Handbike

After the first handbike was put together out of bike parts, just as witnessed and still used today in Marrakesch or Hongkong, the first handbike was build in the USA in 1983. In 1990 the first series constructed bike came across the ocean and motivated Europe’s wheelchair drivers to look at cycling. The first pure sports equipment was developed in 1999 in the USA, and at around 1993 in Europe.

The first race took place in the name of «Human Powered Vehicles»-Scene (recumbent bikes), where in 1993 at the European Championship in Switzerland for the first time an ‘arm powered’ class existed. Gradually the different countries founded their own handbike organizations, organizing races in which the cycling scene often also participated. The year 1998 brought some major advancement. In Colorado Springs (USA), during the World Cycling Championship for the disabled an already real handbike race was sported. In collaboration with the Americans, as valid today, the classifications with a division for women and men were developed, and its efforts promoted to integrate handbike sports into the Paralympics. At the time the most popular race series, European Handbike Circuit (EHC), which functions since 2001 as a form of European Cup, existing of eight races that are carried out in eight different European countries.

After the first view years of participants gradually switching from wheelchair racing and winter sports, we now find more and more wheelchair riders that find their entry way through handbiking into wheelchair sports, building a steadily growing team-sports scene. Handbiking offers an easy and effortless entry into wheelchair sports, and with little prior knowledge is directly applicable.

In performance sports the limits are always set higher: during races the average speed was just under 28 km/h and by now grew to 36 km/h. In June 2000 the first and longest race around Lake Geneva lasting over 177 km took place. This race meanwhile emits an aura of the Tour de France with its bicycling escorts and support vehicles.

What started in the beginning with a handful of participants has now build to a flourishing scene with a brought spectrum from tours to high performance sports, only anticipating future possibilities and accomplishments.

In the year 2000 a TK-Handbike technical commission was founded which coordinates all the races, events and tours. Which is available for all questions and concerns in regards to handbike sports.