Editor’s note: GreenUP delivers a variety of active transportation programming and is proud to work alongside many community groups and organizations who also encourage inclusive and sustainable transportation. In this week’s column, GreenUP is excited to have Peter Laurie from TandemEyes share information about this unique community group that helps to foster a healthy lifestyle.
A common sight to see on a summer evening in Peterborough is a long line of neon-clad riders on tandem bicycles winding their way along local trails or city streets.
If you’ve seen this, you’ve probably also been struck by the happy sounds that accompany the train of bicycles: multiple conversations, the occasional peal of laughter, the cheerful ‘ding’ of bike bells.
And that, in a nutshell, sums up the beauty of TandemEyes, a non-profit cycling club that makes it possible for visually impaired and blind cyclists to stay active and enjoy the company of fellow riders.
What few sighted people realize is that losing one’s vision often comes with a double burden: lower levels of physical activity coupled with social isolation. The genius of TandemEyes is to tackle both issues simultaneously.
None of this would have come about without the determination and community-building smarts of Anne Wood, a lifetime cyclist who lost most of her vision as an adult due to medical complications from cancer. Seeking a way to stay active, Anne and her husband bought a tandem bike in 2011.
But something else happened in the process of researching tandem bikes and learning how to ride one together.
As Wood puts it, “I was really inspired by the potential of tandem bikes to bring activity and love of the outdoors to people with vision loss.”
Wood reached out to others with the idea of a tandem cycling club, partially inspired by the example of the Toronto-based Trailblazers, who have been taking out blind and visually impaired riders since 1986. The response from the local cycling community was enthusiastic, and TandemEyes had its inaugural season in 2012.
Currently, the TandemEyes cycling season runs from May to August. Typically, there are two evening rides every week, all of which begin and end in Millenium Park. Cycling routes range in distance from 13 to 25 kilometres and involve a combination of roads and multi-use trails. Rides are shorter early in the season and gradually increase in length as riders are feeling more fit.
TandemEyes operates under the umbrella of the Peterborough Cycling Club, which has been a strong supporter of the initiative from the outset. The group is completely volunteer-run and maintains a fleet of 12 tandem bicycles that are stored in a central location and maintained by TandemEyes.
The basic unit of a tandem ride is the ‘captain’, who sits in the front position, controlling the steering, brakes and gearing, and the visually impaired ‘stoker’, who helps provide the muscle and is also in charge of turn signals.
The other critical piece in tandem riding is the constant communication between captain and stoker. Whether that be advance warning of a bump in the road, a decrease in speed, or the need to put some extra ‘oomph’ into climbing a hill, it’s the responsibility of the captain to orient their stoker to any change in conditions.
But that doesn’t mean that riding a tandem is all work and no play. Partners get to know one another over the course of a season, and carrying on a conversation while pedalling together comes naturally to the experience. Tandem rides organically serve as opportunities for people with vision loss to overcome social isolation while also staying fit.
Riding a tandem bicycle safely requires some specialized skills owing to its weight and length, and TandemEyes provides training sessions for volunteer captains, ride leaders and ‘sweeps’ — the cyclists who accompany each ride and assist the tandem team in avoiding obstacles and manoeuvring through traffic.
At the heart of the TandemEyes mission are the experiences it brings to the people it serves.
TandemEyes founder Anne Wood sums it up like this:
“For a person with vision loss, the freedom of getting on the back of a tandem is incredible. The feeling of being physically active and contributing and going out on adventures is amazing. The other thing I love is just to hear people talking, laughing, and sharing things that are happening in their lives other than vision loss.”
If you know someone who is blind or visually impaired who would like to join TandemEyes, or if you are interested in volunteering as a captain, leader or sweep, you can email the organization at tandemeyes@gmail.com. Learn more about TandemEyes at www.tandemeyes.com.
