Kilwinning man starts tandem cycling club for visually impaired
Andrew Lannigan is hoping to get more people with visual impairments back into physical exercise.
Last updated 11th Aug 2023
An Ayrshire man has started a cycling group to help people with visual impairments get back into physical exercise.
Andrew Lannigan from Kilwinning has started the initiative and called it North Ayrshire Tandem Cycling. It seeks to pair up anyone with a visual impairment looking to exercise with fully sighted people to ride a tandem bike together.
The idea is for the person with visual impairment to cycle on the back of the tandem and have the other person pilot the bike from the front.
Around 10 years ago, Andrew lost most of his sight after suffering from multiple strokes.
He was left with only a fraction of clear vision, but completely lost all peripheral vision, and it left him in a dark place.
The 67-year-old was always a keen cyclist, and also used his downtime to scuba dive and ride a motorcycle, and after his sight loss he nearly gave up.
He said: “After I retired through ill health, I spent 6 months in the house and barely stepped foot across the door. It felt like my feet had been taken away from me.
“I lost the ability to ride my motorcycle, I just got a new car and had to give up driving, and lost all my sports. The loss of cycling hit me more than anything else.”
After some encouragement from friends family and a visual impairment worker, Andrew started to rediscover his drive.
His Nephew brought him along to Karate, he started putting his joinery skills to the test for a hobby and to boost his self-esteem, and now he’s getting back into the passion he held so dearly – cycling.
Andrew first came across the notion after seeing an advert in the local paper which offered the service, but after reaching out nothing transpired which left him feeling a bit frustrated. It was then his wife that encouraged him to start up his own group, and he says the response has been overwhelming.
However, they’ve managed to receive an influx of offers for people willing to pilot the bikes, but only a few people with visual impairments have been interested so far.
So, Andrew is wanting to get the news out there and help people get involved.
He added: “There must be people out there in Ayrshire that want to get themselves back on a bike or into some exercise again because it’s fantastic. Being out on a tandem with somebody in front of you that can take you on that ride and get you out and about again is a fantastic feeling.
“It improves your fitness, it improves your mental health, it improves your self-esteem, and you have tremendous fun as well. I hope there’s visually impaired people out there with the same passion for cycling that I’ve got.
“We need people from across the region with a visual impairment, whether that’s total sight loss or just partially sighted. We need them to come on board and enjoy it. Come and have a go and if it’s not for you that’s fine but I’d guarantee that you’ll love it.”
If you would like to get involved with the Ayrshire Tandem Cycling Club, you can message Andrew on the group’s social media pages.