WATERVILLE – At 70, Robert Ewing still experiences the joy of riding a bike and feeling the wind in his face as he meets fellow members of Maumee Valley Adventurers for weekly 30- to 40-mile rides.
But after seeing his son work to overcome challenges from a mild form of cerebral palsy and learn to ride a bike, Ewing decided that he wanted to help others.
“I’ve seen kids in in wheelchairs and thought, ‘They don’t get to be kids,’” he said. “I made a promise to the man upstairs that if there was anything I could do for these kids, I would do it.”
Last week, Ewing and two other MVA volunteers, Ann Koffman and Jim Wauford, arrived at Waterville Primary School with three different adaptive cycles. Soon, intervention specialists and special education aides led out their students, whose wariness quickly disappeared when they saw Ben Gibson take a spin around the blacktop on a cycle pedaled by Wauford. Taking turns, the students tried each of the cycles, including a two-seater and a recumbent three-wheeler that allows an adult to walk alongside and use a waist-high brake if needed.
“Go, Coen, go!” cheered Debbie Jacoby, watching as student Coen Kraft wove around the blacktop on the recumbent trike…