Tucson Citizen - April 25, 2005
"Blind rider triumphs with new partner" by Shelly Lewellen
Tucson Citizen - September 15, 2004
"Two to Athens" by Bryan Lee
Arizona Daily Star - August 29, 2004
"Challenges? Bring em on" by Tom Beal
Arizona Daily Star - May 5, 2004
"Locals qualify for Paralympics" by Amit Mehrotra
Tucson Citizen - April 27, 2004
"Sight to Feel/Tour of Tucson Mountains" by Bryan Lee
Northwest Race Report, Seattle's racing circuit internet site
Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories by NWRR staff writer Jim Hatorri. This installment covers Jason Bryn as he struggles with his deteriorating eyesight.
"I'm a 6-foot, 8-inch, 190 pound cycling machine," asserts 36-year-old, Paralympic Cyclist Jason Bryn. Riding nearly 400 miles weekly, the Tucson athlete is training to bring home a medal from the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. Bryn, legally blind since birth, says that his ability to push his pain threshold is what motivates him to excel as an athlete.
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Jason Bryn (left) and his tandem pilot Glenn Bunselmeyer at the Olympic Training Center Camp in Colorado Springs, June 2004.
Photo by Ron Williams
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He has trimmed down from the towering 235-pound physique he carried as a power forward playing basketball for Lake Forest College. Although he experienced significant vision loss during his four years at Lake Forest, Bryn led the team in rebounds and was second in scoring.
Bryn said that as his inherited genetic disease, Retinitis pigmentosa, continued its degeneration of his retinas, so too did his ability to play basketball or any sport safely. He explains his vision as being like a horse with blinders in a parade. Imagine looking through a drinking cup while squinting your eyes and barely peering through your eyelashes.
He said he tried running and cycling after college in an effort to fuel his love for athletic competition. But, he broke his ankle when he ran off of a sidewalk and once rode his bike into the back of a truck, fracturing facial bones.
Frustrated with his inability to athletically compete in sports, Bryn said that he finally discovered tandem cycling.
He began training as a competitive tandem cyclist in August of 2000. One year later, he became a member of the United States Paralympic National Cycling Team. Bryn pointed out that the Paralympics are the only venue he has found in which he can complete internationally.
In May of 2004, Bryn and his 46-year-old tandem cycling partner Glenn Bunselmeyer from Bellevue, Wash., qualified for the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.
"From where I started out four years ago is amazing," Bryn said.
The tandem team recently attended the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. They will return to the prestigious facility in August and September.
Bryn and Bunselmeyer train as a team in Arizona and California. The duo has won the 58-mile Tour of the Tucson Mountains and the Paralympic National Championship in the time trial event that included all disability groups.
"He's [Bunselmeyer] the best in the United States that I can have," said Bryn. "After five months together, we're pretty much in sync."
While in Colorado City, Bryn and Bunselmeyer are coached by the Carmichael Training System, (Lance Armstrong's coach). Bryn said that this precise training system targets specific levels of aerobic and anaerobic workouts. The two-man team trains at intervals and watt levels, conditioning their bodies to the massive flux in heart rate that they experience during races and time trials. The cycling team will compete in velodrome, track and road events. Bryn said they expect to do best in the time trial event.
"It's the race of truth. Only the fastest person will have the fastest time. You can't hide out there," he said of the time trial.
Averaging 30 miles per hour on the track, Bryn pointed out that it comes down to how much pain they can tolerate. Many times they are pushing too hard to talk.
"It's about two guys being one on the bike…mentally and physically. Glenn is my eyes," explained Bryn. "He tells me when to go. We're both insane on the bike."
While Bunselmeyer memorizes the track visually, Bryn relies on the sounds and feel of the road. He said that his senses tell him when they are passing a guardrail or riding over a change in pavement.
Bryn and Bunselmeyer communicate with Tandemtalk. Each rider has a headset and a microphone. Before they went to this system, Bryn said that other racers could hear him talking with his partner and would know when they were about to attack.
Bryn points out that he uses his visual impairment as a motivation tool. Sometimes Bunselmeyer will hear him call himself 'blind man' when he is pushing himself to go harder.
Bryn also gives credit for his success to his family, friends, trainers and pilots [sighted team member] that have helped him on the road to Athens.
Jason Bryn and Glenn Bunselmeyer will be competing in Athens as a tandem cycling team on Sept.22, 25 and 28. The 16-event competition is the second largest sporting event in the world (the Olympics is the largest). For more information on the Paralympic Games, visit www.usparalympics.com.
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