Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Tandem biking (self.Blind)
submitted by bremmmc
Hello,
Those of you whou use tandem bikes, do you have the same assistent / friend / partner for every trip or are you okay with rotating people?
I'm kinda scared the first option would make me an annoying friend and the second one wouldn't allow for the communication you need in these situations.
Thank you for the anwsers.
Those of you whou use tandem bikes, do you have the same assistent / friend / partner for every trip or are you okay with rotating people?
I'm kinda scared the first option would make me an annoying friend and the second one wouldn't allow for the communication you need in these situations.
Thank you for the anwsers.
blind_cowboy 3 points 2y ago
My wife and I did it for a few years. If you always ride with the same person you’ll end up covering the other person’s short comings with your strengths and vise versa. My wife hated shifting so I added shifters to my bars and she called out turane. I am better at long distance endurance and she was better at sprinting, so if we had a short hill we would both petal but she would lead and the reverse for long hills. She is short and never comfortable holding the bike up, so we would botth straddle it and mount together. We would both drop a foot when stopping.
vwlsmssng 2 points 2y ago
I would start with the one front rider until you build up your skills, experience and understanding of what you want out of cycling, then get more people involved with the benefit of you initial experience.
Having the same front rider gives an opportunity for you to build a rapport. Depending on your needs your front rider may also act as a guide and assistant when you stop off at a café or similar on-route.
Front riders do need some training, a deal of empathy and a lot of common sense. You should make sure they know how to safely set-off and stop, and understand the limitations of tandems.
Tandems don't corner or manoeuvre like a solo. They are a lot heavier and care is needed on descents not to overheat the brakes which can lead to tyres bursting.
A good front rider will be able to both control the tandem and give audio-description of the world as it passes by. My rule of thumb (as a front rider) is that if I can see it and interests me then I need to tell the back rider about it.
If you are buying your own tandem then getting at least one good front rider will be a start but they will want days of to go solo cycling so inducting a second front rider allows you to keep cycling but gives your companions some me time.
Eventually you may be able to acquire more tandems and start your own club for visually impaired back riders.
Having the same front rider gives an opportunity for you to build a rapport. Depending on your needs your front rider may also act as a guide and assistant when you stop off at a café or similar on-route.
Front riders do need some training, a deal of empathy and a lot of common sense. You should make sure they know how to safely set-off and stop, and understand the limitations of tandems.
Tandems don't corner or manoeuvre like a solo. They are a lot heavier and care is needed on descents not to overheat the brakes which can lead to tyres bursting.
A good front rider will be able to both control the tandem and give audio-description of the world as it passes by. My rule of thumb (as a front rider) is that if I can see it and interests me then I need to tell the back rider about it.
If you are buying your own tandem then getting at least one good front rider will be a start but they will want days of to go solo cycling so inducting a second front rider allows you to keep cycling but gives your companions some me time.
Eventually you may be able to acquire more tandems and start your own club for visually impaired back riders.
bremmmc [OP] 2 points 2y ago
My friend has lot of biking expirience and drives a car as well (fully sighted) and for starters I just told him it's like driving a very big, awkward car like Renault Scenic.
We might meet up over the weakend and see how it feels.
We might meet up over the weakend and see how it feels.
vwlsmssng 2 points 2y ago
> My friend has lot of biking expirience
That's a good start but there are some key differences:
1. As the back rider you won't know when the front rider changes gears. This could cause your pedals to move suddenly, you lose your footing and the pedals continue round and whack the back of your ankles. The solution is the front rider calls out gear changes and lets you know whether they're changing to a harder (go faster) gear or an easier (go slower) gear. This will also give you a chance to take some pressure off the pedals making the gear change smoother.
2. The front rider should get on first and off last. While the front rider is supporting the tandem by straddling it with both feet on the ground you can get on and off. Practice this before you go anywhere.
3. You may not be able to see the pedals and which way up they are. Fit a bungee cord (e.g. a luggage strap with hooks) between the back of the front riders pedals and the front of your pedals. Do this on both sides. This will keep the pedals flat and make it easier to put your feet on the pedals.
4. The front rider should also always warn you of any sudden manoeuvres such as braking or turning. Just in case you decide to take your hands off the bars to blow your nose and they suddenly slam the anchors on dive onto a corner.
5. Wear a helmet. Tandems seem to skid and tumble a bit more easily than solo bikes, e.g. on cobbles or mud on the road turning. This happens on all bikes but the back rider is usually caught completely by surprise and can hit the ground hard.
6. Tandems are f***ing brilliant. You get to goes as fast as you can and you won't need to worry about tripping or bumping into anything. The front rider looks after all that. You get to talk with your cycling companion, and if you are of unequal strengths you both try your individual best and both end up at the top of the hill at the same time.
7. Fast descents can be awesome on a tandem. As the front rider I get complaints if there aren't enough awesome descents on the ride, and complaints of there are too many long and steep climbs.
8. Bystanders can't resist making jokes about tandems, usually they shout out "they aren't pedalling at the back!" To be honest I have found my back rider taking a phone call once while we were slogging up a hill.
Good luck. Bon voyage. Have fun.
That's a good start but there are some key differences:
1. As the back rider you won't know when the front rider changes gears. This could cause your pedals to move suddenly, you lose your footing and the pedals continue round and whack the back of your ankles. The solution is the front rider calls out gear changes and lets you know whether they're changing to a harder (go faster) gear or an easier (go slower) gear. This will also give you a chance to take some pressure off the pedals making the gear change smoother.
2. The front rider should get on first and off last. While the front rider is supporting the tandem by straddling it with both feet on the ground you can get on and off. Practice this before you go anywhere.
3. You may not be able to see the pedals and which way up they are. Fit a bungee cord (e.g. a luggage strap with hooks) between the back of the front riders pedals and the front of your pedals. Do this on both sides. This will keep the pedals flat and make it easier to put your feet on the pedals.
4. The front rider should also always warn you of any sudden manoeuvres such as braking or turning. Just in case you decide to take your hands off the bars to blow your nose and they suddenly slam the anchors on dive onto a corner.
5. Wear a helmet. Tandems seem to skid and tumble a bit more easily than solo bikes, e.g. on cobbles or mud on the road turning. This happens on all bikes but the back rider is usually caught completely by surprise and can hit the ground hard.
6. Tandems are f***ing brilliant. You get to goes as fast as you can and you won't need to worry about tripping or bumping into anything. The front rider looks after all that. You get to talk with your cycling companion, and if you are of unequal strengths you both try your individual best and both end up at the top of the hill at the same time.
7. Fast descents can be awesome on a tandem. As the front rider I get complaints if there aren't enough awesome descents on the ride, and complaints of there are too many long and steep climbs.
8. Bystanders can't resist making jokes about tandems, usually they shout out "they aren't pedalling at the back!" To be honest I have found my back rider taking a phone call once while we were slogging up a hill.
Good luck. Bon voyage. Have fun.
bremmmc [OP] 2 points 2y ago
Thank you a lot, will screenshot this and send to the friend.
GTbuddha 2 points 2y ago
Many tandem groups connect people who want to try it with an experienced captain. The commonly cater to the blind community.
bremmmc [OP] 1 points 2y ago
That sounds cool but I live in a small country and tandems are not poppular here, so I have to rely on friends and people I've already built enough understanding with.
80percentaccurate 3 points 2y ago
Tandem pilot here. If you want to ride frequently it makes the most sense to have multiple guides. Get comfortable training them yourself so that the only thing stopping someone from guiding is size and availability. That will give you more options and confidence with riding with whoever is free.
bremmmc [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Okay, will ask one or two more.
CloudyBeep 3 points 2y ago
Could you contact a local blindness organization to try and find other interested blind people to form a group with?
bremmmc [OP] 2 points 2y ago
I work at the local blindness organisation and there aren't really options for it
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