Ramesh Ferris has been waiting a long time to complete the next step toward his long-term vision for recreational activities in the Yukon.

As president of the Yukon Society Towards Accessible Recreation and Sport (Yukon STARS), Ferris was instrumental in bringing wheelchair basketball to the territory a few years ago, a sport which is now enjoying increasing numbers.

Yukon STARS also initiated an inclusive dance program, including middle eastern dance and wheelchair ballroom dancing.

The overall goal of the society is to create community awareness and educate on the importance of equal access to sport and recreation, as well as provide opportunities to people of varying abilities. And their latest idea was to start a third program which would meet the mandate of the organization, one that would be perfect for the summer season.

Hand cycling certainly fits under that umbrella.

'Our organization did a three-year strategic plan,' explained Ferris in an interview during an open hand cycling session at F.H. Collins Thursday evening. 'We brought in community stakeholders and identified there was a need within the territory to develop a program such as hand cycling.'

Thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Yukon government's Community Development Fund and a generous donation from Medi-Chair Yukon, the public now has access to six Quickie Shark, 27-speed bikes with a Shimano gear system worth roughly $30,000.

The bikes were built in Germany, assembled in Florida and then sent up to Whitehorse.

'This program is the first of its kind, really,' said Ferris. 'Most people have to fundraise for just one piece of equipment, but we have six hand cycles for public use. That's really a first for the country.'

Last week, Yukon STARS held the first of what will be regular evening sessions for the public, 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at F.H. Collins. In order to garner the initial interest, Ferris enlisted some help from Stephen Burke, the head coach of the Canadian paralympic cycling team, who also hails from Whitehorse.

'I saw (Burke) in Quebec last October at a conference, told him about the program and he was excited,' said Ferris. 'He said once we got the equipment, he would come do a clinic, so we invited him up to share his knowledge with us.'

Burke, who taught at Porter Creek Secondary School until 1998 and now lives and coaches in Calgary, was impressed with what he saw in Whitehorse over his short stay.

'Just the general support in the community, to see everybody from Owen (Munroe) right through to Carrie (Rudolph) ... hand cycling is an inclusive activity, everybody can do it, just like wheelchair basketball.'

While he has been involved with paralympic cycling since 1998, Burke was only appointed a full-time coach in October 2005. He's coached roughly 35 athletes over the past eight years, some of which have continued on in sport and are now elite athletes, others who have gone on to great success in other aspects of life.

'They've all benefited their life somehow through sport,' he stated. 'It gives them self esteem and helps them realize some goals.'

Currently, Burke works with a core group of five athletes, each with different physical disabilities, such as polio, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, or an amputated limb. He credits his experience at Porter Creek where he worked with a visually impaired student as well as how he was raised by his parents, for giving him the opportunity to work successfully in his career.

'I've sort of been exposed to people with various disabilities my whole life. My uncle had no legs. My mom and dad always raised us to give everyone a fair shake.'

Burke is the only paralympic cycling coach in Canada working with new recruits and he's the driving force behind the improvements to the national program. He's hoping to add at least a few Yukoners to his training roster in the next couple of years now that they've been exposed to hand cycling. Ferris, he said, is really coming up to speed and Burke doesn't think it will be long before he's ready for the national team.

'Maybe he can still make China, even though it's only two years away. If not, London is five or six years away,' he said, pointing out Ferris is at an ideal age of 26. While most sports wouldn't consider that prime age for a rookie, Burke said youth in the Paralympic Games is not much of a factor. The world champion in Athens was 44 years old.

Also turning Burke's head last week was JP Austring, a young Whitehorse athlete who lost his leg to cancer.

'JP is a find. He's the perfect candidate. Don't be surprised if in three years, JP is making the national team.'

For his part, Austring seemed interested in giving cycling another shot.

'I've been wanting to get back into something more active for a long time now,' he said. 'I've always wanted to get back on my bike, but never have.'

Austring said the hand cycles were really fun, pointing out its weird when you get off the bike and your whole upper body id dead but your legs still have tons of energy.

'Stephen inspired me to get back on my regular bike as well. He's going to look into getting me a special crank, so I can use it again. I used to do road relays and stuff, so maybe now I can get back into that.'

Rudolph was also pleased with her experience on the hand cycles. She had previously tried one in Vancouver and is now planning on attending the sessions every week to train.

'I love it, just the adrenaline, trying to get my energy up when I'm on the bike.'

Pat Palemel, the owner of Whitehorse's Icycle Sports, didn't take a spin on the hand cycles Thursday, but he was there to witness everyone's enjoyment and left with a new appreciation for them after seeing them in action.

'I'm a gear head, so I appreciate these bikes,' said Palemel, who will help with the maintenance of the equipment. 'These are different enough that they're just much nicer to work on, but they are still a bicycle.'

With a successful introduction in the books, Ferris is now hopeful more residents will come out to future sessions, regardless of their varying abilities.

Even if you've had recent knee surgery, are a senior or elder, or if you're in physiotherapy, this is also for you, he said, so come out and try it. And if you don't participate physically, you can still find ways to support the program, and the vision Yukon STARS has for the future.

'Disability will affect all of us at some point in our lives,' he said. 'We're all going to have varying abilities, so it's really important to work together as a community and create more opportunities such as this. To not just look, but participate.'