Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Zaida Block and Nina Katz-Christy work with a trainee at the iCan Bike Program they’re running through the week at the CRLS War Memorial Field House.

Zaida Block and Nina Katz-Christy work with a trainee at the iCan Bike Program they’re running through the week at the CRLS War Memorial Field House.

There are two days left in the iCan Bike Program, which teaches people with disabilities how to ride bikes – a particularly good skill to have in bike-crazy Cambridge and Somerville.

The program, which has been running all week, is led by Nina Katz-Christy and Zaida Block, two rising seniors at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, through the nonprofit iCan Shine (which brings these camps to locations across the country) with support from the Cambridge Recreation Department. Another camp may be held through the department next year.

The program uses local volunteer spotters to teach individuals with disabilities to ride conventional two-wheeled bicycles using adaptive bikes to work on balance, steering and pedaling. “We have 39 riders and 50 volunteers, including many CRLS students, from Cambridge and surrounding areas,” Katz-Christy and Block said in an email.

The camp runs from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with a lunch break from 1 to 2 p.m.) Thursday and Friday in the CRLS War Memorial Field House at 1640 Cambridge St. There are five 75-minute sessions per day.