Vision issues

Lars S. Mulford said:

Howdy folks!

I've a bit of a situation here that I could use some help in rectifying. My wife and I ride
together, both on mountain bikes and recumbents. My wife is blind in her left eye. When we ride
together, I stay on the outside (closest to traffic), so I can see and cover her a bit. Here's the
current situation though:

Of late, our schedules have not allowed us to ride together. We're getting out there separately
and she is concerned about being able to see traffic behind her. The local bikeshop has some
mirrors and whatnot, but none that we've found where she doesn't have to turn her head to an
extreme to be able to see to her left.

Some bar-mounted mirrors project further out from the bike. Try one of those on her right side,
angled to give a view behind her. She will still have to look left as well (a second mirror?), but
only for close-by traffic at an angle that might be OK for her.

A suggestion was made to her that

Quoted message said:

she should ride on the shoulder facing traffic, but she's not comfortable with that.

That would be extremely dangerous.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember _`\(,_ | that your initial
objective was to drain the swamp. -- LBJ (_)/ (_) |

In article said:

Howdy folks!

I've a bit of a situation here that I could use some help in rectifying. My wife and I ride
together, both on mountain bikes and recumbents. My wife is blind in her left eye. When we ride
together, I stay on the outside (closest to traffic), so I can see and cover her a bit. Here's the
current situation though:

Of late, our schedules have not allowed us to ride together. We're getting out there separately and
she is concerned about being able to see traffic behind her. The local bikeshop has some mirrors
and whatnot, but none that we've found where she doesn't have to turn her head to an extreme to be
able to see to her left. A suggestion was made to her that she should ride on the shoulder facing
traffic, but she's not comfortable with that.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how she can somehow be able to get an idea of what is going on
on the left hand side?

--
"Sea" ya! --Lars S. Mulford "You can find evil anywhere you look. The question is, why are you
looking?"

Dude! Knowing there are guys who bike while completely blind, I'd not want to suggest you limit your
wife to enjoying biking, but I might suggest getting a set of rollers to ride indoors or on the
patio if you can't ride with her, or have her ride where there's no traffic, like a MUT.

-B

--
Email Replies to johnson<nospm>01j <att> ntelos <dott> net

David L. Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Some bar-mounted mirrors project further out from the bike. Try one of those on her right side,
angled to give a view behind her. She will still have to look left as well (a second mirror?), but
only for close-by traffic at an angle that might be OK for her.

Howdy David!

We'll look at some more bike mirrors. The ones we saw locally were quite short.

Quoted message said:

A suggestion was made to her that

Quoted message said:

she should ride on the shoulder facing traffic, but she's not

comfortable

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

with that.

That would be extremely dangerous.

That was our thought as well. The surprise here is that this suggestion was made to her in our local
bike shop by one of the employees. We really didn't give it a second thought.

--
"Sea" ya! --Lars S. Mulford "You can find evil anywhere you look. The question is, why are
you looking?"

In article said:

Lars S. Mulford said:

Howdy folks!

I've a bit of a situation here that I could use some help in rectifying. My wife and I ride
together, both on mountain bikes and recumbents. My wife is blind in her left eye. When we ride
together, I stay on the outside (closest to traffic), so I can see and cover her a bit. Here's
the current situation though:

Of late, our schedules have not allowed us to ride together. We're getting out there separately
and she is concerned about being able to see traffic behind her. The local bikeshop has some
mirrors and whatnot, but none that we've found where she doesn't have to turn her head to an
extreme to be able to see to her left.

Some bar-mounted mirrors project further out from the bike. Try one of those on her right side,
angled to give a view behind her. She will still have to look left as well (a second mirror?), but
only for close-by traffic at an angle that might be OK for her.

A suggestion was made to her that

Quoted message said:

she should ride on the shoulder facing traffic, but she's not comfortable with that.

That would be extremely dangerous.

Master. Understatement. ;-)

What about a raised banner, 'caution rider has no depth perception', like the signs in the back of
Driver's ed's cars. (of course I'm kidding, but maybe only half-kidding)

-B

Quoted message said:

--

David L. Johnson

__o | When you are up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to remember _`\(,_ | that your
initial objective was to drain the swamp. -- LBJ (_)/ (_) |

--
Email Replies to johnson<nospm>01j <att> ntelos <dott> net

In article <[email hidden]>, "Lars S. Mulford"

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have any suggestions on how she can somehow be able to get an idea of what is going on
on the left hand side?

This is such an interesting problem, I started Google-searching on keywords: bicycle "rear view"
"ccd camera" and other word combinations, to see if there's an electronic solution.

I'm afraid I don't have time to pursue this further, but the results I got seem heartening -- at
least, I found there's such a thing as a 5" LCD monitor that might be handlebar- mountable.

Such gadgetry seems to be relatively popular among the RV crowd.

A small CCD camera and monitor setup might be one possibility for you to investigate, along with the
considerations of expense, image quality, durability, weather-proofness, power source, etc.

A cheaper & simpler possibility might be those helmets with the built-in periscopes (see thread in
this newsgroup, titled "Built in mirror helmet help", starting from Oct 18).

cheers, & good luck in your quest, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

Quoted message said:

Dude! Knowing there are guys who bike while completely blind, I'd not want to suggest you limit
your wife to enjoying biking, but I might suggest getting a set of rollers to ride indoors or on
the patio if you can't ride with her, or have her ride where there's no traffic, like a MUT.

I wouldn't say MUT have no traffic, just no motorized traffic. She would still have to look to her
left when overtaking a pedestrian or slower biker, and could be being overtaken by a faster biker at
the same time. So still important to be able to left shoulder check.

In article <[email hidden]>, Tanya Quinn

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Dude! Knowing there are guys who bike while completely blind, I'd not want to suggest you limit
your wife to enjoying biking, but I might suggest getting a set of rollers to ride indoors or on
the patio if you can't ride with her, or have her ride where there's no traffic, like a MUT.

I wouldn't say MUT have no traffic, just no motorized traffic. She would still have to look to her
left when overtaking a pedestrian or slower biker, and could be being overtaken by a faster biker
at the same time. So still important to be able to left shoulder check.

Right. And just as dangerous but maybe slightly more forgiving. I knew when I posted it I should
have put in heavy vehicular traffic. Thanks for the reality check.

-B

--
Email Replies to johnson<nospm>01j <att> ntelos <dott> net

Tom Keats said:

A cheaper & simpler possibility might be those helmets with the built-in periscopes (see thread in
this newsgroup, titled "Built in mirror helmet help", starting from Oct 18).

Good idea.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not _`\(,_ | certain, and as
far as they are certain, they do not refer to (_)/ (_) | reality. -- Albert Einstein

David L. Johnson said:

Tom Keats said:

A cheaper & simpler possibility might be those helmets with the built-in periscopes (see thread
in this newsgroup, titled "Built in mirror helmet help", starting from Oct 18).

I didn't know such a thing existed. I was going to suggest one of those little glasses- or
helmet-mounted mirrors on her right side, adjusted so that she can see the area to the rear left. My
left eye is worthless, although functional, and when I wear my glasses rather than my contacts I
have to swivel my head way around so I can look over my left shoulder with my right eye -- not a
good thing for the clumsy to do.

--
Cheers, Bev ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The Marketing
Professional's Motto: "We don't screw the customers. All we're doing is holding them down while the
salespeople screw them." -- Scott Adams

Howdy Bev and others!

Ok, we've not tried one of those periscope type helmets, but it is something to consider. A concern
about them that I've read about online is that the rear view is somewhat distorted? Also, I read
that there could be issues between the view you see when riding an upright versus recumbent. We've
not even laid eyes on one of these helmets yet so who can say until we give it the old college try?

As for the mirror on the glasses, she did try that and found that she either had to turn her head
significantly to the right to see what was on the left, or likewise to the left to bring the right
eye to bear. Either way, she felt uncomfortable with the amount of head turning to make it happen.

A suggestion was made about perhaps making one of those glasses or helmet mounted mirrors a bit
longer so that her right eye could be useful in seeing to the left without craning or turning the
head beyond what is comfortable. I don't know how much longer it would have to be, but that merits
exploring.

--
"Sea" ya! --Lars S. Mulford "You can find evil anywhere you look. The question is, why are
you looking?"

"The Real Bev" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

David L. Johnson said:

Tom Keats said:

A cheaper & simpler possibility might be those helmets with the

built-in

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

periscopes (see thread in this newsgroup, titled "Built in mirror

helmet

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

help", starting from Oct 18).

I didn't know such a thing existed. I was going to suggest one of those little glasses- or
helmet-mounted mirrors on her right side, adjusted so that she can see the area to the rear left.
My left eye is worthless, although functional, and when I wear my glasses rather than my contacts
I have to swivel my head way around so I can look over my left shoulder with my right eye -- not a
good thing for the clumsy to do.

--
Cheers, Bev ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The Marketing
Professional's Motto: "We don't screw the customers. All we're doing is holding them down while
the salespeople screw them." -- Scott Adams

"Lars S. Mulford" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

A suggestion was made about perhaps making one of those glasses or helmet mounted mirrors a bit
longer so that her right eye could be useful in seeing to the left without craning or turning the
head beyond what is comfortable. I don't know how much longer it would have to be, but that merits
exploring.

Don't overlook the possibility of multiple mirrors of different designs. There are mirrors that plug
into handlebar ends, and there are the more common styles that mount on "stalks" attached to the
bars. There is (or was?) even one on the market that sort of straddled the top tube. Combine several
types, and you might get as much rearward vision as you'd ever want.

- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski said:

There is (or was?) even one on the market that sort of straddled the top tube.

I have seen this, and I think it is still available. I laughed when I saw it, thinking it was pretty
narcissistic to be looking at your own crotch in the mirror, but was told that you actually can see
behind you with it pretty well.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or _`\(,_ | that we are to
stand by the president right or wrong, is not (_)/ (_) | only unpatriotic and servile, but is
morally treasonable to the American public. --Theodore Roosevelt

Howdy Frank and others!

Ok, the local bikeshop was telling us about some horseshoe shaped mirror that fits on the upper tube
of the mountain bike. That sounds like something worth looking into - they didn't have a pic or
information about it but I'll see what I can dig up. Meantime though, how about when she rides her
recumbent?
--
"Sea" ya! --Lars S. Mulford "You can find evil anywhere you look. The question is, why are
you looking?"

"Frank Krygowski" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

bars. There is (or was?) even one on the market that sort of straddled the top tube. Combine
several types, and you might get as much rearward vision as you'd ever want.

- Frank Krygowski

"David L. Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Frank Krygowski said:

There is (or was?) even one on the market that sort of straddled the top tube.

I have seen this, and I think it is still available. I laughed when I saw it, thinking it was
pretty narcissistic to be looking at your own crotch in the mirror, but was told that you actually
can see behind you with it pretty well.

It's the Delta Insight mirror:

deltacycle.commirrorframe.phpOpen ↗

Lars S. Mulford <[email hidden]> scribed in <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Does anyone have any suggestions on how she can somehow be able to get an idea of what is going on
on the left hand side?

put the mirror on the right, just a bit further out so she can see behind. maybe a bigger mirror
than 'normal'

swarf, steam and wind

--
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Lars S. Mulford said:

Meantime though, how about when she rides her recumbent?

it probably depends on the bent's design, but she might consider a standard auto rear view mirror
mounted on the headset. i test drove a ryan that had its speedometer mounted there on a truncated
handlebar. a car mirror might work there, or maybe one of the panorama (may be closer...) mirrors on
the handlebar if the bent has overhead steering.

i don't understand her problem with helmet mounted mirrors. although my helmet mirror is on the
left, it sees just fine far to the right. if she wears glasses, one mounted on her glasses should
work even better.

the trick for me was to mount it relatively far forward and then moving the swivel arm far enough
out that when i had it set so that i could barely see my ear in the edge of the mirror.

by moving my head very slightly, i could get a very wide view of everything beind me. i don't expect
to resolve any great details --- i just want to see what's approaching me from behind, whether cars
or overtaking cyclists. it takes a few hours to get really used to using one, but once i
comprehended how it really works, i feel naked riding without it.

Lars S. Mulford said:

Howdy folks!

I've a bit of a situation here that I could use some help in rectifying. My wife and I ride
together, both on mountain bikes and recumbents. My wife is blind in her left eye. When we ride
together, I stay on the outside (closest to traffic), so I can see and cover her a bit. Here's the
current situation though:

Of late, our schedules have not allowed us to ride together. We're getting out there separately
and she is concerned about being able to see traffic behind her. The local bikeshop has some
mirrors and whatnot, but none that we've found where she doesn't have to turn her head to an
extreme to be able to see to her left. A suggestion was made to her that she should ride on the
shoulder facing traffic, but she's not comfortable with that.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how she can somehow be able to get an idea of what is going on
on the left hand side?

Even with my left eye closed, by turning my head slightly to the left I can still see what is behind
me using the mirror mounted on the left end of my handlebars.

Tom Sherman