SpiderMike

REtinitis Pigmentosa(RP) has slowed me down. The vision loss has me at legally blind now. I stopped riding until last Saturday. Motivated from watching a video about Bobby McMullen, I had enough. Reached out to me love friends that ride. One agreed to guide me on a trail. We met up Initially flowed him on his unicycle. Then he switched over to his Speciaized Epic. Despite the lack of riding for 3 years, I kept my Surly 1x1 on his tail for the most part. I don't know what is crazier, the changes in bikes over a 6 year period, that my wife allowed me to ride agin, or that I only wrecked a few times. My friend was freaking when I tried to tackle a tree. Survived with only scratches and a blood blister under a finger nail.

Link below is to my Instagram post of the take off

Does anybody else ride their own bike with the help of guides? If so, what verbal connands do you use between guide and blind follower?

Juan Foote

I wanted to give you kudos on balls of steel. I can't even imagine trying to have the trust in a another individual, or even in myself, to chance barreling along on a DF bike blind.

I would imagine you know more about this than I do...recall reading about a blind guy that uses a manner of echo-location "click" to ride a bike. I am sure a quick search would turn up something. Even in spite of that, I would imagine him having to have a guide or sighted individual make sure the area was smooth and clear of obstruction like potholes, loose sand.

Hope you work something out. Aside from your own bike, perhaps your SO would consider being the pilot on a tandem?

donglebutter

I too have RP, and i am continuing to cycle. Cant live under a rock.

rubiconazoid

Wishing you the best and hoping you safely continue to ride.

SpiderMike

thank you seems the harder part now is scheduling amongst friends we all have kids

donglebutter

went on a 25 mile charity ride, fun.

Beak58

Me too, especially now my drivers licence has been taken away.
Stay safe, from a fellow RetPig.

donglebutter

lol and cars. i stay to the side streets.

Leisesturm

My wife who is totally blind works with blind adults. She says that the hardest of her clients to reach are the ones with RP. One of her colleague's clients went hiking with a guide and they got caught out after dark. The client wasn't materially impacted one way or another and suggested they keep moving, but his guide (his GF) fell into a hole and is now a quadriplegic. Bikes have all kinds of hard, sharp and pointy bits on them and a rider also never knows exactly how or where they might fall. A cyclist can get seriously hurt from what could have been a minor fall. It isn't worth it beyond a certain point to go out there on a bicycle. You aren't overcoming or proving anything. You are just exposing yourself to significant risk of injury, incapacitation, and posibly worse. My wife does her running on a treadmill, her biking on a tandem, and membership in a gym has other options for cardio and also weight training. Wouldn't a person feel awful if they accidentally ran into the guide they were following and caused them significant injury? I can say all this because I am also partially sighted. As much as she benefits from my ability to still guide our tandem safely or navigate around all the pieces of equipment at our gym. If ever I couldn't do that anymore she would be the first one to start thinking about alternatives. FWIW.