Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Those who participated in a 12-mile ride that was part of the fourth annual Bike Belmont event Sunday leave Wick Park. Preceding the riders was a police escort with officers from the Youngstown and Liberty police departments.

YOUNGSTOWN — Tina White was grateful her daughter was able to partake in a lengthy riding adventure — and take a strong feeling of inclusion along for the journey.

“Ainsley’s Angels promotes inclusion,” White, a regional ambassador with Ainsley’s Angels of America, said.

White was referring to her daughter, Ricki White, 33, of Canton, who has a condition called complete agenesis of the corpus callosum, a congenital brain defect in which a thick band of nerve fibers that connect the brain’s right and left hemispheres is missing.

As a result, Ricki White is prone to seizures, her mother said.

Nevertheless, that didn’t stop her from being among those who took part in the fourth annual Bike Belmont gathering Sunday that began and ended in Wick Park on the North Side.

An estimated 250 people pre-registered before many others arrived for the event, which was set up largely to bring further attention and awareness to the progress along Belmont Avenue in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, as well as future possibilities along the corridor, Trisha Davignon, the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments’ regional planner, noted.

Partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-70s greeted those who took part in one of three options: a 5-mile family-friendly ride, a 12-mile one, with a police escort, to near Belmont Avenue and Gypsy Lane in Liberty, and a 32-mile ride to and from the Youngstown/Warren Regional Airport in Vienna.

In short, the gathering was “a dual fundraiser and community-building activity,” with money to go toward future events, Davignon said.

Ainsley’s Angels, a Virginia Beach, Virginia-based national organization, is committed to ensuring everyone, regardless of challenges, is able to participate in endurance events while fostering greater awareness of those who have special needs through inclusion. The organization has what Tina White referred to as “angel runners/pushers” who assist others.

“My mom told me about this bike event, so I decided to give it a try,” Ricki White said, adding that she also took part in an event to remember and honor Ryan Johnson, a West Branch High School student who collapsed and died during a track meet in 2008 against Canton South. He was 17.

Another feather in her cap was having placed third overall in an event in New Philadelphia to benefit Habitat for Humanity that the Cleveland Clinic hosted.

White’s chair was equipped with a magnet that communicates with a specialized device in her chest that is designed to block the path where seizures start, and it’s complemented with medications she takes, Tina White explained.

Serving as Ricki White’s runner/pusher was Brian Bortz of Fairlawn, who has worked with her for about a year. He attached his 12-speed Trek bicycle to her chair for the 12-mile ride.

Also refusing to allow any challenges to stop him from moving forward was Zak Kirby, 26, of Canton, who has cerebral palsy and is nonverbal.

“Zak loves it; he’s having a good time, so we’re going to keep it coming. He loves people and people communicating with him,” Kirby’s mother, Karen Kirby, said as she adjusted straps on his chair to prepare him for the 5-mile event.

Suffice it to say that Zak Kirby had little time to rest before Sunday’s Bike Belmont. That’s because he was in another event Saturday in Beloit, and before that, he participated in his first such event in Cuyahoga Falls, Karen Kirby said.

“It’s good to relax; it doesn’t hurt your neck,” Fred McCleery, 75, of Sharon, Pa., said, referring to a redeeming feature of his Catrike recumbent, three-wheel bicycle he bought in 2019. “I enjoy bike riding with a group of people who like to do the same thing I do.”

He has often biked several miles from his home to Buhl Park, but grew tired of taking the same routes in and around Sharon, so he decided to add a hitch to allow the 30-speed vehicle, which resembles a lounge chair with pedals, to be transported, said McCleery, who opted for the 12-mile ride.

Organizations and teams represented at Sunday’s Bike Belmont included the Outspokin’ Wheelmen, Pedal Forward Bike Shop, Thrive Mahoning Valley, QUICKmed Urgent Care, the City of Youngstown Parks and Recreation and the Steel Valley Triathlon Club