Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Wheels set in motion
Rider finds better health, bigger heart behind handlebars
No 13-year-old wants training wheels on his bike. Dimitri Clark wanted to ride with his friends, and he wanted to ride alongside his dad, Jimmie Clark. Technically, he could, but only with those training wheels.
Without the extra wheels providing stabilization, Dimitri would have crashed.
“I don’t have a very good core. I would have fallen,” he said.
Neither could he go very far. Dimitri has cerebral palsy. It affects him to a lesser degree than his two siblings, who also have cerebral palsy and move around courtesy of wheelchairs. But it affects him nonetheless, and one of the condition’s hallmarks is reduced mobility. He walks well enough, though his gait, with his arms tucked closely to his sides, looks a bit different than someone without the congenital disorder. Bike riding demands coordination and skill from those with excellent physical health, and so Dimitri had problems traveling more than a block.
“We tried it several times,” Dimitri said. Riding a bike without training wheels wasn’t going to work. But on a trip to a specialist in St. Louis, a detour to a bike shop put wheels in motion, creating a new outlet for Dimitri and a charitable effort he can share with his parents and his community.
AN UNLIKELY BOND
Jimmie and Amanda Clark brought Dimitri, 13, and Leks, 12, to the United States about 10 years ago. The boys, who are not biological brothers, were adopted from the same orphanage in Ukraine, the former Soviet republic where both were born. Lena, 12, came a few years later. Amanda Clark works for a program that sends therapists to Ukraine to work with special-needs children. She’d met Lena before, but the couple didn’t move to adopt her until word arrived that Lena was going to be transferred to a clinic with a history of deaths shortly after intake, Amanda
Clark said. Lena joined the Clark family in 2005.
All three of the family’s adopted children have cerebral palsy, a condition that manifests itself either before a baby is born, during childbirth or in the first two years after birth.
According to the National Institute of Health’s medical encyclopedia, characteristics of cerebral palsy include weak muscles, an abnormal walking style, loss of coordination, seizures and sometimes, decreased intelligence or learning disabilities. It is not a particularly progressive disease, meaning the disabilities that manifest early do not generally grow worse. The disorder, the NIH says, does not affect someone afflicted with cerebral palsy’s expected length of life.
If Dimitri — often called Dima — suffers from any learning disability, there’s no sign of it. He speaks quickly and excitedly. His memory is keen; his eagerness contagious.
A TICKET TO RIDE
Dimitri was particularly eager to ride a bike alongside his dad. Looking online for options that didn’t involve an old, clunky bike with training wheels, the Clarks stumbled upon recumbent bikes. Or perhaps, more correctly, a recumbent tricycle.
The couple researched such machines but balked at purchasing one. Jimmie Clark’s primary concern was that Dima might treat the bike like a lot of kids treat their toys — something fun to play with at first, then quickly something that exists only to take up space in the garage. At about $1,500 each, a recumbent tricycle was an expensive risk.
A stop at a St. Louis bike store ended the hesitation. Dima took immediately to a model there, and even though the Clarks weren’t planning on buying a bike that day, they brought one home. Jimmie Clark told his son they could go riding together the next day.
The next day was particularly cold, father and son remember, but Dima insisted. Jimmie Clark took Dimitri to an open parking lot and turned him loose — but only for a while. His initial rides were not unlike those he could muster on his bike with training wheels — very short. A block here and there, or a mile on a good day, were all Dima was capable of when his family purchased the trike.
Dima is careful to point out his tricycle is not a child’s toy, the kind with a big wheel on the front and comically smaller ones on the back, often with plastic streamers affixed to the handlebars. A recumbent tricycle like his is a threewheeled road bike. Such crafts often feature two wheels in front of the rider’s torso and one underneath him. The intuitive steering system responds to the rider’s hands, and he pedals from a seat that is fixed in a slightly reclined position.
His father’s fear the bike would collect rust was soon alleviated. Dima wanted — still wants, actually — to ride all the time. After those initial short rides, he set a goal for himself. Late last year, before the weather turned too cold to venture out with any regularity, Dima rode 21 miles in one session.
He is stronger, fitter and happier, his mom said. As proof, she pointed to a recent trip the family took to Silver Dollar City. Even though he is more mobile than his siblings, it was Dima who previously kept them from taking a trip to the amusement park in Branson, Mo. Leks and Lena are both in wheelchairs and can be pushed around. Dimitri walks under his own power, but there wasn’t enough of that to go around. He tired easily, and a half hour in the park would have been all he could withstand. Not so after his interest in cycling. He walked around for hours.
A LESSON IN SHARING
Simply put, Dima improved after his parents bought the bike. Cerebral palsy does not go away, and Dima and his siblings will always cope with it. But its primary affect, a weakened muscle system, has been, if not thwarted, at least kept in check for Dima. Amanda and Jimmie Clark know how much benefit the bike provided, and so does Dima.
In passing, Jimmie Clark once mentioned to his wife the couple should consider donating recumbent bikes to other special-needs children. They knew several candidates: Amanda Clark works at a therapy clinic and the three Clark children also attend the Northwest Arkansas-based resource called rEcess. The service provides baby-sitters for specialneeds children, which are hard to come by, considering the average neighbor or niece doesn’t have the proper training. Through the program, the Clarks are connected to a network of special-needs children.
The idea might have faded away were it not for the persistence of Dima, his parents agreed. He approached his dad frequently about setting up a program. Team Works Heroes formed late last year. It’s a small organization, but with Dima’s enthusiasm, it has grown. A 5K run in November collected money, and private donations have also been received. Many of those come courtesy of local civic organizations, where Dima makes the pitch, and Jimmie Clark stays a silent partner, he said.
“He does a lot of the work,” Jimmie Clark said. “I just drive him around.”
Dima said he has two goals for the organization. He wants to provide specialneeds children the experience of riding under their own power, which is particularly thrilling for someone with limited mobility, he said, and to get families with special-needs children outdoors.
So far, Team Works Heroes has collected about $14,000 for the project. One trailer has been distributed, and soon more will be when newer recumbent tricycle models are delivered to The Bike Source on North College Avenue in Fayetteville. The store has served as a resource to the charity organization, and employees at the store are donating tricycle assembly time when the units arrive.
Ben Upchurch, owner of The Bike Route, said his store doesn’t sell many recumbent bikes or trikes but he loves the program the Clarks created. In addition to serving as a distributor for the bikes, Upchurch said his store also will service the bikes should they require further maintenance.
“They (recumbent bikes) are super fun, and very quick. It enables these kids with certain abilities or disabilities to ride safely and comfortably, and get out in the air and experience nature,” he said.
Dima’s enthusiasm is rubbing off close to home, too. Leks and Lena have been tagging along sometimes, pulled on a trailer attached to Jimmie Clark’s bike. But the length of the rides Dima and Jimmie Clark enjoy is proving to be a little bit too much: Dima’s siblings tend to get bored after a couple of hours. That means they’ll eventually ride on their own recumbent bikes, if their strength allows.
Dima, meanwhile, has another goal in mind. He wants to help Team Works Heroes complete its two primary objectives, of course.
And he’s got his eyes set on a 22-mile ride.