HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — There is a handle bolted to the back of Gavin Winter’s bicycle that a volunteer spotter is supposed to hold in order to keep the bike from toppling over.

But Winter, a West Virginia teen who has spent the week learning to ride a two-wheeler, pumps the pedals furiously and suddenly there is a good six feet of clear air between him and the spotter.

He is riding on his own.

Winter is 16, an age at which most teens have been riding for years, but the sensory disorder that affects his coordination has made it difficult for him to learn. He also has been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, which poses difficulties as well.

But in less than a week at the iCan Bike Lose the Training Wheels Camp hosted by Marshall University at the YMCA in Huntington, Winter has made significant progress, said his mother, Jonni Winter. “I squalled yesterday when he did it for the first time,” she said Thursday, while he swooped around the parking lot accompanied by two volunteers ready to catch him if he fell.

The organization behind the iCan Bike initiative, iCan Shine, offers more than 50 bicycle riding programs hosted in cities in the U.S. and Canada. The organization also offers iCan Swim programs in select cites to help children and teens with disabilities learn swim techniques.

In West Virginia, Gavin Winter is one of 21 children in this year’s local program, which teaches those with disabilities like autism and Down syndrome to ride on their own.

The camp uses modified bikes that use rollers in place of the rear wheel, according to director Liz Pascioles. The rollers keep the bike from tipping.

The system uses a succession of rollers. The first is nearly flat, and once the rider has mastered navigation with it, a staffer replaces it with a series of increasingly tapered rollers.

That compels the rider to develop a sense of balance. The final set of rollers narrows the taper to approximately the width of a bicycle tire, and then it is time to try a regular bike.

Why develop such a complex system to teach special needs people to ride?

“Because it’s a huge accomplishment, it gives them a ton of confidence and self-esteem, it allows them to fit in with their peers and participate in family activities,” Pascioles said. Also cycling is healthy and the riding skill confers a degree of independence.

In other words, the same reasons every kid wants to learn, she said.

The system is more effective than training wheels, said Thomas Daugherty, who has tried that method with his 12-year-old son Aidan.

Aidan Daugherty has Down syndrome, a consequence of which was slow muscle tone development, his father said. He also was small for his age until having a growth spurt about a year ago.

And now, “he wants to be able to ride a big-boy bike,” Daugherty said. “He’s doing OK. He’s having a lot of fun. I hope this will give him some confidence.”

Aidan rode in the gymnasium, also accompanied by a pair of spotters who ran along with him to keep him upright.

Also riding in the gym and later outside on the parking lot was Luke Bauer, 17, whose mother, Jeannie, said the spotters provided more than physical help.

“At first he was really apprehensive and it was a struggle, but he developed a rapport with the spotters,” she said.

Spotters, all of them volunteers, are essential to the camp, Pascioles said. Marathon Petroleum’s Catlettsburg refinery sends a contingent, all of them members of its inclusion team, she said.

The spotters are helpful, said Gavin Winter, who kept his duo running almost non-stop. “It’s a new skill. It’s a lot different from learning to swim and do boats,” he said.

The system’s success rate is 80 percent, Pascioles said. 

James writes for the Ashland, Kentucky Daily Independent.