iCan Bike camp shines with smiles

Volunteer Gina Mackenzie helps camper Julianna Basi gain stability on a bike as she nears the final stages of the camp. Basi is in her fourth year at the Fulton iCan Bike camp.
Volunteer Gina Mackenzie helps camper Julianna Basi gain stability on a bike as she nears the final stages of the camp. Basi is in her fourth year at the Fulton iCan Bike camp.

Nancy Hanson considers learning to ride a bike a "rite of passage" and works to make that opportunity available in Fulton every year.

The fourth annual iCan Bike camp took place this week at 54 Country. Hosted by iCan Shine, the camp's purpose is to provide people with disabilities an extra helping hand in learning to ride a bike.

"It was very good to have somebody who has a method because I wasn't going to be able to get (my daughter) off of training wheels myself," said Kate Basi, whose daughter has been attending the camp since its inception.

Hanson, who is a volunteer and the camp's primary organizer, was inspired to bring an experience like this to Fulton after taking her own daughter to a similar iCan Bike camp in St. Louis five years ago.

"It was the first time I really saw (my daughter) succeed and do something hard and make it work; it was that cool," Hanson said.

Hanson spends the year fundraising through soup and chili dinners and selling T-shirts. The money goes to hire iCan Shine to run the event in Fulton. iCan Shine provides two staff members and bicycles for training steps of the program.

"As parents, sometimes we get stuck in a rut of going to the same therapy and the same program and we think (our children) have reached their limit, and this just reminds us that there's always something more," Hanson said.

Participants start off with "roller bikes" for assistance then work their way into weighted bicycles until they are able to ride a bike independently. This year's camp had 35 participants and more than 120 volunteers, Hanson said.

Volunteers Kim Dixon and Mckenzey Bartlett have been helping out with the camp for a couple of years now.

Dixon's favorite part is "the excitement in their faces when they actually ride on their own."

Tina Jones is in her second year participating in the camp and said she values all the aspects the camp brings into her life.

"I love riding a bike; it's really fun to do, but it's also fun making friends," Jones said cheerfully.