[Blindtlk] Riding bikes

[Heather Field]

Hello Tessa,
I think riding an adult tricycle  sounds like a great idea.
It's usually pretty easy to stay with other riders.

If you want to make it easy, you can organise for a sound making device to 
be on the bike most likely to be in front of you.
The simplest way is to fix a small transistor radio to the rear of one of 
the bikes you'll be following. Turn it to a station and let it play away at 
an easily heard, but not too annoying volume.
Another way is to buy a small pager unit from The braille super store. The 
unit consists of two parts, a beeping unit with a clip to fasten it to an 
object you wish to locate, and a remote with a button to press to activate 
the beeping unit.
The pager unit is silent until you press a small remote in your hand, it 
could be fastened to your handle bars by the hand grip. The beeping part of 
the pager is fastened to the rear of the bike you'll be following.
When you press the remote button on your bike, the pager on the other bike 
makes a very easily heard  beeping for a few seconds. If you need it to beep 
longer you simply press the button again. I bought this pager unit a few 
years back but it wasn't expensive, something like $25 I think.

Some folks I've known prefer not to follow a bike. Instead, they learn to 
ride beside someone all the time.
I imagine that this would only work well for riding fairly slowly.
All of these methods are good, it just depends which one will work best for 
you and your other riders.
Whichever you choose, bike riding on an adult tricycle is a great choice for 
exercise, fun and very doable for blind people.

Regarding your guide dog going for a run, it depends on several things.

Firstly, if you're going to ride pretty quickly, she will soon tire and be 
unwilling to continue to run at that pace. This is particularly an issue if 
she hasn't been doing much hard running exercise. You would need to get her 
used to running for a distance before expecting her to be able to run for 
prolonged periods by gradually building up her stamina.

Secondly, if you are riding during the day in summer the weather will be 
very hot which means a lot of exertion for your dog. You would need to 
choose early morning or late evening for your rides to avoid making your dog 
too hot. Of course, how hot she gets will depend on the speed at which you 
ride and the distance you cover. It may be that if you ride fairly slowly 
for a short distance to start with, that your dog will be able to build up 
her stamina at the same time you do.

Thirdly, the roads are very hot in summer, even for a time after the sun is 
no longer shining on them. So, you'd need to get some boots for your dog to 
run it if you choose to ride in the hot parts of the day.
Similarly, if you ride in winter, you may need to consider boots for her.

Let us know how it works out for you.

Warmly,
Heather
-----Original Message----- 
From: Tessa Urban via blindtlk
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2017 6:50 PM
To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Cc: Tessa Urban
Subject: [Blindtlk] Riding bikes

Hi all!
I hope everybody is doing well! I am considering getting a tricycle to ride 
bikes with my mom, niece and nephew. I am hoping I would be able to follow 
them and keep up while riding bikes.
Does anybody have any experience? Also, I have a guide dog what do you think 
of her somehow tagging along? I haven't tried anything yet so I'm looking 
for any advice or suggestions.
Thank you all so much! Have a great day! God bless!
Tessa

Sent from my iPhone
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