As Michael Sadler rode his bike, his mother, Jean, followed.

With a face flushed red, the Woodinville resident jogged and ran with her son’s volunteer coach, Paul Locke of Bothell, during an outdoor CanBike Seattle — Lose the Wheels Bike Camp session on a recent Friday afternoon at Magnuson Park.

At one point, Jean’s face showed concern for her son with special needs — a few seconds later, a smile appeared and laughter and encouraging words flowed from her mouth. Success.

“Give me five. Guess what? You did that one all by yourself,” Locke told Michael, 12, as they slapped hands.

After a water break to finish the session, Locke added: “It’s tiring … he’s working me pretty good and he’s having a good time. It’s great to see the kids start from nothing and end up by themselves.”

Campers began the week inside Hangar 30, riding bikes with a front wheel and roller on the back. Floor supervisors kept a close eye on the riders as they progressed through the eight different sizes of rollers, and most of them eventually moved to the outside riding area on two wheels to complete the camp.

Camp Director Konnie Drews of Bothell attended a Lose the Training Wheels camp with her special-needs daughter, Ariana, 12, in Portland, Ore., last summer and brought the camp local this time out. Along with the Lose the Training Wheels national organization, Northshore-area Northwest Special Families (NSF) partnered with The Down Syndrome Community of Seattle to host the CanBike camp, which is a spin-off of the CanDo run/walk that NSF has hosted in Bothell the last three years.

“There was such a huge demand that we wanted to bring it (here),” Drews said of the first-time Seattle-area camp that drew 40 campers from Bothell, Kenmore, Woodinville and other cities. “We’re celebrating what these kids and individuals with disabilities can do, and a lot of these kids have proven this week that they can bike. It’s amazing.”

After completing the “victory lap” with her son, Jean Sadler gave him a high five and took a well-deserved rest herself. Sadler’s other son, Nick, 8, joined Michael at the camp and was rolling along inside the hangar before taking to the outside course.

“It’s been just such an optimistic week. We just can’t thank everybody enough to have this opportunity,” said Jean, who ran alongside Michael for support (coach Locke sometimes used the handle on the back of the bike to guide Michael). “He’s come home so energetic and really positive and you could just see his self confidence just really growing. Doors have been opened — this world of greater independence. The whole family just benefits from it: as one goes, we all do.”

After completing his riding session, Michael said: “We’re done, we’re done.” He then patted the front wheel of the bike he was using and noted that he was ready to purchase a new bike and start riding at home.

Like Locke, Marian Honda of Bothell was one of the CanBike coaches, working with three riders, an 18-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy and an 8-year-old boy.

“It brings tears to my eyes to think about it — all three on two-wheelers now,” said Honda, whose son, Daniel, 14, also participated in the Portland camp last summer and helped out this year.

Honda’s favorite moment was watching one of the mothers become emotional when she saw her child ride a two-wheeler for the first time: “I think when you have a child with special needs, every milestone is so huge and sometimes unimaginable. You just really keep picturing your kid making that big leap — everything is such a challenge for them.”

Drews noted that parents are hopeful but a little skeptical when they see the rollers on the bikes at the start of camp, but come Wednesday and Thursday, “They look up and they’re like, ‘My kid’s on two wheels.’ They’re so excited … there’s been lot of tears, lots of joy.”