Fourteen-and-a-half year old Jacob Obeso of San Leandro is stoked to be a stoker for his second Cycle for Sight ride, a signature fundraiser benefiting Enchanted Hills Camp for the Blind where he has participated as a camper for several summers. This Saturday, Jacob and his dad Robert will be pedaling 25 miles along the scenic roads of Napa as one of 40 tandems and 2500 cyclists.
Jacob’s mother Martha told us that tandem cycling was one of the very few things her son could do when he began to lose his vision. She said, “He couldn’t do a lot of sports and athletics but we got him to ride bikes. He liked it. I kept looking for things he could do and I found Cycle for Sight. The first year, my kids and I rode 15 miles. Jacob was really psyched to have so much support from the family. This year he’ll be riding 25 miles with my husband, no hesitation on Jacob’s part. Bike riding is a sense of freedom for him.”
Jacob is a freshman in high school. He has been attending Enchanted Hills Camp for a handful of summers now and, like so many blind campers before him, has benefited greatly from the transformative camp experience. Martha says, “Camp has completely changed Jacob’s attitude. He found other kids that he could relate to and now he is far more comfortable with his visual impairment. He loves EHC. The counselors are just fantastic and many are great blind role models.”
His love for camp and his need to feel free while biking are two reasons why Jacob and his family are riding this Saturday in Cycle for Sight. The Obeso family is hard at work raising money to help blind youth of all ages experience the magic of Enchanted Hills Camp. For 64 summers, Enchanted Hills has been a place where blind children and adults learn, grow and discover a new sense of self-confidence and freedom.
You can help Jacob and his family raise money for Enchanted Hills Camp by going to our
donation page and selecting Cycle for Sight as your giving designation. Be sure to put Jacob’s name in the “in honor of” field.
For more information about Cycle for Sight or Enchanted Hills Camp, contact Tony Fletcher at afletcher@lighthouse-sf.org or call 415-694-7319.
Ride on!
