Bike share is amazing. Just beep a bike with your phone, and you’re riding wherever you want to go for a few nickels per minute. That is, of course, if you are physically able to operate the app and ride a two-wheeled sit-up style pedal bike.
That’s why Seattle is using part of the permit fees collected from bike share companies to fun an all-summer partnership with Outdoors For All to provide free adaptive cycle rentals. People can rent bike between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. any day May through September from the OFA Cycling Center in Magnusson Park. They will also bring cycles to a handful of community events, including many Bicycle Sunday events at Seward Park and the White Center Bicycle Playground.
OFA has an incredible selection of cycles that help people with a wide range of disabilities get out on a bike. The organization is home to one of the largest fleets of adaptive cycles anywhere, including handcycles, trikes, and various styles of tandem bikes with lots of fitting capabilities. They also have knowledgeable staff who can help people find a cycle that will work for them and get the bikes adjusted and ready to go. They also offer standard pedal bikes so able-bodied caregivers can ride along.
May is #BikeEverywhereMonth and we’re working to ensure everyone has access to get out and enjoy the great joys of biking.
Did you know one of the nation’s largest fleets of adaptive cycles is housed here in Seattle? Outdoors for All Foundation, a local non-profit, provides adaptive recreation opportunities for children and adults with disabilities and boasts over 200 adaptive cycles in its Magnuson Park Adaptive Cycle Center.
Now, a new partnership between our Bike Share Program and Outdoors for All will help more people access these amazing cycles.This summer, a portion of our bike share permit-generated fees will go straight to Outdoors for All, allowing this great organization to better serve the community through the Adaptive Cycling Center. Read on to learn about the many opportunities for you to get out and bike!
Free rentals, extended hours, and bikes in south Seattle – here’s what our partnership is providing:
1. All adaptive cycle rentals will be FREE in Magnuson Park through September 30, 2019!This new partnership will allow all rentals in Magnuson Park to be free-of-charge for children and adults with disabilities! You can rent an adaptive cycle through September 30, 2019 at the Adaptive Cycling Center in Magnuson Park.
What are adaptive cycles? They include:
- Handcycles for individuals with no or limited leg movement
- Three- and four-wheel cycles for those who need more stability
- Children’s hand and foot powered cycles
- Tandem cycles for individuals who want a guide while riding
- Hand and foot cranked cycles exercising your whole body
- Standard cycles
2. The Adaptive Cycling Center will remain open 7 days a week from May through September. Now, you can cycle all week long! With our partnership, adaptive cycles will be available for drop-in rentals 7 days a week from 10 AM – 6 PM through September 30.
3. We’ll bring the adaptive cycles to 10 events in South Seattle this summer. We understand that Magnuson Park isn’t easily accessible for those living in the South Seattle. That’s why this partnership allows for Outdoors for All to bring their trailer full of adaptive cycles to 10 events this summer!
People will be able to stop by and try an adaptive cycle free-of-charge at these events, including Seward Park Bicycle Sundays and White Center Bicycle Demonstrations. Check out the complete list of dates here!
Locations, dates and times:
- Seward Park June 16 & 23, July 7 & 14, August 11 & 18, September 8 & 15
- White Center Bicycle Playground June 21st & September 21st.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Comments
8 responses to “SDOT partners with Outdoors For All to offer free adaptive bike rentals all summer”
Do you have to be disabled to try it? Or can you try it anyway, just to get a workout in your arm muscles while resting your legs?
I’m guessing I wouldn’t be able to go nearly as far with a normal bike, though – leg muscles are much bigger than arm muscles.
Hi! Please contact [email protected] directly with any questions regarding our Adaptive Cycling Center. Thank you!
Geez, if they only would include improved bike connections Between Magnuson and the BG trail with the Sand Point way improvement project, then maybe these bikes would provide legitimate access to places beyond the park itself.
Without a legitimate network there is little point providing bicycles when there’s nowhere you can get to, nowhere to go.
I hadn’t thought of this, but how easy is it to climb hills using only your arm muscles? I can see even the small vertical gap between Magnesun Park and the Burke-Gilman being an issue. I guess you can just walk the bike up the hill if you can’t ride it up.
I’m sure this depends on an individual’s ability. The basic principles of a bicycle (using mechanical advantage to optimize physical work for forward movement) still apply to hand cycles. But everybody’s body is different.
People in wheelchairs climb hills all the time, but their arms look like legs! I would think a ratchet mechanism in the wheel would help but have yet to see one.
I don’t know if “limousine liberals” or “tokenism” is a more accurate description of Seattle views, but sadly it feels somewhere in there.
[…] As we reported earlier this week, Outdoors For All will be in Seward Park for some of the Bicycle Sunday dates offering free adaptive cycle rentals as part of a partnership with SDOT paid for using bike share fees. Take note that the first such event is not until June 16. […]