Ebuzz

Hi:
I've been a member of this forum for quite some time, but never posted in this section. I have a question and am seeking advice on how to help my son. He's 15, a pretty big boy, but he has a mild case of CP. It has effect the right side of his body. As I said it is relatively mild, he is very physical and athletic up to a certain point. He has gone to adaptive skiing and done quite well, but with respect to biking, he has virtually no sense of balance. He's much to big and old fro training wells but he would like to try cycling. I've put him on a bike to try it and we have had no success getting him to balance himself.
Anyone out there have a similar experience or any suggestions?
thanks

runner pat

Either a foot powered recumbent trike or a handcycle.

FrenchFit 

As a parent I think you have to ask yourself whether this makes sense in the long run, whether you want to see him riding in traffic some day. If so, I think going from a stationary bike, to fluid trainer, to rollers, to out on the street seems like a stepped, rational transition.

We have a moderate CP sufferer in the neighborhood that's a runner, he's been out their daily for seemingly 10 years. He looks like he always is about to fall, but the reality is he puts down a lot of serious miles and looks pretty strong doing it - we are all very much inspired by him.

Juan Foote

I would echo looking into a recumbent trike. My wife has vertigo-like issues as the result of an accident some years ago, and I have been looking into getting one for her when funds allow. There are a lot of really nice brands out there, and there is a lot of clunky junk. There is a recumbent forum here that I highly suggest looking at before deciding.

Ebuzz

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to try putting him on my training to see how he does. Just to clarify, he has a mild CP involvement and he does not look like he would fall over or look like he's going to fall over when he runs. As for the recumbent, I'll check it out.
Thanks1

shasta68

I had a buddy with pretty severe palsy. He suffered a lot of neuromuscular twitching. He was also deaf/mute. He rode an upright trike with some difficulty. For him balance was only one of many challenges but he loved his trike and rode it everywhere. That was many years ago.

JGaerlan

I wonder if this might help. There is a gizmo out there that connects 2 recumbents or regular bicycles.
THis way you can ride together or monitor your son to see if he can do it alone. If he can, then you can disconnect the 2 bikes and maybe
put a sidecar instead .


This is not a new idea. Here's one from probably the 40's



Here's the link to the connector for 2 bikes

https://www.blackbirdbikes.com/quadribent.htm

Do you think there's a need for a repository of plans that can be used to adapt bikes for somebody
with disability ? I know a lot of adaptive gear tends to be expensive. Maybe free plans may
inspire a friend or relative to tackle a DIY bicycle adaptive project. Let us know

Ebuzz

Thanks! I'll check that out.