Well, from swimming with a purpose to riding toward independence, our final story tonight shows how another physical activity can change lives.

For a kid, there are few moments that feel bigger than the first time somebody lets go of the back of their bike, and you realize you're riding all on your own.

But learning that skill doesn't always happen at the same age or in the same way.

A free Charlotte program helps kids, adults, and riders with special needs find their balance and the confidence that comes with it.

Carolina Impact's Chris Clark shows us why two wheels can open up a whole new world.

- [Chris] They say you never forget how to ride a bike.

- I'm not gonna let go yet until you feel like you okay.

- [Chris] But what if you never learned?

- When you feel like you got it, you let me know, okay?

- Aliyah's big brother already rides without training wheels.

- Me and him tried to teach her and it was just not working out.

- You're just gonna stay balanced, all right?

You can follow me?

- [Chris] So today, someone else takes a turn at Arbor Glen Outreach Center.

- I would take these small ones and just put them over there.

- [Chris] Learn to Ride offers free lessons.

- The Learn to Ride program is open to like all ages.

So we've had, folks as old as 67, I believe, all the way to three years old.

- High five.

- So the young and the young at heart, it's never too late to learn how to ride a bike.

- The most important aspect is the relationship and the atmosphere that we're creating.

That's why these events are successful.

- [Chris] For Dana Dina, it's another chance.

- I never did it before, I was always scared.

I mean, I tried, my husband tried to teach me, but I was always scared.

- Everyone's scared of falling and getting hurt.

And the nice thing about our method is you build that relationship with them, you speak with them, but truly, you take the elements and really knock it down.

- [Chris] The idea is to learn one thing at a time.

- We take the pedals off the bike.

to kind of create a balance bike, and then you're just trying to teach somebody that physical sensation of balancing on a bike.

- [Chris] Feet on the ground first.

- There you go.

- Then a glide.

- There you go, oh, oh- - Without the pedals, I was speeding.

- [Chris] Once they're comfortable balancing, the pedals go back on.

And eight-year-old Dennis Hill is putting his to good use.

- Mommy said speed up.

I'm speeding up!

- [Chris] His dad, Sam Hill says he arrived on training wheels, a little unsure of himself.

- Put the pedals back on and we are good to go.

And he's a fighter pilot.

How fast can you go on this thing?

- I think probably about, hang on... I think 20 miles per hour.

You seeing this, people?

Hey, DC.

- My man.

- [Chris] Sam remembers the huffy he got for Christmas.

- Thunder, I think it was, and it meant everything.

I mean, at that point, I was a Knight Rider.

I was Air Wolf.

- I'm not going to say.

I have a girlfriend, which I do.

- [Chris] He says parents hold their kids a little closer these days.

- I want him to do the things that I felt free to do, cruise the neighborhood with a transistor radio taped to his handlebars and all that stuff.

- [Chris] DC remembers another reason to get on his bike.

- It also meant employment, too, because I got a paper route.

I'm old enough to where that was a thing.

(chuckles) So, like, not only could I visit my friends, neighborhoods away, but then I got a job out of the deal.

- [Chris] Aliyah's instructor, Jacorey Alston, is doing a bit more than steadying her ride.

Barbie is real.

You never seen the Barbie movie?

- She's a bit hard-headed.

And I think learning from somebody else, she doesn't give that rebuttal.

- [Chris] This is his first time teaching anyone to ride a bike.

- Look at you.

Oh, no, no, no, don't turn.

You had it.

Her confidence is starting to build up more and more and more as she got comfortable.

And then she trusts me.

And that was the biggest thing of all.

She trusts me that I could be there for her.

You know what?

What we gotta do?

We gotta stay on the?

- Right.

- [Chris] Now comes the part he can't do for her.

- Don't look at it, look where you going.

Hold on.

Oh!

Oh!

There we go!

- Oh my God, I was over here screaming up and down.

I was like, you see her?

Let's go.

- You got it, there we go.

Look at that.

- I was excited.

- Look at that.

- [Chris] Recreation manager Gabe Hackney has watched a lot of first rides.

- Going through that journey and walking them through and being a real part of them and their memory in their life, it's extremely rewarding.

- When they finally get it and they make the achievement and they've learned I can do this.

- Anybody that's ever passed on a transferable skill.

- Wait long, come on, there you go.

- It is, man, it'll bring tears to your eyes.

- [Chris] Dina, who we met earlier, has kept at it.

- It's like I'm more confident, and I think I can do it.

I'm telling myself, yes, you can do it because I started good and I did it.

- [Chris] Aliyah's mom is already thinking about the next ride.

- We like to ride bikes at home as a family.

And so, she has one with training wheels at home, but it's a little harder for her to keep up with us.

So I was like, we're gonna get you on a bike with just two wheels, that way you can feel like you're keeping up with us.

- [Chris] For other children, the next step is having a bike to call their own.

At the Charlotte Recyclery, Eric and the Trips for Kids Charlotte team helped donated bikes find their next riders.

- When we go through the bike, we'll go through everything to make sure it's mechanically sound, to replace parts that need to be replaced to make sure that they're safe as well.

- [Chris] Through Earn-a-Bike, children complete six hours of lessons and receive a bicycle and safety gear, all of it free.

And for Eric, it's personal.

- So, I didn't learn how to ride a bike till I was 14.

So, definitely a late bloomer and this is actually something that happens quite often in schools, like you might not know.

But biking is a life skill.

I learned how to ride a bike just because my sister learned how to ride a bike first, and I wanted to, you know, share in that experience.

- [Chris] They say you never forget how to ride a bike.

- Give me a high five, there we go, girl.

- [Chris] Just maybe you never forget who helped you learn, either.

- I am happy to do it.

I can do it, I can ride with my girls.

- [Chris] For Carolina Impact, I'm Chris Clark.