Chris Mairs, left, and Alastair Heggie stand for a photo with their tandem bike in John Day on Friday, June 23. Mairs lost his sight at 18 years old and is biking across the country to raise money to restore sight to thousands.

A blind man riding his bike from coast to coast made a stop in John Day.

Chris Mairs lost his sight at 18 years old to a rare degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa.

Mairs, now 60, hopes to ride from Astoria to New Hampshire in 60 days, averaging 60 miles each day.

Before reaching John Day, he rode 116 miles in a day.

“The weather has been fantastic,” Mairs said. “I can’t see the scenery, but I’m told it’s pretty spectacular.”

He aims to raise $144,000 in donations to restore sight to roughly 3,600 people suffering from impaired vision. So far he has raised almost $100,000.

Mairs said there are roughly 39 million blind people in the world, and the most common cause for sight loss in world is cataracts. He said it is possible to entirely cure cataracts for about $40.

“If I raise $40 for each mile we ride, then we can restore sight to 3,600 people,” Mairs said.

He is working with See International, which works in countries including Namibia, Ghana and Cambodia to restore sight.

On the front end of the tandem is Alastair Heggie. Mairs rode with Heggie’s flatmate previously, and the two agreed to split the ride with Mairs.

Heggie is riding the first 30 days to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The two had only ridden roughly 70 miles together before setting out on this journey.

The two are learning to work in tandem and said the down hill and flat riding are easier than on a normal bike, while the hills much more difficult.

“We’ve got the air resistance of a single person but the engines of two,” Heggie said.

Both are looking forward to the rest of the journey but are a little worried about some of the steeper climbs like those near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as well as high temperatures and humidity later in the ride.

Mairs said he is looking forward most to “dipping our wheel in the Atlantic.”

Those interested in following Mairs’ journey or donating can visit alineofsight.org.uk.