Overcoming disability

Peter Alan Smith knows the joy of cycling and wants to pass it on to others just like him: people who typically don't have the opportunity to pedal through the landscape.

Smith is legally blind but has been cycling since the mid-1990s. After the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes heard about him running the Boston Marathon, the organization recruited him to take up tandem cycling.

"So, after I finished my second Boston Marathon, I was riding up and down mountains and rocketing around the velodrome at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs," says Smith, noting that the association supports many national disabled sports organizations and even helps gain sponsorships.

"I entered many bike competitions wherever they offered a tandem category. Sometimes I raced against fellow blind athletes, but we often took on sighted competitions as well," says Smith, now 51 and living in Charleston. "I just kept winning, and my confidence soared."

Smith, a Toronto native, was not born blind. He has retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic degeneration of the retinal tissues at the back of the eye. The condition generally attacks young adults beginning with night blindness and a tunneling of the visual field. Before becoming legally blind, Smith was active in sports, namely soccer and rugby at Syracuse University.

Smith works as a trust administrator for John Hancock Financial Services. In December, he moved from Boston to Charleston because of his abilities at telecommuting.

"No sooner had I embarked on my move to Charleston than I was contacted by David Purcell, a pilot with US Airways. He was seeking a blind person that might want to ride with him on his tandem," Smith recalls.

Purcell contacted Nicole Harvey, who works for the Charleston Association for the Blind, who knew of Smith's cycling achievements. She connected the two men, and they started regular Saturday morning rides with the Coastal Cyclists club.

"I quickly became friends with this great guy," says Smith. "I feel very confident having a pilot of my bike who is a pilot at the controls of an airliner."

Now, Smith spends every lunch break on his tandem bike, which is mounted on a magnetic trainer in his backyard.

"I try to get three ordinary rides and two speed interval workouts per week," says Smith.

Now Purcell and Smith want to get other visually impaired people to join in the fun.

"I want to get blind and visually impaired persons to ride tandem bikes with me," says Smith.

Charleston's Association for the Blind is excited about collaborating with Smith and Coastal Cyclists to offer tandem bicycling to any blind person willing to give it a try, says Harvey, program manager for the association.

"We are thrilled to help open up the outdoors and offer a whole new recreational experience for our visually impaired members," says Harvey. "We are so fortunate to have former Paralympics competitor Peter Smith among the blind community here in the Lowcountry. When Dave (Purcell) called our office looking for a riding partner, who knew the pairing would lead to the idea for such a fantastic program?"

To get the bikes rolling, Smith says he is seeking blind people who want to participate, people with tandem bikes and those willing to serve as pilots.

"Unfortunately, we in the blind community are less mobile and more cautious in our movement. We can get rather sedentary if allowed to do so. Tandem cycling offers more than just health benefits. It offers the feeling of accomplishment, working with others to reach a goal through teamwork and persistence."

How to help

Anyone who is blind and is interested in cycling, has a tandem bike or wants to serve as a pilot may contact Smith via e-mail at psmith05@post.harvard.edu or 727-4322 or visit www.peteralansmith.com.