VIE Velo: Challenging life through inclusive cycling

What is VIE Velo?

At VIE Velo, their club motto is “challenge life”, and some of their rides are certainly challenging! As they prepare for their annual 100k Two Bridges Challenge, Jo Clancy-Dodds reflects on what makes the club so special and why this challenge is so important.

VIE stands for “Visually Impaired Edinburgh”, and Velo is French for bike. At VIE Velo, we pair visually impaired and sighted people together on tandems and we ride on the first Saturday and third Sunday of the month. Our long weekend rides are typically 30-40 miles with a lunch stop, and our shorter rides are 10-20 miles. From April to early September, we also ride around 15-25 miles on Wednesday evenings.

Over the last nine years, the club has come a long way. When it first started in 2017, there were groups of two or three tandems. In 2023 we gained charity status, and at present, we have around 75 members, with up to 17 tandems out on one ride!

I joined the club in spring 2023 after being intrigued by a group of brightly coloured tandem riders cycling past me on the Roseburn path. Having spotted “VIE Velo” on their pink cycle jerseys, I decided after reading about the club online that I was ready for a new challenge. I attended a training session before taking to the saddle on my first group ride a short while later.

Perhaps I appreciate the club even more because, in my work as a solicitor with Cycle Law Scotland acting for vulnerable road users, I am constantly reminded how important safe, accessible cycling is. VIE Velo shows what’s possible when barriers are removed, and people are given the opportunity to ride.

Making cycling accessible for visually impaired riders

Despite being a keen cyclist, my first time on a tandem was nerve-racking. Fortunately, I was paired with an experienced visually impaired rider who made me feel at ease. I was surprised how quickly I adjusted to the tandem, and by the end of the lunch stop I felt part of the club. Everyone was so welcoming, and I had never met such an up-beat, motivated group of people. After a few months, I jumped at the opportunity to join the board as a trustee and over the last three years I’ve gained an even greater appreciation of what the club achieves and my admiration for everyone involved has only grown.

The success of the club stems from the hard work and positivity of the determined members who come from a wide range of backgrounds. We have members aged 18 years to over 80 years old, we are an equal mix of women and men, and members come from diverse backgrounds. Our visually impaired riders refuse to be limited, hence our motto – Challenge Life. One of our riders commented that:

“I wanted to cycle as a kid and it came back to me 60 years later. It’s been a dream come true. Now, when I go out on a ride, I get a childish sense of excitement. It’s freedom on the bike, a kind of freedom I hadn’t felt anywhere else in my life. To get into something new at this stage in my life, it’s wonderful. You just feel pure joy.”

Why the Two Bridges challenge matters

Our goal is not just to grow, but to be accessible to as many people as possible. We want to share our love of cycling and the great outdoors with people who, without our club, would not be able to cycle.

To achieve that goal, we need funding, and we need riders. A large part of our running costs go towards buying, storing, maintaining and insuring our tandems.  That’s where the annual Two Bridges Ride plays an important role. By asking members to get sponsorship for the ride we raise money, and we raise our profile. The money raised then goes to ensuring we can operate, and the publicity of the event encourages new members to sign up and ride with us.

All our rides start and finish at Saughton Park where our bikes are stored. On the 100k Challenge Ride this year, we will head in a westerly direction along the southern side of the Forth estuary, across Kincardine Bridge, back along the northern side of the Forth, and across the Forth Road Bridge to return to Saughton Park.

With the ride expected to take anywhere between six and eight hours, there will, of course, be a pre-arranged lunch stop at the Kelpies, and at least two coffee breaks. These stops are essential for refuelling, and a great opportunity for our riders to socialise. A group of our members will also be stationed at a stall with a VIE Velo flag at the Kelpies. They’ll greet and cheer on the riders and encourage members of the public to get involved and donate to the club.

More than a bike ride: Friendship, confidence and freedom

There are no requisite standards of fitness or experience for our visually impaired members who ride as stokers on the back of the tandems. This is all about courage, trust and the ability to communicate with the rider on the front of the tandem, the pilot. Sighted riders are expected to be confident riding a bike and have reasonable levels of fitness.

The benefits of exercising, riding a bike, and socialising, are well documented. But it’s the camaraderie between two riders on a tandem, the trust and the bond, forged, that makes riding a tandem with VIE Velo so unique.

When our members arrive the morning of a ride, they meet their fellow cyclist. When they finish the ride at the end of the day, they have made a new friend. The togetherness of this experience is what makes VIE Velo so special.

How you can support VIE Velo

Cycling has always been about more than getting from A to B. Through my work, I see how important it is that our roads are safe and inclusive for everyone. Through VIE Velo, I’ve seen the extraordinary confidence, friendship and independence that cycling can create when people are given the opportunity. That’s why the Two Bridges Challenge matters, and why I hope more people will support the club or even come along for a ride.

If you enjoy the sense of freedom, excitement and joy of riding a bike, then I think you’d love cycling with VIE Velo and I’d encourage you to get in touch.

If you are interested in sponsoring us, or you’d like to hear more about what we do, please visit our Just Giving page or our website.

Jo- Clancy-Dodds