Fox 4: DeafBlind cyclist from Kansas completes Lifetime UNBOUND Gravel 50 mile race
A Fort Leavenworth cyclist is breaking down barriers with every push of the pedal. Last weekend Jenee Alleman proved being deaf and legally blind was no obstacle.
By Dave D’Marko, Fox 4
June 7, 2024
Original article on Fox 4’s website
Brea Love, Newscaster: A Fort Leavenworth cyclist is breaking down barriers with every push of the pedal.
Kevin Barry, Newscaster: Last weekend, she proved that being deaf and legally blind was no obstacle. Fox 4’s Dave D’Marko joins us now with her inspirational story. Dave?
Dave D’Marko, Newscaster: Admittedly, I don’t have much experience riding a tandem bicycle, but I know you need to work together and communication is key. All the more difficult in Jenee Alleman’s case.
50 miles up and down hills on gravel and mud with potential new challenge around every turn. It describes the race Jenee Alleman just completed and life’s journey she’s still on. Born with Usher Syndrome, she’s never heard a sound in her life. But it also means she’s slowly been losing her vision and is now legally blind.
Jenee Alleman: So I would kind of go through stages of grief, you know, stages of loss. I knew what I had seen and experienced before. I was missing out on that.
Dave: She says it’s had an impact on how she does things. But not necessarily what she can do thanks to assistive technology.
Jenee: It’s a serious life change. It’s a major life change. So it, it does, it impacts everything I do in my daily, um, life. You know, reading medication bottles, you know, if something is spicy, uh, reading a book to my daughter.
Dave: Alleman grew up riding bikes, but by the time she reached college, vision and balance issues made it unsafe. Then about four years ago, her husband surprised her with a tandem bicycle for Mother’s Day.
Jenee: I just kind of got a high off of racing and, um, just really enjoyed it. And I understand now why people compete in this sport.
Dave: Her white cane she uses to get around walking signals to others about her impairment. But on the bike…
Jenee: Someone would just look at me. They probably would not realize that I have a disability.
Dave: Unlike other tandem racers, Alleman can’t speak to her partner and is, of course, not safe for him to turn around to see sign language.
Jenee: So we have a system called touch signals. So, for example, if we want to go fast, I will rub up his back.
Dave: And go fast, they did, in last weekend’s Life Time UNBOUND Gravel 50 mile race earning a second place finish. The Fort Leavenworth woman credits her husband up front, and training partner behind.
Jenee: We noticed other bikers or other competitors were struggling, which we didn’t have that much of a struggle, but pulling the trailer with my daughter in it really helped with the training aspect.
Dave: And they finished that race in four hours and 26 minutes, less than six minutes behind the first place finishers, the time 50 miles through the Flint Hills. I’ll tell you guys, really just blown away by the performance even before you consider the tremendous challenges she’s been able to overcome.
Brea: Yeah. Oh my goodness, Dave, just hearing the way that they could communicate and then knowing they were pulling their daughter on the back. I mean, anything is possible.
Kevin: And cycling that amount of distance is challenging no matter who you are, so how great that they’re able to do that together. Thank you, Dave. Dave D’Marko, live in studio tonight. [End of Transcript]
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — A Fort Leavenworth cyclist is breaking down barriers with every push of the pedal. Last weekend Jenee Alleman proved being deaf and legally blind was no obstacle.
Fifty miles up and down hills on gravel and mud with a potential new challenge around every turn. It describes the race Alleman just completed and life’s journey she’s still on.
Born with Usher’s Syndrome she’s never heard a sound in her life. But it also means she’s slowly been losing her vision and now is legally blind.
“So I would kind of go through stages of grief, stages of loss. I knew what I’d seen and experienced before I was missing out on that,” Alleman said.
She says her vision loss had an impact on how she does things, but not necessarily what she can do thanks to assistive technology.
“It’s a serious life change, so it does it impact everything I do in my daily life, reading medication bottles, if something is spicy, reading a book to my daughter.”
Alleman grew up riding a bike. But by the time she reached college vision and balance issues made it seem unsafe. Then about four years ago her husband surprised her with a tandem bicycle for Mother’s Day.
“I just kind of get a high off of racing and just really enjoyed it and I understand now why people compete in this sport,” she said.
Her white cane she uses to get around walking signals to others about her impairment, but on the bike, there’s no obvious sign she’s deaf and blind.
“If someone would just look at me, they probably would not realize that I have a disability,” she said of competitors.
Unlike other tandem racers, Alleman can’t speak to her husband. It’s of course not safe for him to turn around to see her communicate via American Sign Language.
“So we have a system called touch signal. So for example if we want to go fast I will rub up his back,” Alleman demonstrated.
Go fast they did in last weekend’s Lifetime UNBOUND Gravel 50 mile race, earning a second place finish in the tandem division with a time of 4:25:14, six minutes behind the first place finisher. Overall they ranked 455th out of 850 competitors. The Fort Leavenworth woman credits her husband up front and training partner behind.
“We noticed other bikers or other competitors were struggling. But we really didn’t have a struggle. Pulling my daughter with the trailer really helped with the training aspect,” Alleman said.
