Laurie Pope, co-chair of the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes accessibility committee, said that the organization is in the process of acquiring a wheelchair bike that will park users will be able to reserve online, like their track chairs. She said they hope to make this service available to the national lakeshore’s visitors in the coming months.
“We’ll be running the program on the Heritage Trail,” Pope explained. “We hope to get it going late summer, and it (the wheelchair bike) will be stored near the Dune climb.”
The vehicle is a Van Raam OPair wheelchair bike – a bicycle with a wheelchair attached to the front. Pope said that when a person with reduced mobility wants to ride the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, they’ll be able to make an appointment on the Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes website, friendsofsleepingbear. org.
