People with disabilities learn to ride bikes

June 15--Selena Heffernan used to fall down every time she tried to ride a bike.

That's not the case anymore.

Heffernan, 18, of Yuba City is one of more than 30 young people with disabilities who are learning to ride a bike independently this week at the iCan Bike Camp with help from staff members and about 60 volunteers.

"It really felt amazing, it felt like I was flying." Heffernan said, after successfully riding a bike for the first time.

The recent high school graduate said the camp has built her confidence and that of other participants.

"I love that this camp is helping kids, including myself, that have special needs and feeling like they can do anything," Heffernan said. "The experience has been very enjoyable and interesting. I just to love how the directors and volunteers helped so many kids build confidence and be able to ride in their own special way and at their own pace."

Her mother, Donna Van Maanen, also said Heffernan's confidence is what she noticed most about the experience.

"The biggest transformation is the confidence," Van Maanen said. "Because she's not afraid, she has grown in her confidence and now she's cocky in a wonderful way on the bicycle and the smile on her face tells the whole story."

Van Maanen said the camp experience will help Heffernan with other aspects in life.

"This will carry her through to a lot of other things because every step of living for her is a huge challenge, so for her to succeed in this gives her the confidence to keep trying the next thing and the next thing and the thing after that," she said.

Watching Heffernan learn to ride brought back memories of Van Maanen's father teaching her how to ride a bike.

"We were out in a gravel road, and he'd hang on to the back of it and let go and then finally one day I realized that I was halfway down the block and he was on the corner," Van Maanen said. "After that, I'd lean it against the garage to figure out how to be able to start because I could ride it but needed help starting it."

Once she figured out how to start, there was no stopping Van Maanen.

"I rode the whole town, and we'd go to a town nine miles away to go visit people," she said. "A whole group of us would get on our bikes and go."

The campers, as they're called, start on an adaptive bike that has a roller in place of the rear wheel, which helps them get a feel for the balance needed to ride a bike.

A team of two or more volunteers walks or run alongside the campers while they ride the adaptive bike inside the River Valley High School gymnasium in Yuba City.

On Wednesday, most of the campers made the transition to riding a traditional bicycle outside the school on the basketball court.

Airman 1st Class Greg Ellsworth, 22, of Yuba City, who works in air traffic control at Beale Air Force Base, isvolunteering at the camp for the second year and said he loves the experience.

"I came from Pennsylvania and used to be a leader with the Special Olympics," Ellsworth said. "I heard about this camp from one of our supervisors on base and since then I've just loved it, because seeing them go from not being able to ride a bike to being able to ride a bike without any help at all is awesome."

Camp director Brian Berg said some campers are participating for the fire time, while others keep coming back.

"It's always amazing how this event touches people's lives," Berg said. "Selena registered herself for the camp (parents usually register their children) and that took some initiative. She's here at 7:45 a.m. every day, and that's hard for any teenager."

Family SOUP hosts the annual event and the iCan Bike Camp organization holds a variety of events throughout the year all with the same theme.

"It's a terrific camp," said Cindy Chandler, Family SOUP's executive director. "The kids go around the gym, and by the third time around they're smiling, and it's great to hear the parents cheering them on."

Chandler said this is the seventh year the group has been helping with the camp.

CONTACT Chris Kaufman at 749-4794.

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