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Two organizations partner to give the low vision population a taste of the open road By Andra Coberly
That thought can be depressing and make those with low or no vision isolate themselves in their homes and avoid physical activity. “People with low vision often become more sedentary because we don't have transportation. Running becomes more difficult when you have to scan at all times and you're dealing with glare and it's difficult to see obstacles in your path,” said Denny Bettenhausen, who is the executive director of Ensight Skills Center, a Fort Collins nonprofit that caters to those with low vision or blindness. She also has macular degeneration, a degenerative eye disease that results in the partial loss of vision, mainly in the center of the eye. “I've been hit twice and once my bike was totaled. It can be scary out there when you can't see,” Bettenhausen said. For the local blind and low vision community, a new partnership between Bettenhausen's Ensight Skills Center and New World Sports, a local tour guide and mountain bike instruction service, will make traversing the city via bicycle a lot less intimidating and a lot more safe. New World Sports founder Joe Bagley was recently inspired by his own grandfather, who also has macular degeneration, after the 85-year-old lost his driver's license. Bagley, a competitive mountain biker who started New World Sports last year, encouraged his grandpa to join him for a tandem bicycle ride. “He was really skeptical that he wouldn't be able to ride. But it opened a new freedom that he had lost when he lost his driver's license,” said Bagley, who has been riding tandem since he was little and recently did a tandem trip from Colorado to South Dakota with his girlfriend. Inspired by his grandfather's excitement, Bagley began brainstorming about helping the larger low vision population. He took his idea—bringing together sighted and low vision riders for monthly two-hour tandem bike rides—to Ensight and created the Co-Pilots Tandem Bike Program. “It really gives us an opportunity to exercise and have more freedom. It opens up a whole new world,” Bettenhausen said. “Speaking for myself, I felt like maybe this isn't something I ever thought I would be able to do again.” The first Co-Pilots ride will take place on April 7 and then once a month after that. Low vision riders can either be partnered with a sighted rider, who will go through training in how to properly captain a tandem bicycle, or they can ride as individuals. “For some of them, they have bicycle experience but no tools or someone to help them,” Bagley said. “They are limited, but they need an outlet for exercise. There are a huge number of blind and disabled people who battle obesity.” New World Sports is currently seeking captains as well as people to donate tandem bikes. Ensight has been encouraging its clients to hit the road for the monthly rides. With barriers that often discourage low vision or blind people from hoping on a bike removed, both Bagley and Bettenhausen hope people of all abilities will join them; especially beginners who may not be active or those who shut themselves in doors. “I just feel like it's an opportunity for the visually impaired community to get out and exercise,” Bettenhausen said. “We tend to be more isolated and this allows us to have a group activity to take part in.” |
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