Authored by: Breana Norton, MSU Sport Administration student, class of 2021
(March 10, 2022), Starkville, MS -- Mississippi State’s Kinesiology Department will be hosting its third annual iCanBike Camp May 16th-20th, at the Sanderson Recreation Center. The camp teaches special needs children and adults how to independently ride a two-wheel bike. The camp is offered in partnership with the non-profit charity iCanShine.
iCanShine crews travel around the country co-hosting camps for people with special needs. They offer three different camps: iCanBike, iCanSwim, and iCanDance. These camps look to teach children with disabilities how to bike, swim, and dance.
“These camps are unbelievable,” Mississippi State Sports Studies Doctoral Student and iCanBike technician Clayton Whalen said. “It’s almost miraculous the way that these kids are so incapable on Monday and then on Friday, they are riding around like they have been riding their whole life.”
Mississippi State’s camp is the only iCanBike camp in Mississippi, and it is one of very few in this region.
“What they would call the Deep South, is very underrepresented when it comes to bike camp opportunities,” Whalen said.
Whalen has worked with iCanShine for 10 years. His path to Mississippi State is one of an unexpected chance through iCanShine, or as it was called then, Lose the Training Wheels. Whalen began working for iCanShine beginning in 2012 as an undergraduate at Ball State University, when a professor told his class about the organization and said it was hiring students. As would prove pivotal for Whalen’s future, his travels for iCanShine brought him to Mississippi.
In 2016 Whalen was assigned to Dr. Gregg Twietmeyer’s first iCanBike camp in Starkville. After talking about further iCanBike opportunities, Twietmeyer and Whalen discussed the possibility of Clayton joining the master’s program at Mississippi State.
“I was teaching physical education in New Mexico,” Whalen said. “And just happened to get assigned to come to Mississippi.” That happenstance assignment eventually led to Whalen becoming a Ph.D. student at MSU.
Nor is Whalen's story unique. Several other MSU students have been hired over the years by iCanShine, including fellow kinesiology Ph.D. student Alana Turner, who first got involved by volunteering at the 2016 camp MSU hosted.
As a result, all of the iCanShine staff at this year's MSU camp will be local. Turner will be the floor supervisor, directing and assessing rider learning and needs, while Whalen will be the bike tech, who makes sure that the bikes remain in good working order during the week.
The iCanBike camp takes place over one week, from Monday thru Friday. Campers move from special training bikes to a two-wheeled bike in a week. Each day consists of five 75-minute sessions.
Different types of innovative bikes are used throughout the event, as riders become progressively confident in their biking abilities. The first bike is a roller bike, with a regular wheel in the front and a roller in the back. Technicians can adjust the “wobbly-ness” on it.
“We progressively make the bicycles more and more wobbly,” Whalen said. “Without the riders realizing that we’re doing that.” Doing this gradually as they build skill is important because this increases the challenge (and the learning curve) without increasing the stress or fear levels in the riders.
The second, a tandem bike, has two seats for a rider and a technician. While riding, technicians can see if there is an issue with pedaling or turning. The third is close to a regular two wheeled bike but has special spotting handles to ensure riders’ safety.
As riders become more comfortable on the different types of bikes, they don’t realize that they are slowly building the ability to ride on a two wheeled bike. After riding independently, technicians will teach other skills including walking with a bike, operating the kick stand, and starting their bike by themselves.
iCanShine boasts an 80 percent success rate in getting campers to ride a bike independently by the end of the week. Some riders are riding confidently, while turning, starting and stopping on their own, while others make more modest progress. So, what counts as success? Officially, the success rate is measured by campers being able to ride a bike 75 feet, or the length of a basketball court, without any assistance. Success, however, does not have the same meaning for every camper.
“Every rider is going to have some kind of success,” Whalen said. “Whether it is someone putting a helmet on their head or riding a bike the length of a basketball court, “they finally did it, and that is their success story.”
Everyone loves to play. Therefore, the joys of bike riding should be open to all. The Mississippi State Department of Kinesiology is helping to make that happen one rider at a time.
Mississippi State’s third iCanBike camp will be held on May 16-20, 2022. For more information on the camp, volunteer opportunities, or registration, visit https://bulldogbike.msstate.edu.