Tuesday 8 January 2013

I want to ride my bicycle



Two years ago we decided to get Ethan a new bike. Up until this point he had a small bike with stabilisers, but as his friends were beginning to get bigger bikes and discarding the stabilisers, we felt we needed to help him keep up. Other parents of visually impaired children may have had other solutions to the dilema of how to allow your child independence on a bike, keeping them safe and not making them too different from everyone else - our solution was to buy a Pashley Robin bike.  

http://www.bikerepublic.com/pashley-robin/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Google%2BProducts&utm_campaign=Magento 

We wanted something that was robust, looked cool and would last. The Pashley is really well made and can go over most terrains. With Ethan's limited sight we felt that a trike would give Ethan the balance he would need to be able to ride freely. We have been able to take him down farm tracks with him riding independently, whilst we are on our own bikes next to him, giving out the odd instruction. The pashley has toe clips so once Ethan's feet are in he doesn't have to worry about finding the pedals. The bike has one, low fixed gear - you should see the speed Ethan's legs go when he's pedaling! He can also reverse the bike by pedaling backwards (a feature that his younger brother Jasper is very jealous of!) We have not let Ethan ride it on the main road because of his sight, but as it goes so well on grass and rougher tracks, he has still been able to have a great time on it. 

We are now planning on buying a tandem - I'll keep you posted about how that goes!


2 comments:

  1. This sounds like it is going to be a very interesting blog: I am looking forward to hearing more about Ethan. I have been registered blind since birth (with coloboma) and now write a blog about my experiences which you might be interested in. Looking forward to hearing more.

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  2. Thanks Hannah!
    I will take a look at your blog, it will be interesting to read about our experiences

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