Reconnecting the SCI Community with
The Great Outdoors
Able Bodied Experiences for ALL
About
Our Mission:
Provide able bodied experiences to those that may have lost it due to a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI).
Our Background:
Patient 0:
Wojtek was injured in a road bike accident in 2015 and became a complete T5 paraplegic. He tried handcycling, but never ventured beyond his local bike path on rides no longer than 10 miles. In March 2020 he and his son built a new electric assist handcycle with a direct drive motor that enabled him to enjoy road biking in its full glory. Wojtek started biking up 3,000+ foot climbs with his son and 50+ mile rides with his wife and his old road bike friends. He biked over 2,000 miles and climbed over 100,000 feet in the remaining 9 months of 2020. Electric assist handcycling is the first activity Wojtek has done where he feels truly able bodied, a feeling he wants to share with the rest of the SCI community.
Handcycle Rental
Handcycling is a great way to explore the outdoors as the three large wheels give you an ability to roll a lot easier and a lot quicker than you could in a wheelchair. Add in an electric motor, which amplifies your strength as much or as little as you want, and the world is once again your oyster.
We currently only have two handcycles and are trying to bootstrap this program out of a private residence. We try to make the bikes available every other Sunday, but as we have very limited availability, we rent bikes by appointment only. This will improve with time, but realize it may be difficult to get a spot. Our goal is to start the program with a minimum investment and see how it works out.
If you click on the reservation link below you can request a reservation slot and we will follow up with instructions on how to proceed. As the electric assist bike is more complicated to use, we request that you complete an online training before reserving your spot.
If you want to try handcycling and do not mind making a trip to Berkeley CA, there is a great adaptive cycling center (which inspired this program) called BORP. They have a large collection of handcycles and can accommodate a lot more users..
Manual Handcycle
Manual handcycles are a great place to start and see the benefits of riding on three full size wheels.
E-Assist Handcycle
Electric assist handcycle has both motor assist to help you go faster/further as well as regenerative braking to slow you down as you go down hills.
Training Required
Offroad Handcycle
Coming Soon
Offroad handcycles allow you to go on more rugged terrain. We are working on getting one.
Training Required
Gallery
How To Build an E-Bike Handcycle
We compiled a set of videos documenting what to buy, why, and how to build an electrified handcycle.
E-Bike Handcycle V1
These videos document our first electric assist e-bike (the genesis). There are several things I would improve on this build, namely use a more modern motor with an L10 connector that is more reliable, but it is a great place to start. This is also probably the most affordable build possible. You can find the full playlist of videos here.
E-mail Us
ablebodied2021@gmail.com
Our Location
San Jose CA
Open Hours
Sun 10:00 - 14:00