[Nfbf-l] Visually impaired couple bike 16,000 miles

[Alan Dicey]

Visually impaired couple bike 16,000 miles
By LYNN OLANOFF
The Associated Press
COOPERSBURG, Pennsylvania. -
Tauru Chaw decided he wanted to see the world before he lost his vision 
entirely.
His girlfriend, Coopersburg native Christi Bruchok, decided to be his 
traveling companion. Fully blind in her right eye since age 19, her left eye 
also is visually impaired, providing her with 20/200 vision.
They spent 14 months in 2007 and 2008 traveling Asia. But Chaw's vision was 
gradually deteriorating due to his Retinitis Pigmentosa, so they realized 
that they could no longer see the world via car.
That didn't stop the couple, however, from taking an 18-month trip starting 
in January 2012 from the southern tip of Argentina to the northern tip of 
Alaska. They just changed their mode of transportation - to tandem bicycle.
Chaw and Bruchok say their 16,000-mile bike trip turned out not only to be a 
great way to further experience the world but a lesson for others with 
disabilities to test their limits. They especially sought out schools for 
the blind and other organizations for the visually impaired during their 
trip.
It was disheartening to see at many schools for the blind in Central and 
South America, children aren't encouraged to think about their future 
opportunities, said Bruchok, who attended school in the Southern Lehigh 
School District. Seeing two visually impaired people ride up on a tandem 
bike was especially shocking to many of the blind children they encountered 
on their trip, which wrapped up in July, Bruchok said.
Bruchok had never biked before their journey began, and with Chaw being able 
to see out of both eyes, he took the front position on their bike. But even 
with being able to see out of both eyes, riding a bike for Chaw is far more 
difficult than for most people. He has severe tunnel vision and can really 
only see out of a small central circle in each eye.
During a test ride in 2009 from California to North Carolina, he learned 
following a road's fog line helped him greatly. But what the couple quickly 
learned on their 15-country bike trip is that fog lines are far less 
prevalent outside of the United States.
So at times they fell over - in fact they did so a total of seven times on 
their trip.
"Because we can't see well, we don't go too fast, so falling isn't too bad," 
Chaw said.
While they didn't see every bump in the road, Chaw and Bruchok were still 
able to see amazing things on their trip. One of their favorite sights were 
king penguins in the wilds of Argentina.
"When you're traveling by bike, you get to see thing you wouldn't otherwise 
see as a tourist," Bruchok said.
Bruchok and Chaw last week told their story to a large group of congregants 
at Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the church of Bruchok's 
parents, Gary and Tina, and also her church in her youth.
"Isn't it amazing? I don't think I could stay on my bike for 10 feet," the 
Very Rev. Anthony Pompa, the church's dean and rector said to congregants. 
"I told you that you'd be inspired."
Pompa said some of his favorite memories of Bruchok included her playing 
softball at church picnics.
"From the beginning, Christi did everything," he said.
Everything for Bruchok now includes solo bike riding. Chaw's vision 
progressively deteriorated during the 18-month journey and during their leg 
in Canada, they worried if they'd be able to finish their trip.
That's when Bruchok learned how to steer their tandem bike and also ride a 
bike by herself. In Fairbanks, Alaska, they donated their tandem bike to a 
visually impaired assistance agency and bought two single bikes to take on 
their last leg to Deadhorse, on Alaska's North Slope.
Learning how to bike not only benefited Bruchok on her trip but has been a 
big help since she returned to Phoenix. She previously had to rely on public 
transit or friends with cars to get around.
"Now if I want to go to the store and no one else is around, I can up and go 
on my bike," she said. "It's kind of a life-changing thing for me."
Bruchok, 32, and Chaw, 43, both worked for a technology company before 
taking their trip. They plan to pursue writing a book about their bike 
adventure before going back to work - or heading out on another trek.
"We hope there will be other adventures, too, though probably not 18-month 
adventures," Chaw said.
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Online:
http://bit.ly/18PoBhH
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Information from: The (Easton, Pa.) Express-Times, 
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com
The Associated Press