About Us

Skip to sections on this page: Mission, Vision, What We Do, Founder, and Contact Us

The U.S. Blind Tandem Cycling Connection is legally recognized by the IRS as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. 

Mission

The U.S. Blind Tandem Cycling Connection endeavors to increase the participation of individuals who are visually impaired or blind in the exhilarating sport of tandem cycling.

Vision

Our vision is that everyone with a visual impairment has the opportunity to experience tandem cycling, with its’ feeling of freedom and sensation of speed. Also, we look forward to more sighted cyclists experiencing the satisfaction of captaining tandems and sharing the ride.

Our aspiration is that every school for the blind and every major city will support a blind tandem cycling club. Our hope is that more visually impaired individuals will cycle regularly, meeting new people, joining training rides, and competing in events.

Our website went LIVE on January 19th, 2010. Our database of captains and stokers is increasing and more dots, representing riders, are showing up on the USA map. The more cyclists that create profiles, the more riding opportunities there will be for everyone.

What We Do

We serve as a resource to:

• Connect blind and visually impaired cyclists with sighted cyclists
• Educate people about tandem cycling
• Disseminate information about cycling clubs, events, and opportunities
• Address the needs of the blind tandem cycling community

Board of Directors

Christine Tinberg, Founder and President, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Education at Los Angeles City College.  With the Braille Institute  adjacent to the college, she had a number of persons with visual impairments in her classes. In the summer of 2008, while vacationing in Bend, Oregon, she saw a movie, The Way Bobby Sees It, about a blind mountain biker. Nancy Stevens, a blind triathlete, was in the audience, and she invited Christine to captain her tandem. Riding with Nancy, she found new purpose to her cycling and was thrilled with the speed and fun of pedaling a tandem.

Later that year, she captained a tandem at the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes’ 2008 Developmental Cycling Camp held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The following summer, she trained with, and was honored to ride a tandem with Nancy in the 2009 U.S. Paralympics Road Cycling National Championships. Through her research and conversations with blind stokers, it became evident that a central resource was needed for connecting stokers with captains. As a result, the U.S. Blind Tandem Cycling Connection was formed. Christine holds a B.S. degree in Sports Medicine from Pepperdine University and a M.S. degree in Exercise Science from Arizona State University.  She cycles on the road and on the dirt in the Santa Monica Mountains near her home.

You can contact her at christine[at]bicyclingblind[dot]org

In 2000, Ron Burzese, stoked a tandem from Los Angeles to Boston in 32 days with Mike Beadles of Minneapolis.  He has competed in various tandem events at the state, national, and international level.  He and many Austin-based, Violet Crown teammates, won the Texas State Time Trial in ‘04, ‘06, ‘07, and ‘09.  In ‘06, he and captain Chris Vogel of Spokane, won a bronze medal in tandem matched sprints at the USA Cycling Master’s Track National Championships.  Competing at the ‘03 IBSA World Championships, they won a silver medal in the tandem matched sprints, 8th place in the time trial and 13th place in the road race.  Ron has served on the Board of the Austin Cycling Association and was a Rider Leader for the Twin Cities Bicycling Club.  He rides in charity events and double centuries, and competes in local races.  He is an experienced mechanic, performing his own repairs, and many for his captains and friends.  He holds a B.A. degree from Clearwater Christian College.

Mandy Goff is the Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation at Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama.  One of her responsibilities at Lakeshore is to coordinate the injured military program, so she designs and manages the sports camps for injured veterans.  One of those camps is Operation Night Vision, which is designed for military personnel with visual impairment or blindness.  Also she is the Team Manager for USA Wheelchair Rugby, which keeps her traveling.  She holds a Master’s degree in Adapted Physical Education.

Lori Miller is an accomplished athlete, teacher, and disability spokesperson. She has competed at the highest level, both nationally and internationally, in tandem cycling and other sports.  In 1998, Lori finished 7th in the mixed tandem division of the road race at the Disabled Cycling World Championships.  In 2000, she won USABA’s Tandem Cycling Time Trial National Championship.   Then, at the Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia, Lori placed in the top 10 in each track cycling event, the kilo, sprints, and pursuit. Lori was a member of the 1992 Women’s Goalball National Championship Team and was a Paralympic alternate in ‘92 and ‘96 for goalball. In 1998, she became USABA’s Giant Slalom Alpine National Champion in the Women’s Totally Blind Division. Lori is a Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist and an Orientation and Mobility Instructor. She holds three masters degrees, the first in Teaching Visually Impaired Children, the second in Orientation and Mobility, and the third in Blind Rehabilitation Teaching. We appreciate her computer savvy, contagious enthusiasm, and creative ideas.

Mark Remaly, born totally blind, underwent many eye surgeries as a child.  When the surgeries were over, he had gained about 10% sight in one eye.  That left him with enough vision to ride his bike around town with the other kids, enjoying freedom and adventure.  He kept cycling, riding to and from his alma maters, Boston College and the Perkins School for the Blind, and later commuting to work.  In 1983, Mark rode from outside Montreal to his home in Massachussets.  He biked alone, and was 100% self-sufficient, but with only 10% vision.  He says it was, “One of the most empowering things I have ever done.”  Mark is totally blind now, his vision having deteriorated with time.  So, Mark is stoking a tandem bike, and still experiencing freedom and adventure.  Skilled with his hands, Mark completes most mechanical jobs on his red Co-Motion tandem, as well as household electrical and wood-working projects.  Mark and his wife own a chair caning business, called The Seat Weaver.  Mark signed upon bicyclingblind.org and was one of the first stokers to connect with a captain from our website.  We appreciate Mark’s encouragement, his positive attitude, and his desire to help more stokers find captains.

Haley Schedlin teaches Physical Education in Rochester, NY.  For the past 7 years, she has been the Assistant Director at Camp Abilities, a week-long, residential, developmental sports camp for individuals with visual impairments, blindness and deaf-blindness, ages 8-19.  Haley is a co-author with Dr. Lauren Lieberman on two fitness manuals for individuals with visual impairments through the Printing House for the Blind.  She has published a manual on how to start sport camps for individuals with visual impairments through the Perkins School for the Blind, as well as published articles in the Journal for Visual Impairments and Blindness.  Haley has delivered numerous consultation workshops for school districts and presented at both state and national level conferences on Adapted Physical Education and Inclusion.  Haley was awarded the Adapted Physical Activity Council (APAC) Adapted Physical Education Master’s Student of the Year in 2008.  In 2011, she was presented as an Ambassador with the American Association of Physical Activity and Recreation (APAR) and won the Central Western Zone Middle School Teacher of the Year Award.  Haley has bicycled in many 100 mile rides for the Tour De Cure, in addition to competing in duathlons. 

 With her younger sister as the captain, Nancy Stevens, rode a tandem bike to elementary school.  She’s put many miles on her tandems since then, and in 2000, she pedaled 3000 miles from Portland, Oregon, to New York City, on a ride sponsored by Outward Bound, a non-profit group that promotes personal growth through challenge in the wilderness.  She excels at Nordic and downhill skiing, and competed in the 2002 Winter Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan. She won three gold medals in the visually impaired division of the International Triathlon World Championships in ‘05, ‘06, and ‘07.  A talented teacher and trainer, Nancy organized two Tri-It triathlon camps for blind athletes and sighted guides in Glenwood Springs, CO, in ‘07 and ‘08.   Nancy was the Founding Director of High Country Options in Frisco, CO.  The program, founded by the Developmental Disabilities Resource Center in Denver, was established to help those with a disability to build skills and to find employment.  During her 5 1/2 year tenure, she assisted more than 100 people and provided more than 50 disability awareness programs to various organizations.  Nancy is passionate about sports, about encouraging others to be confident, to set goals, and to make things happen.

Contact Us

310-455-1954

info[at]bicyclingblind[dot]org