life,” Hall said.
By May, North Carolina Adapted Sports will have helped to widen 10 trail bridges at Lake Crabtree. After that, they want to tackle trails at Harris Lake County Park. They’re also working with Wake County to be involved in the planning process of new parks, so that trails are designed with different riders and accessibility levels in mind.
The nonprofit is also hoping to buy extra adapted bikes for people to try out, because they can cost as much as $11,000, which is another barrier for people with physical disabilities.