Eric Shalit at Tubulocity wrote a wonderful story about his experience helping people ride bikes at Seattle Lighthouse‘s deaf-blind retreat in Seabeck. Not only does it look like a great time, but Eric has some great reflections on what it means to be a sighted-hearing biker:

As a sighted-hearing person I do not consider tandem cycling with deaf-blind people to be a charitable act. I believe each of us is isolated in our own little worlds and benefits greatly from sharing our lives and experiences with people from all cultures and backgrounds. I captained a borrowed tandem with deaf-blind stokers, and would be lying if I said I was fully-abled in that capacity. No one was injured, but we had one close call (sorry Randall!).  I’m looking forward to riding tandem again with fearless deaf-blind stokers and bringing my sighted cycling friends and their friends into this world. Participating in this camp affirms my belief that if cycling is not a social activity for you, you’re doing it wrong.

As bikers with utopian visions of a city with bikes everywhere, moving around cheaply and without petroleum, it is vital we do not loose sight of how lucky we are to be able to ride.