I CONFESS I never gave a moment’s thought to whether, or how, blind people might enjoy cycling. But if anyone had asked me I’d have replied that surely it’s just not possible for someone who is blind to ride a bike at all. My complacent prejudice was completely overturned a couple of weeks ago in Oxford when Cyclox members met a modest and wonderful man with a severe visual impairment. He so enjoys riding that he set himself the challenge to pedal more than 750 miles in the first two weeks of August this year, passing through Oxfordshire on the way. This man, a Scot named Ken Reid who lives in North Berwick, didn’t notice anything wrong with his sight until he was 26 years old. He was an avid reader of books and he loved to cycle. But then he was told he suffered from retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disease manifesting chronic, gradual but irreversible decline into virtually complete blindness over a period of years. Ken, now 56, had practically completely lost his sight by his mid-30s. The condition affects about one person in every 3,500, so in Oxfordshire, population 688,000, there could be around 200 who suffer similarly.

He resolved this year to mark the 30th anniversary of his diagnosis by cycling from Edinburgh to London the hard way, via Belfast, Dublin, Holyhead, Cardiff - and Oxford. His bike is a tandem cycle: he is the “stoker”, riding behind a sighted “pilot”, in whom he has to place his complete trust. He had never previously met any of the dozen different pilots who acted in a changing relay for each stage of this journey. As Ken pointed out, blind people are obliged to have faith in strangers like this day in, day out, for ordinary everyday activities when they are out and about.

In conjunction with this epic ride, now successfully completed, Ken has been fundraising for the Talking Books scheme of the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). More than £9,000 has been collected so far. The story of the ride is told online on the Facebook page Cycle750.

A short video of Ken’s time in Oxford is here.... The Oxfordshire Association for the Blind (oxeyes.org.uk) has tandem bikes available for loan to visually impaired people in this county and is seeking volunteers to act as pilots. More generally, Wheels for All provides many sorts of adapted bikes for people with a variety of different disabilities, not just visual impairment. It organises regular sessions with experienced mentors.

My goodness, Ken’s mindset inspires. Talk about attitude. Bravo, Ken! When it comes to getting OnYerBike his example surely spurs us on to ‘Just do it!’.