Blind Rider Races Against Diabetes : Despite Disability and Disease, Bicyclist Will Participate in Benefit

Pat Murphy has not let his diabetes-induced blindness deter him from skiing, weight lifting or bike riding, and he hopes to race competitively.

Riding the back seat of a tandem bicycle on a 50-mile ride last year in Baja California, his partner suddenly swerved to avoid a bike crash on the pot-holed road between Ensenada and Rosarito.

“We were sliding sideways for a second,” he said. “My heart almost stopped. I only heard the person (in front of them) falling. I didn’t know what was happening. . . . I was hanging on to the handlebars real tight.”

Managed to Finish

The Fullerton Community College business student, 24, managed to remain upright and finished the journey. Murphy will be riding again Sunday in the 13th annual McDonald’s Bike Ride Against Diabetes, which will cover 108 Southern California routes between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

His partner will be FCC business teacher Mel Collings, 54, who said he is riding because he owes the last 35 years of his life to diabetes research, specifically the discovery of insulin. They rode 31 miles in the Ride Against Diabetes last year before spokes collapsed on their rear wheel.

This year they have sponsors who have pledges of more than $1,000 to support their participation and they hope to ride farther than last year. The Ride Against Diabetes has raised $5.5 million for diabetes research and education, the American Diabetes Assn. says.

In the bedroom of his Fullerton apartment, where he keeps his tandem bicycle and his weight-lifting bench, Murphy said he often rides 100 miles a week with friends because it gives him “a sense of being free.”

“It’s like on a motorcycle,” he said, his guide dog, Redford, at his feet, “you hear the wind, yet there’s no noise of a motor.

The Joy of Riding

“And it’s experiencing the environment. I hear the various noises whether we’re on a street or on the bike trail. (You feel) the road itself. The vibrations when we hit some rough spots. The changes in the wind. The smells.

“And it gives me a chance to get rid of tension through the physical activity. It kind of helps me relax.”

John Jordan, 24, a neighbor who rides with Murphy, said he characterizes the terrain for his friend.

“Say we’re coming to a sharp turn,” he said. “I have to call and say we’re coming to a 90-degree left. Lean into it. . . . Or if we’re riding along the ocean or through some hills, I describe it to him. He really likes to know what areas we’re going through.”

Murphy uses the information well. “He’s really a good rider,” said Rich Liddell, 25, of Fullerton, another friend who accompanied Murphy on the Rosarito-Ensenada trip.

“He’s got a lot of extra balance that a sighted person doesn’t. He seems to flow with the bike. I’ve taken (other) friends riding and it seems the bike is a lot more wobbly. With Pat, he’ll lean into the curves so it’s smooth and fast.”

Murphy conditions himself for riding by lifting weights three times a week, and he also skis. At a Big Bear resort last winter, Liddell said, Murphy navigated intermediate and advanced hills.

In addition to exercise, Murphy likes music and television. When a reporter arrived at his house recently, he found Murphy lying on the couch with the color television on.

“I still enjoy listening to it, or watching it rather, because everything I hear I visualize,” he said. “It might not be correctly, but I still see a picture in my mind that goes along with the sound and dialogue.

“It kind of makes it more exciting. I just imagine what’s going along without being able to see.

“It’s kind of frustrating at times because something exciting is going on and I can’t figure out what’s happening. Or they’re laughing and I can’t figure out what they did. . . . But that does not deter me.”

One of the Millions

Murphy is one of 11 million Americans afflicted with diabetes, the American Diabetes Assn. said. He contracted the disease when he was 1 year old and went blind from it five years ago. He sees no lights or silhouettes.

Dr. Neil Goldberg, a Culver City endocrinologist, said that according to a 1984 study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, one of every eight new cases of blindness in the United States was caused by diabetes.

Murphy said he decides each morning how he feels and how active he will be that day and guesses how much insulin he will need. Twice a day, he draws the syringe and administers insulin shots himself.

A new talking machine, designed for use in the home, could measure his blood sugar level and tell him how much insulin he needs, but Murphy cannot afford one.

Paying a Debt

Collings, who rode with Murphy last year in the diabetes ride, said he is participating because he owes a debt to diabetes research.

“If it wasn’t for someone discovering insulin,” he said as a small refrigerator in his campus office chilled sugar-rich orange juice for him, “I would have been dead 35 years ago.”

Murphy hopes to live as full a life as Collings, who has five children. When he completes his college education, he is considering studying for a master’s degree in industrial psychology, “but I’ll have to see if I’d be employable,” he said.

Some day Murphy would also like to get a sponsor and enter tandem bicycle racing.

“It’s a dream,” he said standing near his bicycle and bending over to pat his guide dog. “Without dreams, there’s nothing to live for.”