The Great Bike Giveaway officially begins today at noon Eastern Standard Time. Josiah is a contestant this year, which means given enough votes, he will win a brand new adaptive bike. How cool is that?

Josiah has always loved being on a bike. He loves being outdoors. He loves constant motion. He loves dangling his beads in the wind and reaching over to drag them along the ground.

We rode often, up until a few years ago when it just wasn’t possible anymore.

Josiah always rode on the back of my bike in a small, child carrier. He was way past being a small child at that point. He loved riding so much he didn’t mind the too small seat or the back of my feet hitting him with every rotation of the pedals. He didn’t mind his knees pressed against my back. He happily climbed up and squished in.

Movement calms him.

We are hopeful an adaptive bike will increase exercise options for Josiah.  Read that to mean, if he exercises he will get tired.  If he gets tired, he will sleep.  If he sleeps, we will sleep. And then all will be right with the world.

Right now, Josiah’s only consistent form of exercise is jumping.  And boy does this kid jump.  I truly think the best investment we’ve ever made for him was the 7.5′ trampoline he got for his birthday a couple of years ago.  We set it up in his bedroom, next to his bed.  I’m not quite sure how the springs have held up for as along as they have, but if you have a highly energetic child, I would definitely recommend one.

Maybe I’m being a bit hasty.  The netting we recently bought to staple to Josiah’s bed was a really great investment also.  Okay, so the trampoline and the netting were the 2 best purchases ever made.

But I digress. This is not about trampolines or creating an enclosed bed for your child.  This is about the Great Bike Giveaway, which started in 2012 to give children and teens with special needs an opportunity to win an adaptive bike.

The rules for voting are pretty simple:

1. In order to vote, you will need to verify your identity by logging in with Facebook
2. Votes are allowed by anyone over the age of 12
3. You may vote for any number of contestants once throughout the contest (ex: you may vote for 50 different contestants one time each, but you may not vote for the same contestant 50 times)
4. You can vote for contestants beginning on March 8 at 12:00 pm and ending on March 30 at 11:59 am

Here’s where YOU come in.  Josiah needs your vote.  When you get a minute, would you please click on the link below and vote for Josiah?  And if you are so inclined, would you please share this with your family and friends so they can vote as well? We would be ever so grateful! Thank you!

https://www.friendshipcircle.org/bikes/2016/02/josiah-d/.