Lions help Velo Club get blind youth into cycling

The Janesville Lions Club has recently partnered with the Janesville Velo Club, a local bicycling club, to help fix bicycles owned by the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

The cycles sat unused and unmaintained in a WCBVI storage room. Most needed a little TLC before they could be taken out onto local roads or trails. The bikes are specially equipped with a seat for visually impaired riders to use while someone pedals and steers.

The Velo Club,whose mission is to promote cycling and its benefits to all, found out that WCBVI needed financial and technical assistance in order to get the bikes back into riding shape.

Velo Club President Paul Murphy, a former member of the Janesville Lions Club, believed the two groups could work together to quickly and easily accomplish the goal, and brought the idea to the Lions Club board of directors.

“Given that a major part of the Lions International mission deals with providing assistance with and raising awareness with vision and related issues, it was a no-brainer to partner with the Velo Club to help get these special bikes fixed up before springtime,” said Lions Club President Blaine Vance.

The Lions Club board and membership agreed to provide financial assistance to pay for repairs, and the Velo Club coordinated the repairs through Michael’s Cycles of Janesville. The bikes are now ready to hit the trails as soon as the weather allows.

Thanks to the Velo Club for bringing this project to our attention and to being a good community partner to the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Bob Schlegel, manager of Michael’s Cycles (black shirt), and Velo Club President Paul Murphy fix an electric assist Duet Bicycle for the Wisconsin Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

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