[blindkid] bike riding

Richard Holloway rholloway at gopbc.org
Fri Mar 25 21:48:04 UTC 2011


I can't get the video to load. I'll try again later-- maybe the server is just acting up?

I wasn't so much suggesting replacing the solo bike as a possible supplement. I remember Kendra reacting really well to the sensation of going fast on the Love Bike. It was very different than riding a solo bike for her. In fact our typically-sighted son also loves the thing. As for for my oldest (also typically sighted), while I didn't have a Love Bike, I did have a trail-a-bike that turns a single upright bike into a sort of tandem (it is a single-wheeled trailer).

Solo biking is a great thing, but tandem riding is also a great experience. I guess I had never really explored tandems much until trying to find solutions for Kendra, but now I love them and I wish I had gotten into them, even long before I had any kids around too, so I can never miss a chance to suggest others find out what they may offer for their situations!

I hope the video works later-- I'd like to see it--

I have tried for years to figure out an event for our state group for cycling, but I don't know if enough people would come to it, and I can only come up with so much equipment to demo- even with all I have bought over the years, but certainly if you're over this way let me know and if we're free you can come by and try it out sometime!

Richard



On Mar 25, 2011, at 5:11 PM, Marie wrote:

> Richard, I saw your article when I was searching for options. The Love or buddy bike looks pretty cool. Jack is actually doing great with a conventional bike (with pedals removed for now). Here's a youtube video of him riding rtsp://v6.cache2.c.youtube.com/CjYLENy73wIaLQmIF-3WRYm-fBMYJCAkFEIJbXYtZ29vZ2xlSARSBXdhdGNoYPy_3IPCn4PETQw=/0/0/0/video.3gp. He is really fast and he likes the freedom to move on his own but I would love to try a buddy bike some time. My hubby just ordered us some spokesters. They are cheap at $5.49 a piece and free shipping and handling. I'll try to get back here and post a review after we get them. Thanks for the input.
> 
> 
> Marie (mother of Jack, born May 2005)
> Check out our blog at http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com for glimpses into our busy life with a boy who is busy growing and developing in his own way in his own time
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org>
> Sender: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org
> Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:29:35 
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,\(for parents of blind children\)<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Reply-To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,
> 	\(for parents of blind children\)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] bike riding
> 
> Marie,
> 
> A little off topic-- Is he going fast enough to start to get the balance aspect of riding?
> 
> I'm very fond of cycling and love finding solutions for kids who might not otherwise be able to learn to bike. My favorite thing so far, as far as teaching how to get the "feel" of riding a bike is a strange tandem that used to be called a "Love Bike" but now it is sold as a "Buddy Bike".
> 
> Below is a link to a little article I wrote about it about 5 years ago. The child sits in front of the parent with the parents arms around the child. There are two sets of handle bars tied together so the child has his own bars. For younger kids, there are optional pegs that fold down, like on a motorcycle, and feet stay away from the pedals. As they get older they begin to tandem pedal. It is a cool concept and would only reinforce the feel of biking and steering alone. (Braking too if they use the handbrake.)
> 
> http://www.gopbc.org/gopbc_love_bike.htm
> 
> They are now sold as Buddy Bikes here:
> http://buddybike.com/
> 
> (And no, I don't sell them or make anything from them,)
> 
> As to riding alone at lower speed and staying vertical, I also have found some really outstanding training wheels from a company called Fat Wheels. I actually think of them more as "outriggers" because training wheels to me seem so flimsy and unstable. Fat Wheels makes wheels that will fit anything up to a full-sized 26" bike for 250 pound riders. I have a couple of sets of their training wheels, one on a small tandem bike for kids and the other on the back half of a 2-adult  + 2-child setup that I custom configured.
> 
> Here is their web address:
> http://www.fatwheels.com/
> 
> There are quite a few blind adults, BTW, who are riding enthusiasts on conventional tandem bikes. They just tend to ride in the "stoker" (rear) position, especially at high speed.
> 
> On the actual sound idea, as far as his riding alone, I'm reminded of easter egg hunts and "beeping eggs". Sometimes on egg hunts with a lot of blind kids we have also had people use pocket recorders which have just recorded an alarm clock going nonstop (a beeping style). Maybe tape a memo recorder with that playing to the tail of the lead bike? For that matter, a small alarm clock itself could be used if you taped attached it as well. A rear rack would be a nice stable solution for a mounting location and they're pretty cheap.
> 
> I would be remiss not to put in my standard plug for recumbent trikes as a really cool way to cycle for all riders (typically sighted and otherwise) because they are super comfortable and there are no balance concerns, and for the ultimate touring solution, you can get them in tandem flavors. What's the catch? Well, they're sort of expensive, and Buddy Bikes are also a bit "spendy", though not as costly as the better recumbent trikes...
> 
> If anyone is curious to talk about them here or off list, feel free to contact me. So far, I've managed to come up with single and double trike setups and then single and double trailer solutions for up to 4 total riders with just one driver. I have seen larges setups still though usually just for conventional bikes that require more balance than trikes.
> 
> I still have the Love Bike, BTW. Maybe you can try it out sometime when you're over near Atlanta?
> 
> Richard
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 25, 2011, at 3:40 PM, Marie wrote:
> 
>> Smiles
>> 
>> We did think of that but I was thinking that I had heard that there was a
>> louder and more durable option available.
>> 
>> Marie (mother of Jack, born May 2005)
>> Check out our blog at http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com for
>> glimpses into our busy life with a boy who is busy growing and developing in
>> his own way in his own time
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
>> Behalf Of lindashalm at aol.com
>> Sent: Friday, March 25, 2011 2:31 PM
>> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
>> Subject: Re: [blindkid] bike riding
>> 
>> 
>> I'm aging myself here, but we used to make noise on our bikes with old
>> baseball cards and clothes pins.  
>> 
>> Linda, NJ
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Marie <empwrn at bellsouth.net>
>> To: 'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind children)'
>> <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Fri, Mar 25, 2011 3:28 pm
>> Subject: [blindkid] bike riding
>> 
>> 
>> Hello all, life has been crazy busy here so it's been quite a while since
>> 've posted. One thing we've been up to is bike riding. Jack is currently
>> iding a standard bike with the pedals removed so it functions as a balance
>> ike. He can ride with the pedals but lacks the confidence to do it without
>> s having a hand on his back so we thought going pedal-less a bit longer
>> ould help him grown in confidence. We are having a great time doing this as
>> family and our current system involves us calling out to Jack to follow us
>> r we ride behind him. I have heard that you can get some kind of clicker to
>> ake a noise that Jack could learn to listen for on our bikes. Can someone
>> ell me what this thing is actually called and I would love any other bike
>> iding tips/hints you'd like to provide. Jack is visually impaired with
>> ision of 20/320 or so in his right eye and light perception in his left
>> ye. He travels with a cane when he walks and runs and is still adapting to
>> is lack of depth perception so any hints you can give on off road riding
>> ould be great too. As of right now, I yell out big bump or KABOOM to let
>> im know an obstacle or drop off is coming up while riding. 
>> 
>> Marie (mother of Jack, born May 2005)
>> Check out our blog at http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com for
>> limpses into our busy life with a boy who is busy growing and developing in
>> is own way in his own time
>> 
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> 
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