CYCLE
FOR SIGHT
By Lisa Bucher
Erin George has never taken a back
to anything in her life, so learning how
to ride a tandem bike was a challenging
experience for her, not physically, but
emotionally and psychologically. She
noticed changes to her vision at 19
years old when she moved to Toronto
to attend Ryerson University for
journalism. She was diagnosed with
retinitis pigmentosa at the age of 25.
The first time George felt disabled by
her vision loss was when she had to
stop riding her bike. Before vision loss
took her off the road, she was on her
bike all the time. It was her primary
mode of transportation. So, Cycle for
Sight was a good fit for her to reclaim
that in a positive way by riding tandem with her spouse as the pilot. Erin
was told there was nothing that could
be done about her vision loss, which
she found incredibly disempowering.
“I wanted to do something,” she said.
“Participating in Cycle for Sight to
raise funds for vision research allowed
me to do something about my vision
loss. It has been a very empowering
experience for me.” Cycle for Sight also
allows her to talk about her vision loss.
“It’s such a difficult subject and in the
beginning an invisible disability,”
said George.
“Having the conversation out of the
blue can be very awkward, but having
the conversation based on my participation in Cycle for Sight means that
the conversation is on a position note
and it means that the person I am
speaking with can actually do something to show their support for me
and my struggle.”
20 www.spineoptics.com
A handful of individuals, including
Michael Ovens (who currently
co-chairs the event), who are visually
impaired, started the event. It was
their goal to be actively involved in
helping raise funds for vision research
and to increase awareness to help find
a cure. In 2009, there were 45 riders
and last year there were 484 riders who
participated in three cities across
Canada. “We hope to have at least 700
riders this year between all four
events,” said Dr. Ana Juricic, Co-Chair
of the event. The ride caters to cyclists
of all abilities by providing multiple
distance options. “Cycle for Sight is a
unique event in that visually impaired
and completely blind riders, can cycle
alongside sighted solo and tandem
riders of varying cycling abilities,”
said Dr. Juricic.
“Family members, friends, eye care
professionals, industry suppliers and
just pure cycling enthusiasts all come
together for this perfect one-day ride.”
Since 2009, Cycle for Sight has
raised $2.2 million and last year alone
$700,000 was raised. This year the
event has expanded to include four
cities