Lisa Franks — Pushing Boundaries

Lisa Franks is a Canadian Paralympian, mechanical engineer, and adventurer who has turned her passion for parasurfing and van life into an adventure fueled lifestyle. Renowned for her record-breaking achievements in T52 wheelchair racing, including six Paralympic gold medals and multiple world records from the 100 meters to the marathon, Franks has continuously pushed boundaries in adaptive sports. Diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation at 14, she overcame profound physical challenges to excel as an athlete and mechanical engineer. Today, she embraces life on the road, traveling in her campervan to surf destinations across North America. Through her YouTube channel, “Keepinitwheel306,” Franks shares her adventures and highlights the transformative power of resilience and a love for the outdoors.

ABILITY Magazine’s Chet Cooper met Lisa Franks on a California beach where they spoke about the love of surfing, adventure and adapting to life on the road.

Chet Cooper: Tell me about your experience at ISA (International Surfing Association).

Lisa Franks: Yeah, the ISA Parasurfing World Championships in Huntington Beach. That was my third time at it, and I’m in the women’s wave ski. I sucked in the semifinal (laughs), but pulled it together in the final. I had great conditions, and I came home with the bronze medal.

Cooper: Can you describe “wave ski”?

Franks: I use a paddle in order to maneuver on waves and paddle myself into a wave, pretty much like a kayak paddle. The difference with me is because of my injury level, I have a back rest, unlike most other people who do wave ski. I’ve got a back rest. I’m strapped to it, so if I fall over, I’m underwater and strapped in, so I have to have the whereabouts to unstrap and get back on the board while waves are crashing around me. It’s fun! It’s a special type of fun.

Cooper: I’ve seen people in kayaks go upside-down in a whitewater raft. And they have to flip it to get back up. Is that harder for you?

Franks: Eskimo roll, yeah. I don’t have abs or back muscles, so it’s really hard for me. I don’t know any women who can do it. There are two men in the parasurfing community who can do it on a wave ski, but they’re very rare to be able to do that.

Cooper: So they’re not pushing you into the wave?

Franks: No. I’m paddling by myself, selecting all my waves myself.

Cooper: Do you practice holding your breath?

Franks: I don’t! I try not to be under that long! (laughs) I’ve gotten caught in the washing machine a few times, but I don’t really feel like I work on the breath. But maybe I should.

Cooper: When I get churned out there, I feel I’m under for much too long (laughs). Have you been home since the event?

Franks: No. I’m down here now for the winter. This is my fifth winter as a snowbird. I leave Canada before the snow falls, and then I’m down here for my 180 days in southern California typically, and then I’ll head back up to Canada.

Cooper: Do you stay in the van the whole time?

Franks: Yeah, I’m full-time living in the van, a couple years now.

Cooper: Do you have trouble finding places to park? Do you park in campgrounds?

Franks: I used to do campgrounds when I first started out, but now I’ve adapted. It was a waste of money. I’m really only there at night to sleep. I’m seasoned at it now. It was a little nerve-wracking at the start, but once you get use to it, it’s great.

Cooper: There must be an app to know where to park?

Franks: Yeah, there’s an app, and also, I just pull into a spot, don’t turn on a light, just go straight to bed. I’m not making noise in there. Nobody knows who’s in there. I’m not disrupting anybody, I’m not leaving garbage out on the street.

Cooper: What about those rest stops? Are you allowed to stay there?

Franks: Yup. I’ve stayed there many a time.

Cooper: A little noisy, I would think?

Franks: Yeah, I got used to it. I’m so used to those things now.

Cooper: And I guess you’ve figured out all of the ways to get in/out and within your van?

Franks: Yeah. I’ve got a lift inside. I’ve got a lift I designed to get myself up onto my bed because my bed is very high. I designed the whole van to be accessible for my needs so I can do everything independently. Even loading my bike. I’ve got ramps and a winch.

Cooper: I was noticing the ramps and the winch.

Franks: Yup, that does all the work.

Cooper: You’re not dependent on outside help. You’ve got so many things.

Franks: I’ve got a lot of stuff crammed in here over the years.

Cooper: It’s very cool. And your background is as an engineer?

Franks: Yeah, a mechanical engineer. I worked in buildings, engineering, designing HVAC, plumbing, and fire protection systems and then I got laid off during COVID right as my van arrived. It was serendipitous. I said, “Well, I’m not really stuck in one spot for now, so let’s do this full-time.” It was just supposed to be a weekend warrior van, and then I turned it into a full-time van.

Cooper: Are you making money doing any of this?

Franks: I’ve got rental property back home, and I do public speaking, talking about my Paralympic experiences. I have a YouTube channel that’s making some income now. It’s called Keepin’ It Wheel 306.

Cooper: Is that punny?

Franks: (laughs) It’s punny.

Cooper: What are you keeping wheel about it?

Franks: I show the realities of living life in a van while having a mobility issue. I show some of the challenges but also some of the amazing things I can do on my own. I try to motivate people to overcome their own fears of doing things and also try to encourage people to think about accessibility when they’re out on their own or maybe a business owner. I show the good and the amazing part of it.

Cooper: What about sponsors?

Franks: I’m monetized by YouTube, so I get paid by my watch hours, how much it’s viewed, and then I’m also getting sponsors. I just got a light bar from Auxbeam.

Cooper: I notice your Bowhead trike. Are you going after sponsors?

Franks: I’m getting emails for sponsorships multiple times a day.

Cooper: Oh, good!

Franks: But I’m turning them all down.

Cooper: Wait, what?

Franks: I don’t want my channel to be full of ads. I want to still tell stories with the occasional sponsorship that aligns with what I’m doing. I don’t want to just bombard people with ads and sell it that way. Bowhead is the company that makes my mountain bike.

Cooper: I see it on your shirt as well.

Franks: I’ve been an athlete on their team for the past three years, mostly just showing what the bike’s about, do some races here and there.

Cooper: It’s a hand-powered multigear?

Franks: There are batteries and a motor.

Cooper: That’s cool.

Franks: The biggest part is the suspension in the front end. The wheels will tilt like this.

Cooper: Rack and pinion steering? I don’t really know what that means.

Franks: It’s called articulation. That means that most three-wheeled bikes will flip if you get on a side slope.

Cooper: I didn’t even notice…

Franks: Yeah. Two front wheels, one back wheel. That’s your driven wheel. That’s better than most bikes that have front-wheel drive and don’t have the power to climb up steep hills. And what sets Bowhead apart from any other mountain bike is the ability to move those front wheels side to side so you don’t flip over on a side slope.

Cooper: That sounds cool. So, your back wheel, it looks like it’s about 21-inch?

Franks: I think it’s 25 or 26.

Cooper: The back wheel is definitely larger, and it looks a little bit more knobby.

Franks: You want traction.

Cooper: It would be nice if it had front traction, too.

Franks: They do sell all wheel drive, but it’s a big upgrade, a big expense. The few times I’ve needed it was when what I’m trying to go up is too loose and steep.

Cooper: On this part of your adventure, are you racing that as well?

Franks: I’ve done a few bike races, just for fun, but the big thing I’m training for is next fall. I’m going to Iceland and I’ll be biking around the entire country, doing 75 miles a day, 14 days straight. I’m trying to build up some endurance on that. It’s a big undertaking.

Cooper: Iceland is supposed to be green.

Franks: Right. It’s windy, though. it’s going to be windy, probably cold by September. It’ll be an adventure.

Cooper: What part of Canada are you from?

Franks: Saskatchewan, so it’s cold.

Cooper: So you should be used to that.

Franks: No, because I’ve skipped winter for the past four years, five years.

Cooper: Oh, that’s right, you’re snowbirding. Do you always choose California?

Franks: I flew down here back in 2017 to watch a friend do some adaptive surfing. I just fell in love with the community, the nice weather, the accessibility. It’s really accessible in these regions. So I did another road trip down here in 2019, and I just kept falling more for the location. Now, I know so many people here. It’s easy to do van life here. It’s just natural. It’s my second home now.

Cooper: Can you tell me about Canadian healthcare. How does your system work? Is it one system or a dual like in Israel, where you would pay a bit more and get more benefits?

Franks: It’s one system, but it’s done provincially. I’m with Saskatchewan Healthcare. When I travel down here, I buy travel insurance, which is probably cheaper than what locals down here pay for insurance.

Cooper: Interesting. So you have travel insurance through your provincial insurance if something happens—

Franks: Here, yeah. I pay a bit more so I don’t have to have a deductible the first year. I paid the cheap plan, and then I hurt my wrist and I didn’t want to go pay the $500 deductible, so I waited until I was back in Canada to get it looked at, and I realized that was silly.

Cooper: How much is healthcare in Canada?

Franks: Well, it’s free. We pay for it in our taxes.

Cooper: That’s what I thought.

Franks: But that wouldn’t apply when I’m down here. I’m still is the US.

Cooper: The negative I heard about Canada’s healthcare is that it’s free, but there is such a waiting list.

Franks: Yeah, we have big waiting lists and shortage of doctors. There’s downsides to it for sure.

Cooper: Why? Do you think the doctors aren’t making what they think they could make somewhere else?

Franks: No, we’ve got a lot of immigration and a lot of international doctors coming in.

Cooper: They come to live in Canada.

Franks: And they’re probably recruited. I don’t know. I’m not into policy and what the solution would be. There is definitely a shortage of doctors.

Cooper: And you decided to be an engineer instead of a doctor.

Franks: Yeah, what was I thinking, right?

Cooper: How long did you work as an engineer?

Franks: Fifteen years until I was laid off.

Cooper: And did you ever think you would live a lifestyle like this?

Franks: I didn’t even know van life was a thing until that California trip. You don’t see a lot of van lifers back in Saskatchewan. (laughs) Certainly there’s a popularity there now too.

Cooper: Your van looked so efficient and nice at the same time. It’s got a cabin flair to it.

Franks: Yeah, I don’t like the plastic or the metal or the sterile interior. I wanted to keep it natural. I’ve got windows all around to let natural light in. I didn’t want to be in some dark box.

Cooper: Does this thing pull out as well, the top bed?

Franks: No. It’ll go up and down. Every corner has an actuator. I can lower it depending on what kind of bike I have in there. I can level it, if I was really particular about that, which I’m not.

Cooper: It’s so cool. Do you have the newer computer up front?

Franks: Yeah, it’s got a good navigation system and everything. This is a 2021. I ordered it. It came just a blank cargo van. I upgraded it. I put in a power sliding door, swivel seats, eco boost.

Cooper: It’s a pretty tall entrance to the driver’s side. How do you get in? Do you come through the van?

Franks: I go in through the side sliding door and transfer into the driver’s seat.

Cooper: There are some mechanisms, which you know, where the driver’s side seat comes down. That wouldn’t make sense to you, because you want to have access to the whole vehicle.

Franks: Yeah, exactly. I want to be in my chair in the vehicle. Before the van I had a little SUV, a Honda Element, so if it was raining, I was just stuck sitting in the driver’s seat or something outside. I couldn’t really get into the vehicle, either on the bed or on the driver’s seat. I wanted space to move around and still be in my wheelchair.

Cooper: What kind of lift do you have?

Franks: It’s called a super arm lift. It takes up a lot less room. My doorway’s still open for people to get in and out of it. I only need this room for parking, as opposed to a full platform plus room to roll off. And it’s easy to fix when it does break down. It was a no-brainer for me to go with that lift.

Cooper: And you said that’s a swivel seat?

Franks: Yeah, it swivels. Usually I’ll sit in that seat and put my feet up on my wheelchair and that’ll be my office sometimes, with my laptop.

Cooper: How do you access the Web?

Franks: I have a couple things right now. Usually I can use my phone as a hot spot. I do have Starlink satellite Internet.

Cooper: What do you think of that?

Franks: It’s good, but it’s a lot of work for me to get it out and get it set up, especially rolling over the sand and stuff.

Cooper: I don’t know anything about how you set it up.

Franks: It’s a dish. You can mount it to your roof, but then it always has to have a clear sky facing north, so when I’m camping in the forest, I won’t get any reception with it. I can move it to an open spot, but it’s a bit of a pain for me to wheel across things like sand or dirt with a dish on my lap and get it set up. It’s worth it when I really need it, but I’m not setting it up every day.

Cooper: What’s its power?

Franks: It’s just 110 voltage, so I run it off my van. I’ve got an inverter. Right now I’ve got a little Verizon hot spot that I took out from the library just to try it out. It’s working great, as long as I have cell phone reception.

Cooper: I used to do that when I would go out.

Franks: I just found out about it. It’s a first time I’ve tried it. I might get myself a little one. We’ll see.

Cooper: A little extra money for the hot spot, but it’s definitely worth it if you’re on the road.

Franks: Or I just pay a lot of money for my data and my phone, and that’s been good enough.

Cooper: You should have unlimited, though?

Franks: It throttled back after 75 gigabytes. It’ll slow down.

Cooper: I didn’t know that.

Franks: Yeah, Canadians don’t have the best plans. I’ve thought about getting an American eSIM card to get the unlimited plans that you get.

Cooper: You should look into that. This is really cool. I’m just sticking my head in your house.

Franks: I’m used to it. I’m proud of it. I don’t mind.

Cooper: You keep it really neat.

Franks: (laughs) Except for the sand on the floor. I can’t really help that. Every time I go in!

Cooper: You’ve got the YouTube channel. Do you consider that a podcast?

Franks: Social media? It’s my form of expression.

Cooper: Do you interview people, talk about life?

Franks: My last video I was just camping in the forest and I had just got a new drone and there were salmon spawning right in front of my camp spot, but I couldn’t get there because there was a steep bank. So, I put my drone up and I could see the salmon. My neighbors are outdoors people and they showed me how to chop wood for the first time. I’d never done that in my wheelchair. It’s kind of vlog style. I show what I might be doing in a day, but then I have done a couple of interviews with other people with vans where they’ve showed off how they built their accessible van. it’s mostly blogs like, I’ll go to a campground occasionally and it’s like, “Oh, I can’t even use this shower, it’s not accessible. How am I going to problem-solve around that?”

Cooper: It could be anything you want.

Franks: I did one episode–it’s kind of an episode-style thing–before the Paralympics this summer. I talked about my experience at the Paralympics, answered questions people had submitted. It’s open to what the audience wants and what I feel like doing that day. I’m only posting two videos a month, that’s my goal. That’s not a lot for YouTube. It’s a lot of work to make those two videos.

Cooper: What other beaches have you gone to since you’ve been down here?

Franks: I’ve been everywhere. In San Diego, Tourmaline, La Jolla, Cardiff Reef, Oceanside Harbor, I’ve been up to Huntington Beach, up to Pismo.

Cooper: Nice!

Franks: Yeah, I’ve bopped around. (laughs) It’s the beauty of the van! If surf conditions aren’t good here, I can go down two cities later and find better conditions.

Cooper: When you say “surf conditions,” do you mean decent-size waves, are you just looking for access?

Franks: Both. Access is a big thing. I don’t want a mile of beach that I have to get across to get to the water. If there’s a beach wheelchair at that beach, that’s even better. If there are people I know, that’s pretty much the main thing, and then wave condition. Right now, low tide’s too shallow for me. Even getting across all these rocks would be a pain. I don’t like big waves, two to three, two to four is my kind of wave, but I can surf a bit bigger, if it’s soft and gentle.

Cooper: What about smaller?

Franks: Yeah, one and two, maybe, if it’s a nice powerful one to two wave.

Cooper: Have you surfed Dana Point?

Franks: I haven’t, like Doheny? I haven’t been there yet. On a decent-size day I’m sure I’d be able to manage there.

Cooper: Oh, definitely. There’s always something there. It’s not always that big, but the waves are friendly. More accessible, there’s easy parking, there’s a smaller beach base. There are lifeguards, so there will always be someone there.

Franks: Usually, I’ve been around here enough that I know people. I don’t want to range. I just show up here and say, “Hey, can you help me get in because you’ve got this cart here?” Today was an exception, everybody knew I was already in the water.

Cooper: You should have called me earlier.

Franks: Yeah, why didn’t I think of that?

Cooper: Oh, yeah. Why Keepin’ It Wheel 306?

Franks: That’s my area code from back home. Keepin’ It Wheel was taken. It’s not active, but it was taken.

Cooper: Thanks for your time today, see in the water.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK6dcgYZwkE-9a68gKsWqdA/videos