Visually impaired cyclists team up

Can you imagine getting on your bicycle and taking a 22-mile ride through Wakulla County with your eyes closed?

Most people wouldn't dare.

But what if you had a partner to lead the way?

The Tallahassee Council of the Blind was up to the task.

Capital City Cyclists and bicycle shops Higher Ground and Sunshine Cycles lent their bikes and their talents to take 24 visually-impaired people on a tandem bicycle ride Saturday morning from Newport Park to the St. Marks Lighthouse and back.

This is the council's first time cycling as a group, but many members had tandem cycled before.
"It emphasizes that we can do just about anything anyone else can," said Mycell Armington, second vice president of the council. Armington, along with Higher Ground manager Roger Hawkes, coordinated the event.

Adam Gaffney, who was born with partial vision, brought his own bike. He doesn't ride alone, but he is able to easily follow someone else.

"I am always looking for partners to ride with," Gaffney said.

Kimberly Morris, who attended the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind with Gaffney, rode with him.

"I trust him," Morris said. "He's rode with me before and hadn't killed me yet."

The non-visually-impaired cyclist steered the bicycle, while the visually-impaired person peddled in the back. The cyclist on the front of the bike is called the captain and the cyclist on the back is called the stoker. The captain tells the stoker when to slow down, speed up, break and shift their weight for a turn.

To be a stoker, all you need is a sense of balance and a willingness to work together.
"It takes disabled and able-bodied individuals together to make this work," Armington said
"It is a very good test of relationships," Capital City Cyclists member Gary Robertson said. "It takes communication from the captain and the stoker."