blacknbluebikes 

So, some close friends of the family, I'll call them "Jack and Diane," have been struggling for the last few years as Jack has been losing his vision. These days, Jack is legally blind and has recently gotten a seeing-eye dog. Nonetheless, Jack is still remarkably active and goes to cross-fit 3x per week. Diane is an active cyclist, purely recreational, and wants to start learning to ride the tandem they just purchased, but isn't quite sure how to get started. Clearly, this is a question of "communication protocol." So, I figured I'd ask the tandem community - what would be your command set? how would you, sitting up front, communicate with Jack clearly and consistently?

fooferdoggie 

wife and I just went through this. I am bad with communication so it was a struggle. Now my wife can feel turns and breaking so she does not need all the commands.. we just used basics turning left or right braking and starting and bumps.

sapporoguy

Check out the excellent series of step-by-step videos posted by Trailblazers, a tandem-cycling club for blind stokers and their captains; I watched all these and got some good tips even for us sighted teams. The Blind Stokers Club in San Diego also has some good info including videos.
Check out both clubs' videos and maybe email them for guidance.
I just piloted for a blind stoker this Saturday for the first time and had great fun. To be sure, he was an experienced stoker and very quickly it felt like piloting for my usual stoker!

Leisesturm

I have been tandeming with a blind stoker since 2005. My own eyesight has declined precipitously in that time. I stopped driving around 2012. We have several tandems that are optimized for different kinds of cycling since we live a car free existence. Even though the couple in the o.p. plan to ride recreationally I would suggest that their tandem be set up like a city or commuter bike: flat or riser handlebars that are 23" wide or as wide as possible.

All of our tandem friends are retiring as the Captains lose their upper body strength. Since I don't have that option I keep to regular upper body strength training work in the gym 3x/wk. A female Captain needs all the leverage she can get from wide handlebars and an upright seating position. Teaching the Stoker to signal turns is a good way for the Captain to be able to keep both hands on the bars at all times. I'll say: 'Signal Left or Right' and I expect my Stoker to keep signaling until I give a 'Cancel' command. I try to 'Cancel' before actually heeling over for the turn so my Stoker can get both hands on the bars.

I have found it useful to signal when stopping pedaling for any reason. "Stopping" simply means we are (temporarily) no longer pedaling. It does not necessarily mean we are actually going to stop. In fact, we usually are not going to stop. Once the reason for coasting is over I resume pedaling without announcement. The cadence to use is implicit through the timing chain. No IPS on our rigs and my Stoker wouldn't have it any other way.

I signal front shifts with a 'Gears' command so we can reduce pressure slightly for the shift. Again, I do not announce the resumption of cadence, I just do it. Seems to work. I do not announce rear shifts unless they are under load. If I need a sudden burst of speed I will call, "Power". That's pretty much it.

Alcanbrad

We do pretty much the same, but with different words. I use STOPPING for stopping, PAUSE to pause pedaling without stopping, SHIFT when announcing a shift of rear gears, and FRONT to announce a shift of chainrings.

In the end, it doesn't matter as long as it's consistent and understood within the team.

Darth Lefty 

Tell him, "Activate interlock... Infra-cells up... Dyno-therms connected... Mega-thrusters are GO!"

Kat12

I ride with a friend who's blind. We kind of picked up the communication from the start, luckily. We were both first-time tandem-ers, so it was a learning curve for both of us at the same time!

We start with a "Ready? 1, 2, 3, go" sort of thing or some variation. I'll say "bump" if we're about to hit one (I've caught myself even doing it when on my own bike or driving, lol), or if there's rough pavement or gravel, or "duck" or "face trees!" if there are some low-hanging branches. I let her know when we're going past the section where the bushes hang out onto the sidewalk so she knows she'll get scratched. I tell her if I'm shifting, or she'll request a shift if she wants. I'll tell her "we're coming up to a stop sign, and we're slowing down and stopping with our right foot down... now." (We're still working on our rhythm between my braking and her putting a foot down, since it's hard to "feel" the right moment.) I'll tell her when we're going to turn and she signals, and she's also in charge of the bell. I let her know things like "we're crossing a street now" or if there is a loud or close car coming so it doesn't startle her. I tell her when we're slowing, and when we're going to coast (and sometimes when we start pedaling again, but now sometimes I don't need to).

And she also knows that in case we suddenly get into something hairy where we might not have time for a lot of conversation, all she might get is a harried-sounding "swerving!" or "stopping!" or "falling right!" (But I try not to let us get into hairy situations.)


Oh, I'm looking forward to watching these. Wish I'd had them when I started!

Alcanbrad

surveyor6

When I did the MS-150, over a decade ago, we had a legally blind lady on our team that owned a tandem. She would conscript captains from her riding club to do charity rides with her. She was already an experienced stroker when I met her.

fooferdoggie 

wife and I just got our Lumos helmets from kickstarter. I have a turn signal button the helmet beeps so now that will sign her when I am turning should work well as her helmet will be the one beeping