Northern Utah community comes together for teen with special needs


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PLAIN CITY, Weber County — At first glance, you wouldn’t think Andrew Veldhuizen has any issues on a bicycle. The 17-year-old has been riding for over a decade and is on Fremont High School’s mountain biking team.

Andrew's father, Ryan Veldhuizen, said there is no doubt his son has a need for speed.

"He's fast,” Veldhuizen said. “I’m constantly like, ‘Hey, you have to ride with me,’ or ‘We’re riding together, you know? We're not racing!’"

But racing around has been challenging for Andrew because of his disabilities.

“From the knee down, (Andrew's) bones are turned out, so he can't just put the ball of his foot on the pedal,” Veldhuizen said. “He pedals with his heel."

Andrew also has difficulty with balance and riding at slow speeds, so his dad took to Facebook to ask for suggestions on adjustments he could make to Andrew’s current bike. The post was shared dozens of times, eventually catching the eye of Dusty Ott with Hubsessed Cycle Works.

“[Andrew and Ryan] seem like a really good match to have the group help and chip in and potentially get him something new,” Ott said.

Ott is part of Utah’s mountain biking community and said the donations came pouring in. He was approached by Spry Cycles in American Fork, which donated the parts to build Andrew a custom bicycle worth $5,000. MTB Enthusiasts of Utah also raised $2,500 to help build the bike.

"It means the world that the community was able to really reach out and just give this kid something that would really, really help him,” Ott said.

On Tuesday night at Fremont High School, Andrew was surprised with the new bike and had no problem claiming it as his own. When asked whose bike he had, Andrew laughingly shouted, "Mine!”

Veldhuizen said his son would be riding the new bike for practice this summer and eventually competing with it in the fall.

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