Vision issues

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?"

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 12:45:53 +0000, Lars S. Mulford wrote:

> 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
> 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 <5s8nb.10943$4O1.6382@nwrdny01.gnilink.net>, Lars S. Mulford <mulford@verizon.net> wrote:
>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" <david.johnson@lehigh.edu> wrote in message
news:2I2dnd93TYhStwCiRVn-tg@comcast.com...

> 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.

> A suggestion was made to her that
> > she should ride on the shoulder facing traffic, but she's not
comfortable
> > 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 <2I2dnd93TYhStwCiRVn-tg@comcast.com>, David L. Johnson <david.johnson@lehigh.edu> wrote:
>On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 12:45:53 +0000, Lars S. Mulford wrote:
>
>> 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
>> 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

>
>--
>
>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 <5s8nb.10943$4O1.6382@nwrdny01.gnilink.net>, "Lars S. Mulford"
<mulford@verizon.net> writes:

> 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

> 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 <64a84a3a.0310271051.463db444@posting.google.com>, Tanya Quinn
<tdquinn@rogers.com> wrote:
>> 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

On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 10:42:00 +0000, Tom Keats wrote:

> 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" wrote:
>
> On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 10:42:00 +0000, Tom Keats wrote:
>
> > 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" <bashley@myrealbox.com> wrote in message news:3F9E1016.CBDC4C36@myrealbox.com...
> "David L. Johnson" wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, 27 Oct 2003 10:42:00 +0000, Tom Keats wrote:
> >
> > > 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

"Lars S. Mulford" <mulford@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:<lftnb.16947$4O1.16886@nwrdny01.gnilink.net>...

> 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

On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 09:57:06 +0000, Frank Krygowski wrote:

> 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" <frkrygow@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:927f127c.0310280957.48ccd5b4@posting.google.com...
> 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" <david.johnson@lehigh.edu> wrote in message
news:<AYednai1g7LnWQOiRVn-sg@comcast.com>...
> On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 09:57:06 +0000, Frank Krygowski wrote:
>
> > 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:

http://www.deltacycle.com/mirror/mirrorframe.php