Rider & Athlete Stories
Meet some of our Cycle for Sight riders and learn why they ride.
Shelagh Anson has two young children who were born with Usher Syndrome, a disease that affects hearing and sight. Read her family’s story here.
Debbie Dal Bello-Conn has two teen daughters living with Retinitis Pigmentosa and cycles so they can regain their sight. Read her family’s story here.
Laura Feltz lost her sight from glaucoma. Read about her experience riding on a tandem at Cycle for Sight.
Dave Sweeny is the founder of Cycle for Sight and lives with x-linked retinoschisis. Learn how he celebrated 11 years of Cycle for Sight here.
Lawrence Penny decided to bring Cycle for Sight to St. John’s Newfoundland after experiencing the event in Toronto. Learn why Lawrence rides in this story and also in this story.
Jenn Wicks was inspired by partially sighted cyclists and so took on riding the Newfoundland T’Railway to fundraise for Cycle for Sight. Learn more here.
Also, Fighting Blindness Canada Celebrates 35 Years of Friendship with the Lions Clubs of Canada.
Athlete Ambassadors
Lowell Taylor is a Parapan Silver Medalist and Paralympic 2021 hopeful in cycling. Lowell has retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease, and lives in Lethbridge, AB.
See Lowell's bio here
Donate to Lowell's campaign here
Victoria Nolan is a Paralympic bronze medalist in rowing. Victoria has retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease, and lives and trains in southern Ontario.
See Victoria's bio here
Donate to Victoria's campaign here
Donovan Tildesley has competed at four Paralympic Games, winning five medals, and he was the flagbearer at the 2008 Paralympics. Donovan lives with blindness as a result of Leber Congenital Amaurosis, a rare genetic disease.
See Donovan's bio here
Donate to Donovan's campaign here
Jessica Tuomela has competed in three Paralympic Games in swimming, and is now training as a triathlete for the 2021 Paralympics Games. Jessica was blinded by retinoblastoma when she was three. She lives and trains in Victoria, BC.
See Jessica's bio here
Donate to Jessica's campaign here
David Johnson is a Paralympic running hopeful in 2021 in the 400m. David has retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease, and trains in Victoria BC.
See David's bio here
Donate to David's campaign here
Melvin Fitzgerald was born in Trepassey, NL, and was disabled by polio at the age of two. He became involved in wheelchair sports in 1977, and over the course of eight years, he excelled as a wheelchair track athlete. He won marathons in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Honolulu and represented Canada at two Paralympics, two Pan American Games and the 1985 Gold Cup in Australia. He won gold medals at each of these competitions and set two world records at the 1980 Paralympics. Mel was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1982 and was inducted into the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association Hall of Fame in 2018.
Dylan Bibic is a grade 11 Ontario student who is currently working towards graduating high school a semester earlier next year to pursue training and racing in Europe in February 2021. His goals in 2020 are competing at the Junior Track Worlds in Cairo Egypt, and the Junior Road Worlds in Qatar.
Donate to Dylan's campaign here
