the low down

Steve grew up fully sighted, but in his 30s he experienced a gradual deterioration in his vision that eventually left him completely blind. In his 40s, Steve found himself spending a lot of time alone in his flat, feeling lonely, isolated and unhappy. 

Then, one day, he heard about a scheme run by Life Cycle UK called “Two’s Company” that enlisted the help of sighted volunteers to allow the blind and visually-impaired to go out cycling on the back of tandems.  

Life Cycle UK delivers a Safe Urban Driving Course for HGV drivers, which includes practical 'on-road' cycle training to give drivers a 'real life' experience of a cyclist’s perspective.

The objectives of the course are:

How are you connected to Life Cycle?

I am a back rider with the Two's Company scheme, where the back riders get to go out on tandems due to their visual impairment.

What's your earliest cycling memory?

I remember going out as a child on a little bike with fat wheels, which we called Noddy due to it being red and yellow. I did progress to a larger bike over the years but when I became a teenager, boys became more interesting I suspect! I was also fully sighted at the time so was able to get about however which way I wanted to.