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[Yogi:] And on the line now on 91.3 Sports FM with SPOKED, we have Andrew Liddawi.
[Yogi:] Good day Andrew, welcome to the show. [Andrew:] Hey guys, thanks for having me on. [Yogi:] Not a problem mate.
[Yogi:] Mate, um, ok, we know you're in the basketball field you're doing your thing, but now you've come up with a new thing called, uh- you know, I think it's called a bit of four wheel driving in a wheelchair. So, tell us a little bit more about that and how does it all work out.
[Andrew:] Yeah well, I mean, it's still a new thing so it doesn't really have an official name because it's not an established sport just yet.
[Andrew:] But I like to simply call it off-road hand cycling, and that's really hand cycling off road. And the equipment that we use, it's a trike.
[Andrew:] It's three wheels. So we've got two wheels at the front and one wheel at the back, so I guess if we're refering to the equipment we can just call it 'trike', or if we're talking about the activity, we can call it 'off-road hand cycling'.
[Yogi:] What I need for you to do for the crowd, so they know what, what they're sort of gonna understand is; give them a little bit of a background of it, and also what I want from you is comparing it to like-a hand cycle - it obviously works a different way and different things.
[Yogi:] So give us a little bit of a run down on it. [Andrew:] Ok, with my background, for those that don't know, I actually had my accident while mountain biking over in Queensland.
[Andrew:] This was back in 2008, and I just came off my bike real badly and broke my back at T10 level, which has left me paralysed down from there.
[Andrew:] So, mountain biking has always been a big part of me and prior to my injury I was riding for about 4 - 5 years and really picked it up over in Queensland.
[Andrew:] It's just one of the sports that, you know, gave me a really big kick. So it was just a matter of time before I found a new big of equipment that would get me back out there, off-road, into the hills, out into the mountains.
[Andrew:] Comparing them with hand cycles which you would take on a sealed surface on the road, they're a lot more robust, uh, they- they're built for the shock of taking mountains, taking corners, sand, jumps, log-rolls; that sort of thing.
[Andrew:] So, the equipment itself is probably a little bit heavier than what you'd take onto, onto a road. Uh, the shocks, they've got shock absorbers on each of the wheels.
[Andrew:] You've got a handle bar which you use to steer, but also to, you've got your gear shifters on there as well as your brakes.
[Andrew:] So it really simulates a standard mountain bike with- with all the handle bar- uh functionality.
[Yogi:] Mate, in regards to that, what's your stability like, because I've seen a couple of photos, and I've seen you, I've seen the little video you've put online; except for the you being really, a little bit of a celebrity now being interviewed by Ten and ABC.
[Yogi:] Mate- ah, what's the stability like, and is it easy enough to, you know, handle?
[Andrew:] Yeah. Stability is amazing, especially when you're taking corners. Again, as we know with normal on-road hand cycles, you sort of, you've got a lower centre of gravity plus you've got three wheels making contact there, got a bit more traction. So you can take corners a little bit sharper.
[Andrew:] And you've got two options; you can either -you've got the hand cranks which are below your chest, but also you've got the handle bar. So you got the option there to change- to slightly change position if you're getting a little uncomfortable.
[Andrew:] The stability, yeah, going up hills; you've got gears which go really really low, so you can take some very steep hills. Ah, we're looking about things between 30 up to 40 degrees inclide.
[Andrew:] So it's really made for getting up a hill and once you're going down, its really just the gravity that's taking you down.
[Sam:] Now you mentioned that- um, you know it's very very new in terms of- ah, I guess to the world of Wheelchair Sports and things like that. Where are you looking at taking the bike?
[Andrew:] Yeah, it is relatively new- ah. It's been around Europe a lot longer than anywhere else. It's also big in Canada and the US. Unfortunately, we've only got one of these hand cycles in Australia; and that guy just happens to be in Perth as well.
[Andrew:] So it's still kicking off- um, and really there's very, ah I guess limited tracks because mountain biking in general is more for single track. And specially when you head over to the hills in Perth you'll notice that people tend to enjoy their single tracks a lot more than their wider trails.
[Andrew:] So that's something I'm looking at getting into and trying to find as many tracks that are wide enough, and usually it's the fire-breaks that will give us, you know, the best option to take a one meter wide hand cycle out.
[Sam:] So you where- I was talking to you yesterday earlier about two weeks ago, you were looking at- ah, doing a couple of the main stream cycling tracks across Australia. You still looking at something like that in the future?
[Andrew:] Yeah, there's all kinds of trails- um. There's trails over in Queensland that I'd like to take on as well. And one of the big things I wanna do; my 5 year anniversary is actually coming up later in Decemeber this year.
[Andrew:] So, I'd like to actually go back to the trail where I had the accident and go past where I fell of the bike, with the guys that I use to ride with, but also I've got the Paramedics and some of the passers-by that helped stretcher me out as well.
[Andrew:] There's a lot of other events as well, towards-ah, the northern parts of Australia. The Gibb River Challenge is one of them.
[Andrew:] There's things like the Cape-to-Cape which runs from Dunsborough-ah down to Augusta. Um, so it's just a matter of seeing if the full length of the trails are accessible enough.
[Andrew:] One of the other things that- as well, is completing large sections of the Munda Biddi trail. And a bit of background on that; that runs from Albany to Mundaring, which is actually the longest continuous trail of its kind in the world.
[Andrew:] It's been internationally recognised by National Geographic and that's just one of those things that'll be great to ride on especially- you know- being one of the first people on a hand cycle to do it.
[Yogi:] Mate-um, we're looking around and we're looking at- I had a look at a couple of the photos of it. It looks like an expensive bit of equipment. What are we looking at- ah, money wise in regards to getting one of these piece of equip-
[Andrew:] Yeah, expensive; it's relative to what you're comparing it with. Comparing it to an on road hand cycle-ah, it's relatively priced very well.
[Andrew:] We're looking at about 9 thousand dollars and this bit of equipment is actually made in Poland. They're the only guys make this- uh, this particular design.
[Andrew:] And, you know, 9 thousand dollars might seem like a lot comparing it with a normal mountain bike, but if we compare that to a hand cycle on road- ah, that's a relatively good price.
[Andrew:] My aim is to actually raise enough money for Wheelchair Sports WA to purchase their own hand cycle, so that any of the members in our Association can pretty much just give it a shot, give it a try, see if they're interested in taking on mountain biking.
[Andrew:] And I know there's people out there who've had accidents on motor bikes and push bikes and things like that, that would be very keen on getting onto one of these things and just really getting that feel that they're not gonna get on a flat surface.
[Sam:] So in terms of- ah, if anyone out there also wants to help out, or get involved - their best to contact Wheelchair Sports?
[Andrew:] Absolutely- um, the easiest way is probably go to my website which links to my Everyday Hero account, and all the funds go directly to Wheelchair Sports that way.
[Andrew:] And my website is www.breaktheboundary.com - and that's all, that's one word there. So, if they just go to the menu there's a donation link down there and that will go to the Everyday Hero, and again, if you do online payment it all goes through to Wheelchair Sports.
[Andrew:] Everything's tax deductable over $2 there, so again, it's equipment which will be out there for all the members and not just for me to use as well.
[Sam:] No worries. Well thank you very much for having a chat with us, Andrew. And- ah, yeah, like we said; if anyone wants to get in touch, you can either do it through Wheelchair Sports or through Andrew's website.
[Andrew:] Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate your time.
[Sam:] No worries. This is SPOKED, 91.3 Sports FM.