wrldtraveller

After reading so many stories and watching so many videos about long distance touring by cyclists, both in North America, and in Europe. Even I have read a book by a cyclist who actually toured the world. Very fascinating, and make me long for the day I will do it. Currently I am planning to do a short day trip in the mountains, then when I have enough money, I will get everything ready and do a overnight trip, and work my way up to a much longer tour.
My question of the day today is: have you ever encountered a deaf cyclists who toured long distance?

I myself am deaf, and have a passion for cycling long distance. Once a friend asked me how long do I cycle, I mentioned that 2 hour is considered a warm up. She looked me like I was crazy. Reading and watching all those videos and cyclists who did long distance touring have triggered in me my wanderlust and a desire to have an adventure. Especially in Europe. I think Canada is much too large to do a tour, but eventually I will grab the opportunity and do a cross canada tour, possibly cross USA tour. Who knows.

Being deaf has its own challenges, but I believe it does not prevent us from being able to do what general populace do.
So my curiosity needs to be satisfied, Are there deaf cyclists out there who have already done, or is up to the challenge of Long distance touring?

W

AdvXtrm

Great thread topic. I don't have any info for you on this, but I'm interested and will be following along.

Stadjer

I'm not deaf myself, but where I live the deaf just ride bikes, because everybody rides bikes. But I guess it takes more courage in North-America. Quite recently there's a new sign made deaf people can wear on their bike or backpack to alert other cyclists and motorists that they can't hear you coming. There's also a university involved in the development of a machine that helps deaf people to detect traffic behind them, but I wouldn't count on a finished product very soon.

Also there's some annual event here which attract young deaf people from over the world, I don't know what it is, I just see them in the city center talking with their hands, also while riding bikes. Of cours they have their language troubles to, but they seem to work them out much faster. But it's not uncommon here to bike with headphones or earplugs and without hands, so in terms of cycling behaviour they're not that special.

Personally I like the 360 degree range of my hearing in cycling, but still don't like low bars because I see a lot less of the traffic that way. I don't know what kind of bike you ride, but you might consider high handlebars and a fully upright position, because it widens your view considerably.

work4bike

Yes, interesting thread and it also puts a new perspective on those that ride with earphones. BTW, just out of curiosity...Anyone know the laws on driving [a car] deaf? Is that allowable?

wished

In my years of teaching high school I had several hearing-impaired students, all were successful but did face some problems. As for driving the law at one time required the use of outside rearview mirrors on both sides of the car, something standard on all cars now but didn't use to be common.

I had one young lady with 0% hearing that was a cheerleader, went on with a cheer scholarship to a D1 college. She was full of spirit, huge smile, great athlete, and watched for quick signals from the captain to know what cheer they were doing. If any of you watched her you would have never known. I also have a young man that is currently a commercial airline pilot for a major freight carrier, but I think he is prevented by the FAA from flying commercial passenger airlines.

Back to the OP, I think it's great you are willing to take the leap of faith to do this, hearing-impaired or not. My suggestions would be to obviously have good mirrors to see what is coming behind you, let people you met know of your problems up front, and have a great time.

suburbanbeat

I've encountered plenty of cyclists who ride with earbuds in their ears (a practice that is generally frowned upon), and while they are increasing their risk of accident by doing so, they are able to manage fine without the benefit of hearing traffic. Most of my cross-US tour was spent on roads where traffic was light to non-existent. By the time I got to the American southwest, it was sometimes rare to be passed by more than a handful of cars throughout the entire day.

So, I imagine that riding on remote roads (which, fortunately, transect most of the US and Canada) with good shoulders would minimize most of the risk that would result from not being able to hear traffic. You could further minimize that risk by wearing hi-vis jerseys and getting one of those flexible orange arms that encourage motorists to keep their distance (anyone know what those are called?).

manapua_man

Keep in mind that a lot of motorcyclists are effectively deaf while riding due to wind and engine noise too.

mstateglfr 

Closest I know of to this scenario is someone who is deaf, but uses cochlear implants. He has ridden across Iowa on RAGBRAI multiple times. The biggest challenge is interacting with other riders in such a massive group(hearing 'on your left' or 'bike off' etc). He has a group he rides with and the person ahead uses hand motions to let him know about slowing or stopping up ahead and a mirror helps see those behind who are passing.


OP- very cool goals. No reason to think you couldnt safely tour. On highways, I often dont know about a car behind me until 100' away thru hearing. A mirror would pick up cars behind you much sooner than that.

Tourist in MSN

I have never met a deaf cyclist. But that should not stop you.

Although I can hear the traffic approach from behind most times, there are times that I do not hear the traffic with the wind noise. And if the traffic is going slow because they did not want to try to pass me where vision was obstructed, there were times that I was suddenly surprised that a car was passing me slowly.

Some of the hybrids, especially Prius cars can be very very quiet, cyclists can't rely on hearing as much as they used to when the hybrids were not around. I have several friends that work on highway construction, they hate the newer hybrids because they can be hard to hear.

There are many options for good rear view mirrors. I wear a visor on my helmet, I use a Third Eye brand mirror that clamps onto the visor. The lighting for my photo is terrible, but you can see my mirror quite well. With a mirror on my helmet like this, I do not have to move my head very much at all to make a quick glace to the rear. There are many other good helmet mounted mirrors or mirrors that mount to sunglasses.

Squeezebox

I had a deaf friend when I was racing. I would interpret the refere's directions as best I could. He did very well in the pack and on training rides.
Yes you can tour. Shouldn't be any different than any other deaf/hearing interaction.

Happy Feet

I have to say that I think I would find complete deafness to be a bit of a challenge but am sure there are strategies to cope.
Others have talked about mirrors and I would echo that. I have ridden with another rider who did not have one (we both hear) and had way more awareness of approaching traffic than he did. He was always a bit surprised when a semi rolled by. I thought it funny (odd) because I saw them far behind in the mirror and assumed he could hear them. I expect I rely more on sight than sound without realizing it.

When I ride I am almost always alone but I could see if one enjoyed company how the communication between riders might be awkward. That assumes they aren't deaf aware so to speak. You would probably have to always take the rear position but I'm sure you've experienced those sorts of issues. I definately think two deaf people or an educated hearing person would be more in tune with the nuances of communication over distances like those experienced by riders single file.

Any way - Good luck and go for it!

I'm curious how deafness effects your balance (if at all).

DropBarFan

Nowadays I rely little on sound for traffic safety since modern cars run very quietly: EVT SafeZone mirror gives easy/complete vision of overtaking traffic, probably would help avg rider whether hearing or deaf.

wrldtraveller

I am absolutely gobsmacked by the number of responses to this thread. Thanks everyone.
In response to one of the post saying that are deaf allowed to drive? Yes. There are a few countries int he world that prohibits deaf from driving, and I think you can count them on one hand. unofficially, deaf are well known to be the most safest drivers on the road both in the countryside and in urban centres.
Deaf people tend to be more attentive to whats around them more so to compensate for their lack of hearing. so as a cyclist, I've noticed too many drivers being unaware of a cyclist coming down the road due to distracted behaviour.

Thank you for most of you for giving positive encouragement to go and do it.

W

BlarneyHammer

The first WarmShowers guest I ever had was 22, female, German, and deaf. She successfully rode from Vancouver to San Diego without a hitch. She's now on Germany's Deaflympic mountain bike team.

wrldtraveller

That is really cool, blarney. I know that in California, they have several bike clubs that are founded by deaf people. some of them are racing clubs, some of them are mountain bike clubs. but So far I have not seen any deaf people who actually have done long distance touring. Would love to meet with them and discuss their experience.

W

wrldtraveller

well here's an update, I have a friend who is deaf and is currently on an atlantic coast bike tour, he started in florida at the southern most point of America, and is cycling with the objective of reaching maine. he is pedaling with his friend who is also deaf too. I've been reading up on his posts on facebook, plus in the future, he might post on crazyguy on a bike website. I don't mean to advertise for cgonb. but anyway, they have been encouraging me to try to achieve my goals, which is very difficult due to my circumstances. not my deafness. My goal is to do the rocky mountian route from jasper to banff as a start, then possibly someday move on to the pacific coast route, then GDMBR. Like I said, my goals, I gotta try to figure out my circumstances and if I can fit in the timing for my bike trip.

Some people have mentioned that all they did was drop the ball and went cycling and never regretting anything. That is ballsy, but for me, I have a big desire in knowing that i do have a place to return home to, with a possibility to having a job to work at immediately, so dropping the ball and just leave might not work out for me. So based on that thought, do some of you consider dropping the ball and just go. or do you actually consider the plan of saving up enough money for payment ie: rent or mortgage,bills, foods, and try to fit in holiday time off from work and still have a job to return to when done?

I've wondered that and thats a big conundrum for me.
P

djb

Calgarian, re going on a long bike trip-what I would highly recommend is to do some short trips and see if you like doing it. I wouldnt think too much about a really long trip until you see that you enjoy the activity. With two rear panniers and maybe a borrowed tent, you can easily do some weekend trips to start with, or even no tent if you have somewhere to sleep or a cheap hostel or whatever.

re deafness. I completely recommend helmet or sunglass mounted mirrors. MEC sells a great model called Take-a-Look

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5013-6...ist%27s-Mirror

completely adjustable, super tough, excellent optics (not cheap scratchy plastic mirror). I have used the same one for maybe 8 years and its still going strong.
Helmet mounted mirrors have many advantages-with just a glance up and to the left, you see whats up, a fraction of a second; with a slight turn of the head you can change the view you see (for example in a corner, you can then easily see if a car is entering the corner behind you, which you cant do with handlebar mounted mirrors); if out of the seat you can still see whats going on,

I always highly recommend these mirrors for everyone, but for someone deaf who needs the best, fastest and most effective visual aids , try one.

indyfabz

If they have hit the mid-Atlantic states I hope they are keeping warm. I am in Philly and the windchill today is going to keep the feels like temperature in the 30s. But there is good news. Looks like 60s and possibly even 80s by Friday. Planning to take a three-day myself if that holds.

3speed

I don’t know what type of work you do or what type of work you consider beneath you, but my approach was to just pick up a kinda crappy job at a corporate place after my trip(s). I personally know a deaf person who works as an overnight stocker at Target and her deafness is no problem in that possition. Those jobs are easy and quick to get and then you can have some cash coming in as soon as you return from the trip. Start looking for a job you actually want and you don’t need to feel bad about ditching the crappy corporate thing when you find something better. I would recommend having at least some savings left when you return, for comforts sake. How much that is is up to you and your level of comfort. Personally, I’d start with the west coast. That’s one of the easier tours to get your feet wet, but still a wonderful tour to do. As mentioned, if you haven’t done some bike camping yet, definately start with that first. Make sure you like spending a week on the bike before you jump into a month+. Also give yourself more time than you think you’ll need on the first tour. If you think it’ll take you four weeks, give yourself 5. You might not have a good feel for your mileage yet, or you might find that you want an extra rest day once in a while in a cool town.

wrldtraveller

DJB, Thanks. I was planning on doing that, taking up a short trip just to take a feel for it. It can be very daunting to suddenly take a leap and go for a month long trip, so I was considering a short trip to see how i like it. with that in mind, I did take a three day trip before, it was enjoyable. Right now I just need to focus on getting gears because I don't have panniers, racks,etc.

Indyfab, They are still in florida. yeah i did noticed that it is very cold as I am from Calgary, its been brutally cold. I am sure they monitor the weather daily. but currently they are just north of miami.


3speed, I can understand taking on a crappy job temporarily. I am currently in one due to economy being crappy. We went through economic downturn right now and many people suffered being laid off and there isn't many job opening. so very highly competitive for even crappy jobs. when there is a job fair opening, expect to see nearly 8000 people show up searching for job. I do intend to take a short trip just to take a feel about it and to give myself opportunity to acclimatize to the bicycle, gear, the pattern of setting up camp, breaking down camp. etc. And yes I do agree with taking a rest day somewhere spectacular or whatnot.

Thanks everyone.
sometimes it is difficult to get out of the cocoon that I've built myself into, the sense of routine that I live in, the safety, the security that when I peek my head out to the "wicked" world out there, I realized that I do have passion to explore new things and stuff, but it becomes difficult to leave the security of my cocoon, especially when you want to do something alone. Being alone can be a challenge when you go out there. How do you keep your sanity or wits about you when you spend days out there alone?

just my pondering.
P

Leebo

Calgary? Hmm, real winter. For me, its 2-5 day trips. I roll down my driveway for the most part, ( Boston, MA area) and go. Even 1 overnight is good. I've pedaled much of New England. House, wife, adult kids, not quitting job and pedaling for a month. 4-7 days is a good stretch I think. Try riding from home? Got a route or destination? Gear and bike? Planning is the fun part for me. Try "map my rides" or " ride with gps" The alone time? I treasure. For me, I like to get out of my comfort zone, stretch it a bit. I love to camp and mt bike almost every weekend. Bike packing is the perfect mix of the two. Try this, just do one over night, you don't even have to camp( credit card touring it's called) Ride somewhere, stay over night. Go back home the next day. Maybe by a different route. Just start and enjoy. Pretty helpful group here. Also try Bikepacker.com and Adventure cyclist, both will get you out the door.

Ariane

I only have partial hearing in my right ear. I am totally deaf in my left ear. I find it quite hard hearing cars approaching. I cannot very easily determine from where they are approaching if I cannot see them. But I still ride my bike. I would not be without my bike mirrors, one on each side. Some times vehicles pass close and fast and I have not heard or seen them, so they scare the beejeesus out of me. Off the bike I cannot distinguish sounds in a noisy environment which makes speaking to people in a noisy environment hard. I am learning to lip read. But this does not mean I don't cycle. In fact I cycle just as much if not more than when I remember when my hearing was fine. I am in my 50s and deafness came to me in my mid forties.

Like you, I too plan to make a long distance cycle tour. I already make tours of one month and love my time away. Don't let deafness stop you from riding your bike as on a bike it is not that bad you just have to be a little more observant and defensive in your riding not that you probably are anyway.

When all is said and done, when you face the final curtain, you don't want to be in the position where the regrets of the things you should have done play heavily on your mind outweighing the pleasure and satisfaction of the things you did. Make your long cycle tour happen. Go for 7-14 days first to see how you go. If you can do one month you can do 6 and then you can do one year. You don't want to be 20 years older thinking I wish I had done that when I had the chance but didn't.