The first ever tandem bicycling event in the U.A.E. was held on 16 February 2007. The cycling challenge was organised to raise money for research into retina degeneration and hereditary eye diseases.

This was the first time that riders who are visually impaired had ventured out on the roads of U.A.E. The visually impaired participants rode on tandems as the ‘stoker’ (in the rear position) with a sighted person as the ‘captain’ (at the front). The teams completed the 220 kilometres coast-to-coast ride from Dubai to Fujairah in nine hours.

Speaking at the event, Sally Prosser from Foresight - a U.A.E. based non-profit organisation said, "Statistics are lacking on this (number of blind people in the U.A.E.), but we do know that a lot of people are visually impaired." The event was supported by many organisations based in U.A.E. like the Emirates Bank Group and non-profit groups like, Foresight, Tamkeen etc.