Blind Bike Race and Trike Raffle set for Feb. 23, 2011 for Lighthouse, Breward, FL

Thanks to Steve at the Trike shoppe, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for alerting me to this event.

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A husband and wife team from Broward County are making history with their efforts to promote cycling among people who are blind or visually impaired. Cynthia Paddock, who suffers from a brain injury, and Steve Doroghazi, who has been blind since age 15, are helping to launch the Lighthouse of Broward Tandem Bike Riding program, which will officially kick-off on Wednesday, February 23 at 2:30 p.m. at the Trike Shoppe.

www.trikeshoppe.com
2762A East Oakland Park Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale.

The event is free and open to the public.

Festivities will include a mini race with people who are blind or visually impaired riding tandem with sighted cyclists. The race winner will draw a raffle ticket for a $1,000 trike donated by Trident Trikes of Charlotte, N.C. Sun Bicycling of Miami also is donating a $600 tandem bike to the Lighthouse for its new program. Proceeds from the raffle sales raised enough funds for three additional tandem bikes for the Lighthouse.

"Our goal is to encourage more people with visual impairment to get out on bikes," said Steve.

The couple’s interest in tandem recumbent tricycles began in 2004 when Steve, an attorney, wanted to get in better physical shape. With Cynthia’s brain injury she is unable to balance on a traditional two-wheeled bicycle. A recumbent three-wheeled tricycle was the perfect solution for them. They were frustrated, however, by the expense, slow ride and bulky design of the models available at the time.

Five years later, they discovered a manufacturer in Australia who seemed to have the perfect bike for them. That search lead to their becoming official dealers and eventually opening up their own store, where recumbent trikes, adult trikes, and traditional bicycles and accessories are on sale. They donate one percent of all sales to local charities supporting people with disabilities, including the Lighthouse of Broward.

"We opened the Trike Shoppe to promote awareness of this very fun and unique type of transportation," said Cynthia, who runs the daily operations of the store."”We offer people of all ages and physical abilities the chance to experience trike fun on their own in a no-pressure environment."

In March, the Doroghazis will be traveling to our nation’s capital as one of 25 representatives of the National Bicycle Dealers Association to assist the League of American Bicyclists. Their goal is to meet with members of Congress in an effort to increase the awareness of cycling among people with disabilities.

"We are fortunate to have such generous and dedicated individuals as Cynthia and Steve in our community," said Dr. Elly du Pre‘, executive director of the Lighthouse. "Thanks to them we are now able to offer a tandem bike program to the clients we serve."

For more information on the "Blind Bike Race" please call Steve at (954) 495-9958.

Lighthouse of Broward

The Lighthouse of Broward is a 501 ( c ) 3 charity that serves blind and visually impaired babies, adults and seniors. All services are tailored to meet individual needs, based on assessments conducted by certified professionals. These professionals identify the exact skills needed for the Lighthouse client to achieve maximum independence.

Accredited by the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving People with Blindness or Visual Impairment (NAC), Lighthouse of Broward is a United Way partner agency and member of the Florida Association of Agencies Serving the Blind and is sponsored by State of Florida, Department of Education/Division of Blind Services. Operating funds are raised through grants and donations from individual and corporate supporters.

If you know someone who is blind or visually impaired or would like to make a donation, please contact the Lighthouse at 650 N. Andrews Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33311 or 954-463-4217. Visit the Lighthouse website at
www.LHOB.org, where you can donate online.

Original location for this item was
Trike Shoppe Raffle

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