Kristijan Lazarev's tandem bike is 26 years old. Not 26 months - 26 years. And that is the shortest way to explain the state adaptive sport is in in this country.

Lazarev, a young man from Skopje, lost his sight around the age of fifteen. "I grew up on a bike," he says. He did not ride between fifteen and about twenty, and then he found out tandem bikes existed. He got one, and has been riding it ever since - mostly with his sister.

"The riding is the same as on a standard bike, you just have to sync with your partner, you set off and stop at the same time. It reaches over 30 kilometres an hour without a problem," he explains.

Over 30 kilometres an hour, on a bike a quarter of a century old, ridden by a man who cannot see. That is the story. The rest is on the system.

There is nowhere to buy one

Tandem bikes are not sold in Macedonia. They are not imported, not orderable through a shop, not part of any assistive equipment programme. Whoever wants one figures it out alone.

"There are a few tandem bikes in Skopje, bought wherever anyone managed. They usually bring them from abroad. There are 5-6 enthusiasts riding them. Maintenance is a problem too, because parts are hard to find," Lazarev says.

Five or six people in the capital. With equipment carried in from abroad. With parts hunted down like for some museum car. That is the entire "scene" for a sport that has clubs and leagues in neighbouring countries.

What happened in Prespa

This weekend, by Lake Prespa, the country's first inclusive cycling tour took place. From Pretor to Slivnica and back, people with and without physical disabilities, on adaptive and standard bikes. Participation was free, and at the finish participants could try out five different types of adaptive equipment.

The event was organised by the Equality association in partnership with Future of Tradition from Resen, within the "Magic of Prespa" project under the #EUforPrespa programme, supported by the EU Delegation and implemented by UNDP.

Aleksandar Stojanovski from Future of Tradition explained why it matters: "I have limited mobility, so an adaptive bike lets me steer it with my hands".

Skopje has the paths. The rest of the country does not

Here comes the part the organisers said out loud, and it is worth reading twice.

"In Skopje there are more paths for adaptive cycling, but in local and tourist areas, unfortunately, the infrastructure is not developed enough," said Gere Tripkov from Equality.

So: a person with a disability in Skopje can ride. That same person in Resen, Pretor or Brajchino depends on whether some association organises an event. State infrastructure for accessible tourism, in a country that sells its lakes as the main tourist offer, comes down to that.

From September, rentals

There is also a concrete outcome, which is not always the case with projects like this. From September, people with disabilities in Prespa will be able to rent adaptive bikes - each with a battery and a drive that assists while riding. Prices: 1,500 denars for the smaller ones, 2,000 to 2,500 denars for bikes with heavier equipment.

Over the coming months UNDP will map out a dirt cycling trail of more than 100 kilometres along Lake Prespa, connecting Konjsko with Dolno Dupeni, including a section designed for adaptive cycling.

If that gets built, Prespa will be the first place in the country where accessibility does not depend on whether someone hauls a bike in from abroad. Until then, the fastest adaptive bike in Macedonia remains one 26-year-old tandem, with a partner who knows when to set off and when to stop.