Video: Blind Mountain Biker, Xavier Hopkins, Hits Rogate Gaps with World Cup Racer Luke Williamson by jamessmurthwaite

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tgr9 (Jul 6, 2020 at 8:12)

I struggle to ride when I lose a contact lens lol, can't really imagine riding with 10% vision

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AyJayDoubleyou FL (Jul 6, 2020 at 9:29)

He hits features at Rogate that I wont. Maybe I should try shutting my eyes as it clearly makes you better.

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learningcycles (Jul 6, 2020 at 12:25)

Hey. It either works or you can end up in Friday fails. WIN WIN!

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scotttherider FL (Jul 6, 2020 at 13:51)

@learningcycles: no it’s definitely a win loose with Friday fails.... win for us.... loose for ayjay....

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tobiusmaximum (Jul 8, 2020 at 2:51)

Here I am telling myself that being able to see all the dangers must be the problem!

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Stokedonthis (Jul 6, 2020 at 7:22)

Must be even scarier to ride dh with such bad eyesight ^^ big props for still killing it!

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gemma8788 (Jul 6, 2020 at 11:04)

I'm blown away at the commitment in the corners and how relaxed he is on the bike. Looks like a natural, consider me humbled!

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kwcpinkbike (Jul 6, 2020 at 19:36)

Props to Xavier for not letting his visual impairment stop him from riding. I do think there is a general misunderstanding on "blindness" by most people. Albinism is associated with vision loss and with an eye movement disorder (nystagmus) but overall they are relatively functional in life. Most I've seen have vision around 20/60 to 20/80 level and it sounds like Xavier is worse at best corrected 20/200 vision. But it shouldn't be mistaken that it's the same as riding with one's eye's closed which would be a whole other ballgame in regards reasonably safe riding.

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billythegerbil FL (Jul 7, 2020 at 3:49)

Amazing, but what does 10% vision mean? Genuine question. I guess it varies from case to case. Does it mean you see only 10% as far or is it to do with field of vision? Like looking through a really small window. Is that a really shit comparison? It probably is so sorry if so, just interested.

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hopkx001 (Jul 7, 2020 at 5:17)

It is a rough classification, I played blind football for a while, and I was in the category 10% sight and below, My vision on Is worse than 10% especially because the more light there is, the less I can see, bright sunlight directly in my eyes can temporarily blind me, even with tinted goggles on. Also my eyes shake uncontrollably, so anything more than a few feet away becomes very blurry. The two eye conditions together make for an interesting riding experience. I am going to make a video to try and show/ explain what i see, and how I have learned to ride with my poor vision.

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trueeast (Jul 6, 2020 at 8:18)

Very rad!

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chubby5000 (Jul 6, 2020 at 8:31)

Hahahaha you’re insane, dude! Props.

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hamncheez (Jul 6, 2020 at 8:36)

quit taking away all my excuses

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gorideabicycle (Jul 6, 2020 at 12:29)

Impressive, both in terms of skill and commitment.

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feathers54 (Jul 6, 2020 at 13:29)

Big up Toby on the snapper

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rh00p (Jul 6, 2020 at 13:59)

I once closed my eyes on a dropped to flat I thought was a roller. Didn't work for me.

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jeremiahwas (Jul 6, 2020 at 17:03)

This is truly inspiring. Thanks for sharing!