The Benedictine Living Community held its training and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday afternoon for its new handicap accessible bike that they had fundraised over $11,000 for over the past two years. Community volunteers all met with a trainer to learn how to properly operate the bike to help Community members get on the bike and ride it around different terrain.
The bike is modified to hold a two-person capacity carriage with a Hoyer lift for Community members to get into the seat and seat belts for riders to strap themselves in safely. The carriage is in front of the bike rider with a small cover overhead to protect riders from the sun, as well as a small duffel that riders can cover themselves with to stay warm and comfortable in cooler parts of spring and fall. The bike also has a small motor on its back wheel that is controlled by a small mechanism on the handlebars to assist the Volunteer rider in giving the Community members a smooth ride and help them up hills or other terrains much easier.
The Community volunteers were instructed by Jake Krohn from the Cycling Without Age Organization, who taught them how to operate the Hoyer lift and the back wheel motor properly. He would demonstrate how to use both before allowing the Volunteers to try it for themselves and monitored their progress. When they were properly trained on how to operate the bike, he awarded them a certificate showing that they had completed the training to use the bike.
Many Community volunteers and staff have been certified to use the bike, and a few community members have already been for a ride. Both agree that the bike is a very smooth and enjoyable ride. “It rides as smooth as can be, despite it having such big tires and frame. You’d think it would be rough, but it’s way smoother than the other things we use,” Benedictine Community member Audrey Johnson explained. “It’s a real smooth ride, it isn’t bumpy or anything due to its air tires,” she added. Many members have even compared the bike to riding a car due to how smoothly it rides and are excited to use it to travel to various places in Crookston. “I’d use it maybe to go spearfishing or something like that along the lakeshore,” Audrey Johnson explained. “Some places where you can’t get in with a car or Jeep,” she added.
The Community also mentioned that they are also offering training for the bike to family members of the Community residents if they wish to take a family member out for the day on the bike. But, they must go through the training process in order to do so. If anyone wishes to take the training to operate the bike, they can set up an appointment by contacting Volunteer Coordinator Ashley Melsa or Karen Swatlowski at 218-281-3424.
Pictures of the bike and some of the training can be seen below,
