Great Bike Ride puts spotlight on disabled

The Great Bike Hike rolled into Karratha on Thursday en-route to Broome.

Beginning in Perth 18 days ago, the ride is an awareness-raising event, supporting local communities in becoming welcoming and affirming places for people with disability, mental illness, as well as their families and carers.

Darren Taylor, who is vision impaired, is taking part in the ride on a tandem cycle and said it had had been tough and physical so far.

“The weather is sort of now getting to a point where it is getting hotter as we go up and we’re getting a lot of head winds,” he said.

When the riders made it to Karratha, late Thursday afternoon, an expo was held to celebrate projects and initiatives in Karratha, which promoted inclusiveness for those with disabilities and/or mental illness.

The Great Bike Hike riders are promoting awareness of the State Government’s Count Me In initiative.

At the heart of Count Me In is the vision to create a society where all people live in welcoming communities that facilitate citizenship, friendship, mutual support and a fair go for everyone.

Taylor said being part of a community could be hard at times because of his disability.

“Although I have done things over the years, to try and get into clubs … it is very hard because I still rely on either my mother or father or a member of the family to get me wherever I want to go,” he said.

“It’s really, really hard in that sense to try and get in with a group, unfortunately that’s the way it is.

“Hopefully it will change … we’ve got a long way to go but we can only hope.”