Accessibility advocate Ian Mackay set off on a new adventure in his battery powered wheelchair Friday, August 22.  The 3-day Sea to Sound event is a 70 mile, multi modal group ride that spans the entire length of the Olympic Discovery Trail. Day 1 is 20 miles. Well over a hundred participants in wheel chairs and bicycles will be traveling from the Camp Creek Trailhead on the west side of Lake Crescent.  Appearing on Friday’s Buck Ellard show on KSQM, Ian says a large support group will be riding along with them to assist.

“The ride is designed for people with disabilities to go on a long ride with the community in a fully supported way. I mean we have over 67 volunteers to make this three day event possible. We ride like 20 to 28 miles per day.  Very few people have done that. And they love that. They love that choice.

Ian says about 130 participants have registered for this year’s event.

“We have a wheelchair and a bike mechanic and an EMT traveling along with the group throughout the weekend just in case anything breaks down or people are feeling less than perfect. We have delicious lunches halfway through the day.  We have a cool after party with dinner at the end of each ride. At lunch we try to make if fun and kooky. We have a flutist – a flute player that plays out in the woods for us out by Lake Crescent on day one. We have a father and daughter on guitar and sing for us at lunch on day two. And you know, it’s just really fun.” 

He says the mission of the organization he founded, called “Ians Ride” is to make outdoor access accessible to everybody.

“Remember, the volume of disabled individuals that join Sea to Sound, really, it shows the desire for access to the outdoors. And more folks should have these opportunities throughout our country. And the infrastructure really needs to be there to make that possible.”