Assisted Cycling Tours

There are multiple goals for ACT, which were realized as a direct need of its clientele. The obvious goal is physical exercise for people with disabilities and their families as well. This affects the overall mood of the person with the disability as well as the mood of the caregiver and other family members. Exercise, in general, alleviates signs of depression, but can also help with behavioral issues in people with Autism (and spectrum related disorders), physical tremors in people with Parkinson’s Disease as well as other wide ranging benefits.

In addition to the physical exercise component, ACT aims to shift the life experiences of the person with the disability, their family and society as a whole. Caregivers, not just the person with the disability, face enormous challenges. As soon as someone is labeled with a disability, their world goes from possibilities to limitations. By taking someone out and getting them to ride a bike 10, 20 or 50 miles, ACT hopes to give the person with the disability, as well as their family, a new perspective on their abilities and for the family to have a new perspective on their abilities as an entire family unit. Instead of creating a world where the person with the disability becomes more dependent on the caregivers for the rest of their life, we try to help the caregivers expand their expectations. People outside of the nuclear family (or caregiver) learn how to work with that person based on how those closest to them treat them. By changing the family/caregiver thought process, we hope to begin changing the perspective of the friends, therapists, doctors, and acquaintances of the family to be more positive and encouraging.

Our other goal is to help promote the sense of freedom and self-confidence that comes with riding a bike. By participating in biking and multi-sport programs, we hope to give our participants that feeling that we all had when we first learned how to ride a bike, sheer unadulterated independence.