We are a Glasgow based cycling club of vision impaired and sighted cyclists.
Our aim is to provide tandem cycling opportunities to vision impaired people living in Glasgow and the west of Scotland.
We have a small fleet of tandems, stored in Bellahouston Park, funded by the RS McDonald Charitable Trust, together with tandems donated by Talking Tandems and other supporters.
We provide regular organised cycle runs and training for vision impaired stokers and sighted pilots.
We focus on social rides, bringing vision impaired and sighted cyclists together, promoting social inclusion and equal access to the enjoyment of cycling, improving the physical and mental wellbeing of our members.
Glasgow Tandem Club was formed in 2018 due to the drive of Anne Fraser, a keen vision impaired tandem cyclist who wanted to develop a club in the West of Scotland similar to those in other parts of the country.
With support from Big Bike revival, RNIB Connect and Glasgow based all ability charity Free wheel north, stokers and pilots were identified and supported to develop skills, and a small group started going on regular monthly rides, taking in many local routes such as the cycle path networks and some road routes including around the island of Bute.
In 2019, Cycling UK successfully applied for funding from the RS McDonald Charitable Trust for our tandems, but there was nowhere to keep them! After a long search for suitable storage Glasgow Life gave permission to site a shipping container at Bellahouston Park, close to the outdoor velodrome, and Glasgow Cycling UK members group donated the funding for the container from their Eddie Marshall bequest. So, in September 2019 the club was able to receive and store their own tandems next to an excellent training facility and was able to provide more taster and training sessions.Monthly rides continued, expanding the range of routes. Another Glasgow based charity, Bike for Good, came on board and offered help with transporting the tandems to ride start points, and mechanical assistance for regular maintenance.
As with other cycling groups, covid stopped play, just as the club was on track recruiting more pilots and stokers.
As life has got back to more normal routines, so has the club, and 2 rides per month are currently on offer. Regular rides often include up to six tandems and several solo bikes as support riders. The club continues to grow its community and activities thanks to the goodwill of all the club members, pilots and stokers, in giving of their enthusiasm, time and energy, and the support of the organisations noted above.
We are always looking for enthusiastic, confident and experienced cyclists to become tandem pilots (front riders) for vision impaired stokers.
We are also keen to reach out to vision impaired people who want to cycle but believed it wasn’t possible.
So, if you are, or someone you know is vision impaired with a reasonable level of fitness and keen to give cycling a go, we want to hear from you!
Please contact us if you have any queries.