Hand Cycling
Freedom, escape, sanity, strength, and happiness…these are some of the gifts I get from hand-cycling. It’s pure pleasure, to be out of my wheelchair, feeling some speed: wind through hair; rushing blood; heart pounding.
I started off wheelchair racing, but many miles and a few marathons later, I got bored with the view of tarmac rushing beneath, and sore neck muscles from straining to look up. My first handcycle was the “Green Beast” (now yellow and amazingly not in the bike cemetery yet), a recumbent tandem made by Greenspeed of Australia. You pedal with your arms from the front, legs from the back, and people often ask if the idea is to swap seats for an all over body workout…most people just don’t figure it.
Soon hooked, it wasn’t long before I explored the various solo handbikes available. There is the ‘clip on’ handbike – an attachment for the front of the wheelchair, but after I toured my local beach front and was far slower than just pushing my chair, I decided it wasn’t the bike for me (although it really suits some people, and means that wherever you cycle you also have your wheelchair with you). But having a ‘high’ injury – from the chest down, I flopped around too much and couldn’t put good power into pedalling.
Alves Frames of Scotland built me my first solo handbike (trike). I loved it. With chunky tyres, it took me to places I hadn’t been for years, including the beach. But when I turned up to the first ever European Handcycling Championships, I was the laughing stock. It just wasn’t built for speed. I was left in the dust of the other riders, humiliated and with a bruised ego. The owner of Dutch handbike company, Double Performance, picked me up and introduced me to the Varna handcycle – I fell in love all over again.
In the miles and years of handbiking, the Green Beast has taken me on tours of New Zealand, Spain, Central Asia, the Karakoram mountains, Ladakh, India and the Himalayas.
The Varna has been a sturdy friend to every corner of Scotland, the UK, and on a 3 month journey through the islands of Japan.
Recently I’ve started riding a Draft racing bike – much lighter and sleeker than I’ve ever pedalled before, and currently still having the salt of Scottish winter roads polished from it after each ride. Living in the beautiful mountains of Scotland, its never appealed to travel to faraway busy English towns to race for ten miles, but next year, I’m planning to give it a go, and see if this time, I won’t be left in dust on the start line.
If you’re interested in handcycling, also check out these sites:-
Hand Cycling Association UK
Wheel High - for off-road handcycling in Scotland
Back Up Trust - for handcycling holidays or challenges
Peak District Ladybower Reservoir - handcycles to hire
Other companies that sell handcycles in the UK are:-
Bromakin
Da Vinci Mobility
