This summer, Dundee Dragons Wheelchair Sports Club hosted its annual Adaptive Cycling Open Day, offering individuals with disabilities the opportunity to try cycling, explore different types of adaptive bikes and discover what being part of an inclusive cycling community could mean for them.
Dundee Dragons’ adaptive cycling journey began in 2022, when the club established its first fleet of adaptive trikes with support from Scottish Cycling’s Rock Up & Ride programme. Following Scotland hosting the UCI Cycling World Championships in 2023, the club’s held its first Ride the Worlds event at Dundee’s Regional Performance Centre, which helped showcase adaptive cycling and saw Dundee Dragons announced as British Cycling’s first Limitless Focus Club in Scotland.
Since then, the festival has become an annual event, building on that legacy and creating more opportunities for disabled people to discover adaptive cycling.
Graham MacBain, Adaptive Cycling Co-ordinator at Dundee Dragons, reflected on the impact of the festival beyond the day itself:
“The festival has increased engagement with the club, including new members who have gone on to take part in our regular cycling and wheelchair sport sessions.”
When the club asked its members what cycling means to them, four words stood out: “freedom, fun, fast and friendship.”
That sense of possibility is central to the club’s approach. Adaptive cycling looks different for everyone, with trikes, handcycles and other equipment helping people find a way to ride that works for them. For some, it might be about building confidence or becoming more active, while for others it could be about making friends or simply discovering the joy of cycling.
“Our role is to provide the equipment, opportunities and support for people to achieve their own goals,” Graham said.
By creating a welcoming space to try different ways of riding, Dundee Dragons is helping more people discover that cycling can be for them with the hope that a first experience can lead to something more.
“If someone comes along, enjoys cycling and wants to return, that is a positive outcome. We want people to know there are different ways to cycle and opportunities to continue beyond the festival.”
The annual event is testament that the legacy of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships continues to provide inspiration for inclusive cycling across Scotland.
As Scotland looks ahead to welcoming the Tour de France Grand Départ next year, it creates another opportunity to build excitement around cycling and create a lasting impact for communities and clubs across the country.
Through funding from the Tour de France Grand Départ Social Impact Programme, and British Cycling’s Limitless Programme, Scottish Cycling have recently appointed a Disability Inclusion Officer, Matt Hamilton to support clubs to develop more inclusive opportunities and continue to build on the positive work already happening across the sport.
Dundee Dragons is a great example of what that legacy can look like in practice, taking the opportunity created by the 2023 Championships and continuing to build on it through its annual festival, helping more people discover cycling and showing what can be achieved when opportunities are made more accessible.
To find out more about how your club can become more inclusive, get in touch with the Disability Inclusion Officer Matt Hamilton at [email protected].