November 24, 2007 – Aubry Claypool was born without a left arm and hand below the elbow, a fact that hasn’t slowed her down one bit. When she was a child, her parents tried her on various prosthetics.

“I think I got my first prosthesis when I was still in preschool,” Aubry says. “I didn’t like it because it was this lobster-claw thing. Next I got a myo-electric limb, but it was pretty heavy, especially for someone small like me.”

Her next experience was with a cable-harness apparatus when she was about 12, but again there was a problem with the fit. “They never really stuck. Besides, I’d learned how to do everything the way I was and it wasn’t any fun having to take a step backward and relearn how to do things.”

So rather than use a prosthesis, Aubry instead chose to go, in her own words, “au naturel.” This combination of stubbornness and independence may have prevented her from getting the full benefit of prosthetics, but it also taught her two valuable lessons: to accept herself just the way she was and to give her best effort at whatever she did.

Aubry channelled her energy into soccer. She became one of the highest ranked players in Regina and won a soccer scholarship to an American university. Returning home, she played competitive soccer in Saskatoon until a couple of years ago. A bad knee injury brought her playing days to an end and she found herself wondering what to do next. When her boyfriend suggested mountain biking, she was intrigued.

“He suggested mountain biking more as a sport I could do after my knee injury. But it’s definitely a two-handed sport — you’re jumping over rocks and logs, going up and down hills — you need two hands.”

Wanting to try it out, Aubry found herself challenged in ways she hadn’t experienced since she was a child. She contacted the Saskatchewan Abilities Council and asked if there was a prosthetic she could use. There wasn’t — but that didn’t stop the Council’s Prosthetic Co-ordinator Stan Holcomb from designing one.

“Stan had made biking apparatus before, but it was for young kids on normal bikes,” Aubry says. “This was for an adult doing more strenuous mountain biking.”

Stan worked with Aubry to create a unique prosthesis that lets her hold and steer the bike, giving her the leverage of two hands. Testing has been a trial and error process. “I’ve already burned through two devices because we didn’t have the right metals for the kind of pressure and torque being exerted. Also, the device is attached to the bike. I can twist in and out, but not very quickly, and that’s a bit of a safety concern.”

While she continues to work with the Council on the device, she sees herself as blazing a trail for mountain biking. She knows that her efforts in helping develop a new device will open the door for others wanting to join in the sport, removing yet another barrier to participation for people with disabilities.