Some are on two wheels, others three or four. Some are in\ntandems, others are on hand-powered bikes. At the side of the track, volunteers\ncheer them on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is Pedal Power, a cycling group for people with\ndisabilities \u2013 although everyone is welcome. It was set up by Jo Roach in 2004\nusing money she raised through afternoon tea parties. Jo, whose daughter has learning\ndifficulties, says: \u201cThere was no club that catered for my daughter\u2019s needs so\nspecialists said \u2018you\u2019ll have to set one up\u2019. I was a qualified cycle instructor,\nso I thought \u2018why not?\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She laughs: \u201cThe minutes from the first meeting said \u2018Jo is\nprepared to give 18 months\u2019. 13 years later, I\u2019m still here.\u201d Finsbury Park\nPedal Power gets around 90 visitors a session. There are bikes for people who\ncan\u2019t pedal, bikes you can attach a wheelchair to and bikes for two people.\nThey play host to a young college group and Pedal Power has even had a\n103-year-old blind man at sessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jo says: \u201cIf someone can\u2019t pedal, we just put them in with\nsomeone else. They get the sensation of being out in the park with the wind against\ntheir face. Some bang on their wheelchairs to make you go faster. \u201cFor others\nit\u2019s huge fun, but the main thing is freedom. They can get on a bike, lose\ntheir support worker and get a bit of independence.\u201d Pedal Power is a joint\nscheme across Haringey, Islington and Hackney. \nThey also hold sessions at the Emirates Stadium and are expanding into\nother sports, with tennis sessions already set up. Their team of volunteers at\nFinsbury Park includes engineers, welcome desk workers and trainers, but more\nhelp is always welcome. Carer Omar Mostafa says the team are so welcoming they\nlook after carers as well as the riders. \u201cThe volunteers here always have a\nsmile. They do it with love. \u201cI have a friend who is lonely. He\u2019s 80. Jo said\n\u2018bring him along\u2019. She has a heart of gold. This really is a place for\neveryone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This article featured in June 2017 edition of the Haringey People<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some are on two wheels, others three or four. Some are in tandems, others are on hand-powered bikes. At the side of the track, volunteers cheer them on. This is Pedal Power, a cycling group for people with disabilities \u2013 although everyone is welcome. It was set up by Jo Roach in 2004 using money […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5943,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":[],"categories":[102],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5941"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5944,"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5941\/revisions\/5944"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pedalpowercc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}