Voice of the Diabetic

Voice of the Diabetic

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KEEP DOING WHAT YOU LOVE TO DO: BLIND

CYCLIST JULIA WERNER

by Nicholas Wilson

Tandem cyclist Julia Werner is one the premier blind athletes in the world.

She was the United State Association of Blind Athletes(USABA) 1998 Female Athlete

of the year, the 1998 World Time Trial Champion, the 1998 World Sprint Champion,

a silver and bronze medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games (the elite

competition for disabled athletes), and the World Record Holder in the Flying

200m Sprint Time Trial(12.82 seconds). She completed a 942-mile bike ride in

October from Raleigh, NC, to Chicago, IL, and now she is preparing for the 2000

Sydney Paralympics, which will take place in Sydney, Australia, two weeks after

the Olympics.

At what age did you lose your sight?

I began to lose my sight progressively from the age of 24 for about a year.

The doctors said my vision would get better, and I stopped speed skating because

I didn't want to take the chance of hurting myself. I didn't drive, I didn't

do anything. My vision didn't get better, though and it put me into a nasty

funk for about two years. I'm not totally blind however. Take two dinner plates

and imagine they have dents in the center. I have some peripheral vision, but

it's pretty bizarre.

Explain the psychological phases of losing vision?

Most people agree there are about three phases: denial, anger, and acceptance.

At first you don't believe it's happening to you, you try to prove that you

can do everything you used to do. I remember being on a boat with some friends

one day a long time ago thinking to myself: "How can I take it back? I'll do

whatever I can to get my vision back..." But this logic is a waste of time.

Once you accept blindness, you realize, Why did I waste all the time denying

it or being angry? But it's a necessary process. Eventually you grow out of

it, try new things, and ACCEPT difficulty.

Have sports helped you along after blindness?

After blindness, I relied on sports at a very deep level -- as a validation

of my ability. I want to do any sport, and I believe that I can; but I've had

to redefine and to redevelop skills to make things happen. My vision is 7 o'clock

in both sides, I get nasty headaches, but sports have helped my physical and

mental health. I remember seeing a blind skier when I was a little girl and

it blew my mind. I couldn't understand how it was possible. But now I realize

I can do just about anything, like ride a tandem bike 942 miles.

Talk about the ride(Sydney Optimal Awareness Ride that Julia finished with

her tandem partner Natalie Kelly).

We rode over 100 miles on some days alongside a full support vehicle, two

Subaru cars, one driven by an Australian guy who got in two hours before the

start. He had to suck down cups of coffee, learn to drive a manual on the wrong

side of the road, and shift with his right hand while flipping CDs. He was great.

We had a car in the back and a car in the front to protect us from traffic.

Some days we slept in the back of a friend's camper truck when there was no

other place to sleep. The first five days it was pouring rain, and at the end

of the day we were covered in rain water, road oil and truck dirt- - we looked

like we had just been dragged through a hole. One day, Julia said, "Let's make

a stop at the hardware store." I said, "Why?" She said, "So we can buy a drill,

and make holes in our shoes for drainage."

How did you get so involved in sports?

I was very depressed for quite a while. I didn't get out, I felt sorry for

myself. Years later, I found a group of people (blind) who said, "I think I

can." This group, the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) connected

me with all kinds of great people and events, like the Ski Spectacular, where

500-700 blind people ski, up in Breckinridge. The ratio of blind to sighted

is like five to one on the slopes! I never knew this existed.

I found out about cycling camp through some of my ski events, though at the

time I didn't have a bike or a partner. I ended up renting a bike right before

the camp, and riding with a pilot who flew from California, whom I'd never met

in my life. I loved it, and when they asked me my goals, at the end of the camp,

I said: "I want to be a paralympic cyclist. I want to ride in Atlanta."

Athletics shouldn't end after high school, not just for the blind, but for

anybody. People don't have to give sports up. You just have to search for ways

to keep doing what you love to do.

Have you ever been scared to ride?

Yes, when I went to a race called the Burley Championships. My partner couldn't

make it, and I had to ride with a replacement rider who was very emotional.

He swore and screamed at everybody and I was like, "Oh my God, I'm on a bike

with a crazy person." I was very scared, but I was determined to do the race.

We ended up crashing, but we both got back up. I could have quit then, but I

had come a long way and I really wanted to do the race, even though this guy

had a few spokes missing. We finished the race, but I would never ride again

with this rider or someone I didn't trust. This rider was accustomed to single

racing, and tandem takes a heck of a lot of responsibility. The higher level

of impairment, the more trust you need to have in your partner.

When did you start riding with Natalie?

This summer. She made two appearances at the Olympic Trials as a single rider,

but had never ridden tandem before. We got on a bike together and it just felt

right -- EVERYTHING: the way we sat, the way we pedaled... It's very important

to be as close to unison and flawless as possible. You don't want to be fighting

with your partner. We went to the Frisco EDS Superpose (velodrome track), where

they have a 45-degree bank, and Natalie looked at it and said, "Oh no!" She

didn't want to deal with a bank that steep, but I thought we should give it

a try, at least, and we did. That track was so fast it was like putting a marble

in the bathroom sink. We did fine though. We have the same build: short and

stocky, and it helps because otherwise you have to overcome the physical differences

of someone who isn't built like you.

Do you think it's more difficult psychologically to acquire loss of vision

or to be born with it?

That's an interesting question. I would say losing it later in life, because

you go down so deep that you think you can never come back up. You still want

to do the things that you used to be able to do, but you have to adjust. Our

society is so sports- based that you can feel like disability doesn't have a

place, but you have to do something that gets you out. A kid is going to jump

and land on his head, but that's what kids do. I ski, ride, run, and I'm a mother.

The worst disability is close-mindedness. There aren't any dumb questions, even

something like, you know: "Do you dream in color or black and white?" You have

to force yourself to try new things and not be afraid to fail.

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