Ican Bike Camp returns to MSU
After a two-year hiatus, the Mississippi State Kinesiology Department will host its third annual ican Bike camp beginning Monday and continuing through Friday at the Sanderson Recreation Center.
The camp is designed to teach special needs children and adults to independently ride a two-wheeled bicycle. The camp is offered in partnership with the non-profit charity ican Shine, which also holds ican Dance and ican Swim camps.
The camp returns after having been canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
MSU Associate Professor of Kinesiology Dr. Gregg Twietmeyer said he got the idea for ican Bike while employed in the Exercise and Sport Science Department at Marshall University in 2015.
After watching a similar camp advertised on the Big 10 Network, Twietmeyer starting thinking about bringing something similar to this area. He initiated the Lose The Training Wheels camp, and brought the camp with him when he came to Mississippi State in the fall of 2015.
Twietmeyer said he has been proud of not only how the camp has succeeded in teaching those in need to ride a bicycle, but how it has attracted Kinesiology students to volunteer in the five-day camps.
"It isn't just about riding a two-wheeled bike," Twietmeyer said. "It's about self-esteem and self-confidence. It's about the Kinesiology students getting involved and seeing them reach out. It's about seeing the tears in the parents' eyes as they watch their child accomplish something they never thought they'd see them accomplish."
MSU'S ican Bike camp is the only one of its kind in Mississippi and one of very few in the region.
The camp, which charges a $100 entry fee per camper, includes daily 75-minute sessions in which each rider moves from a special training bike to a two-wheeled bike as the week progresses and the rider's confidence builds.
The first bike introduced into the camp is a roller bike, with a regular wheel in the front and a roller the size of a rolling pin on the back.' As a rider's confidence grows, technicians can adjust the amount of wobble in the back tire.
The second bike, a tandem bike, has seats for a rider and technician. The third bike is close to a two-wheeled bike, but has special spotting handles to ensure the rider's safety.
After riding independently, technicians will teach other skills, including walking with a bike, operating the kickstand and starting their bike by themselves.
Former MSU Kinesiology student Alana Turner began volunteering at the camp in 2016, when she worked as a floor supervisor. Today, she is an employee of ican Shine, in her third year with the charity. She will work as floor supervisor during this week's camp.