recently I had another blind guy first
a ride on a tandem bike
yes, a sighted and adventurous friend
piloted the machine in the front seat
me, I rode behind and simply pedaled

and trusted

if your the blind guy on the back of a tandem bicycle
trust is the biggest challenge
the only way to overcome fear that the trip will not have a happy ending
so I trusted my companion, a fit, athletic person
could reasonably handle the demands of driving a bike
with me on the back
across flat terrain

good, got that out of the way, what’s next?

communication
the rider in back needs to know what the rider in front is doing
ideally before it happens

turning left
turning right
coasting
braking
ready to stop

I am fortunate as my friend and I communicate well and
we quickly sort out a string of descriptors

okay, I’m almost feeling confident
let’s try this
how do we start

both lean left
both get our right foot atop our pedal
she says “ready, start”
we both push down on our pedals

hwoa!

I am suddenly off balance
I’d forgotten the momentary awkwardness
that interval between zero and building up enough momentum
for the bike to suddenly balance itself

we lurch to a stop but don’t crash

review the situation

try again

almost

and again…

YES!

suddenly a tandem bicycle becomes a flying machine
and a blind man becomes free again, but not quite ready
to release his death grip on the handle bars

the lesson-
sometimes you just have to jump into the void
trust you’ll get through the momentary awkwardness
build the momentum needed
to ride into life’s next great adventure

tio stib aka uncle steve