Most Tuesdays for Bob Hartt involve a 20-mile bike ride from Alexandria, Virginia, to Hains Point and back.

Hartt is 76 and totally blind.

“I lost it gradually since I was really much younger,” Hartt said. “I had to deal with a gradual loss of vision.”

He rides with Tuesday Night Tandems, a group that pairs blind cyclists with sighted captains. Hartt said rehabilitation training helped him reimagine what’s still possible.

“I learned that blindness is not the end of anything,” Hartt said. “It’s just a way to be creative and learn different ways of doing things.”

Hains Point, at the southern end of East Potomac Park, has become a favorite stop for the group.

Steve Omelsky, of Oakton, is one of the volunteer captains who rides on the front of the tandem.

“I love cycling, so I joined the group right away,” Omelsky said. “I feel like it’s a great way to help out with people that otherwise would never have a chance to cycle.”

Even when their route doesn’t include Hains Point, Omelsky said they often make a detour for a lap.

“We always bring a tandem group through here,” Omelsky said. “You know, it’s the best place to cycle in the whole city.”

For Hartt, riding offers something he can no longer experience on a bicycle by himself.

“For a blind person who doesn’t get the opportunity to ride a single bicycle, just feeling the air and the movement of the bike as you’re swaying,” Hartt said. “It’s just an incredible, incredible experience.”

Rudi Riet, president of Potomac Pedalers and a volunteer with the Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes, said Hains Point provides an ideal setting for people learning to ride tandem bicycles.

“It is one of the most level playing fields you can get, quite literally,” Riet said. “It’s quiet. It’s peaceful because it’s a park.”

He said another advantage is what riders don’t encounter there.

“It is not a raceway,” Riet said. “It is literally a road to nowhere.”

Blind riders fear changes at Hains Point, Riet, Hartt and other cyclists recently joined hundreds of people at Hains Point Hoopla 2.0, a rally organized by the Washington Area Bicyclists Association and Save East Po, a new advocacy group, over concerns about the future of the park.

Plans by President Donald Trump’s administration to transform the East Potomac Golf Links into an 18-hole championship-level course capable of hosting major tournaments, including the U.S. Open and Ryder Cup, have raised questions about what the changes could mean for other recreational uses.

Riet said there are no real substitutes for Hains Point that offer the same combination of accessibility, location and light traffic.

For Hartt, the concern is about keeping the space available to everyone who uses it.

“We love the public space. We love the camaraderie,” Hartt said. “And we want to make sure it’s preserved for not only cyclists, but pedestrians and everybody else that uses it.”

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