ASHLAND – The look on Logan Zehner’s face as he zipped down the paved path at Freer Field Tuesday was one of pure joy. 

For the 22-year-old, developmental disabilities often become a roadblock. But this time, thanks to a wheelchair bicycle tandem, there was nothing to stop Zehner from riding a bike.

Harnessed into a wheelchair in the front of the tandem, Zehner laughed and clapped while Monica Kessler of Mobility & Access Inc. pedaled from the back half of the machine. 

Ashland County Park District Commissioner Bob DeSanto hopes that together with other community organizations and volunteers, the park district can bring the joy of adaptive bicycles to other individuals with physical or developmental disabilities as well as injured veterans or older adults in the community. 

The idea to bring an adaptive bicycle program to Ashland for public use came from a similar program at a park district in Marysville, DeSanto said. 

If the Ashland community shows enough interest, DeSanto said, the park district is prepared to make Freer Field available both for equipment storage and as a riding area.

The park already is home to “Ryan’s ‘Me Too’ Playground,” a playground where each piece of equipment is designed to be safer and more accessible for children with special needs while still being enjoyable for other children. That playground was another project led by DeSanto, inspired by his grand son who has Down Syndrome. 

Freer Field also has a four-foot-wide paved loop, and DeSanto noted its convenient location within the city of Ashland, adjacent to Dale Roy School and near University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center.

“My hope is that we have people that come to us and say, ‘I’m interested in this. I have a friend, child, nephew, mother, that could use one of these, and I would like to see the park district provide these to the community,'” DeSanto said. “Then we will get it done.”

The adaptive bicycles are not cheap– Kessler suggested budgeting $10,000 per cycle for the high-end, power-assisted tandem she demonstrated Tuesday or around $12,000 for a side-by-side model that allows the rider to pedal and the driver to control settings for therapy purposes.

There are cheaper versions of similar products the park district is considering, and DeSanto said he believes the community can rise to meet whatever need is found. 

“I think if the interest is there, it will self-fund,” DeSanto said. 

Representatives from Samaritan Hospital Foundation and Ashland County Community Foundation came to see Tuesday’s presentation and to consider how they may be able to help.

Kessler indicated that to launch a successful community program, the park district and its partners would also need a base of volunteers willing to undergo six hours of training as well as a partnership with a local bicycle shop.

To gauge community interest and let people see adaptive bicycle options, the park district will be on hand with samples of adaptive bicycles near the former Gerald’s camera shop building (Main and Union streets) at the Ashland Downtown Dream Cruise and Car Show noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 14.

Community members are invited to come to the car show or to contact any of the park district commissioners to express interest. DeSanto can be reached at 419-289-1454.

Information about the two bicycles discussed Tuesday can be found at www.frankmobility.com/duet and www.frankmobility.com/orion.