The visually impaired members of our community have another resource to better help them experience the world around them.

A tandem bike and a new shed to store it in were the subjects of a ribbon cutting at the west side YMCA Tuesday afternoon.

WTAX News spoke with Peggy Dyson with the Educational Center for the Visually Impaired about the genesis of the project.

She says one of their clients, Jim Cinotto, was an active tri-athlete before losing his sight. She says with the help of a sighted ‘captain’ Jim and others with visual impairments can experience the sensations for the open road.

Dyson says the visually impaired rider is called the ‘stoker’. They want to add a recumbent bike to the ‘fleet’ and Shudo-Kan Karate was on hand to donate the first $1000 dollars toward that effort.

Students of the Capital Area Career Center built the shed the tandems will be stored in.

To find out how you can help go to ECVIspringfield.org.