[audio description]
I don't think that people realize just how
freeing and how much independence disabled people can get through biking.
My name is Maria Town and I live in Washington DC.
I am a proud developmentally disabled woman.
I have cerebral palsy.
I got my first trike when I was 12
and it opened the world to me.
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Hi. My name is Tiffani Young.
I'm a proud resident of Detroit, Michigan.
I'm an avid bike rider.
I am in Detroit bike life.
I'm with the No Limit Riders. Whoo whoo.
[audio description]
For anybody that has chronic pain or problems
I'm gonna try not to cry.
Things that are difficult for us that might not be difficult for somebody else.
Biking, to me, gives me that ability.
The most exhilarating feeling I think I can ever think of.
[audio description]
My name is Qudsiya. I started to really
lose a lot of vision and when I moved to
DC, I connected with an organization called the
Metro Washington Association of Blind
Athletes and I went for my first tandem ride and
discovered pretty immediately that I absolutely loved it.
[audio description]
My name is Lisa Corriveau. I am a mother.
I have a couple of kids and I am also
disabled. I have osteoarthritis in my hip.
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There's a lot of assumptions that obviously you can't be disabled if you
if you ride a bike all the time.
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Hey there. My name is Camille Patrice Dickens.
[audio description]
I live in Columbus, Ohio.
Riding a bicycle is the safest option for me if I'm going
through an intense manic phase due to my Bipolar
disorder.
[audio description]
I think exercise is very important for anyone who is
disabled, especially if you have a mental illness.
What I love about biking is that I'm able to run my
errands and I'm able to live my life.
Hi. My name is Chris Sparrow.
I am from the southeastern United States.
Before I became paralyzed, I did a lot of hiking and
a lot of camping and backpacking. And when I became
paralyzed, I thought all that had gone away.
[audio description]
Someone showed me some adaptive mountain biking
and I realized that I could get that part of my life back.
The part that loved to be in nature.
That was something that was still accessible for me.
[audio description]
My name is Megan. I live in Davis, California.
[audio description]
I think a lot of people think of cycling in the city is stressful.
I actually find it, it releases it, because you're in a physical activity so it
allows your body to just let go of a lot of stress. I really want people to think
about the larger accessibility of all the things that are involved with
cycling, including bike racks and storage shelters and the bike hubs that at,
are located at transit.
So it's Leroy Benton Moore Jr.
This is my sixth bike - and five of them had been stolen, you know, near BART.
So now I just don't take my bike to BART anymore.
[audio description]
I have been riding my trike since I was a teenager.
Matter of fact, I
I went to the ParaOlympics, cycling.
I do it now to collect groceries.
[audio description]
But the thing is for me being a Black, disabled man,
I get stopped by the police all the time on my bike.
You know, they just don't know what to do with my bike.
You know, they want me to get on the sidewalk,
they want me to get on the street.
They just don't know what to do with it.
[audio description]
I'm Blake Geyen.
I have cerebral palsy and use a speech device for communication.
I love biking because it allows me to get outside.
I think people assume that wheelchair users like myself
don't have the strength to ride a bike.
My name is Tim Doran.
[audio description]
I bike twenty miles by myself
and I have a great sense of independence.
I'm Dianne Iverson and I'm a double amputee.
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I love to go to Seattle on my trike or on the tandem because I don't have
to deal with balance. I don't have to deal with crowds. I can see what
everybody else can see.
I'm Damon Colston.
Me and my bike get down together, have fun!
[audio description]
People can do anything that we want to do.
And if we want to ride bikes, we can do it, so don't judge.
We want to have fun, like everyone else has fun.
[audio description]
My name is Joelle and I am originally
from Queens, New York, and I live with endometriosis.
I use an e-bike to get around because it minimizes my pelvic pain.
[audio description]
I think my biggest barrier was cost.
I literally was working my butt off
to be able to afford that.
My name is Pi Ra.
[audio description]
This is my 50th year of being diabetic.
Type 1 diabetic. Because I'm not supposed to walk that
much, I depend on the bicycle for my transportation.
Hi. My name is Matthew Sampson.
I'm a Safe Streets Advocate here in Washington D.C.
[audio description]
Biking is very popular in the deaf community,
but many deaf people don't feel safe sharing the street with cars.
Hearing people rely on sound to help them, but deaf people don't have that option.
How do we make it safer for deaf people to bike?
That. Protected bike infrastructure.
[audio description]
What do I want you to know about disabled people and biking?
Their body and disability is not a barrier to biking.
The real barrier here is the kinds of bikes
available and the kind of infrastructure.
If there's no safe infrastructure or no accommodating bikes, then disabled people are blocked from biking.