Coastal Racing - Coastal Racing Club

The Virginian-Pilot
© August 18, 2008

The little purple Malibu Island Breeze lying in the pile of cycles on the ground has seen better days.

Its once-white seat is stuck at the top of its post and has turned the color of rust from ground-in dirt. Its chain is covered with actual rust.

But this seemingly worn-out child 's bike is about to go on an adventure.

It was donated to Bikes for the World during a charity event Sunday at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. Instead of going to a landfill, the bike will be loaded up on a truck, driven to Northern Virginia and shipped to a developing country such as Namibia, Sri Lanka or Costa Rica.

There, it will be cleaned up by workers and get new cables, gears and a replacement chain.

It will then be donated or sold at a low price to someone who can put it to good use.

The bikes "can help people get to schools, help them with work - things they wouldn't be able to do without the transportation," said Maria Poranski, an organizer with the Coastal Racing club, the local organization working with Arlington-based Bikes for the World.

"A lot of what we would just toss away can be useful to someone else," Poranski said.

Beach cruisers, mountain bikes, children's bikes with baskets and tassles on the handlebars, and even some sleek-looking road bikes were among the 156 used cycles that came from garages across Hampton Roads to be collected by the charity on Sunday.

Bikes for the World also accepted bike parts, accessories and tools.

Once in their new homes, the cycles live impressive lives, said Craig Annear of Bikes for the World.

While visiting his son who was doing a stint in the Peace Corps in Africa, Annear said, he saw whole families using one bike to get to church, with children riding on handlebars and standing on pegs. Adults would ride children's bikes to get around.

Sometimes, instead of riding the bikes, men would pile boxes of produce on them, and use them to wheel their products to market, he said.

"It's affordable, green transportation," Annear said - even if it takes some rust removal first.

Alicia Wittmeyer, (757) 222-5216, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

PHOTO: Miriam Coronel, of Hampton, helped members of the Coastal Racing Club collect donated bikes on Sunday morning in Virginia Beach. (Stephen M. Katz | The Virginian-Pilot)