Greetings everyone,

On August 1st through August 3rd, Lynn and Lilian will be participating in the 3rd annual Cycling For Sight Bicycle Ride from Santa Barbara to San Diego which is supported and sponsored by the Braille Institute in San Diego. We will cruise down the coast and enjoy the beautiful scenic views covering 220 miles in three days.
The ride will have a team of 11 tandems and 20 single riders. Lynn will be the Captain of one of the tandem teams and joining me is my blind Stoker, Daniel Merino.

Daniel Merino was born in Mexico City. He has been a part-time student at San Diego City College and is 21 years old. Daniel enjoys listening to music and playing his guitar. He also likes to watch sports, especially the Padres and Chargers. He wants to go to school to be a rehab counselor because he likes to help people who are in need. Daniel is currently enrolled as a student with Braille Institute?s Youth and Career Services program.

At the age of 3, Daniel battled with cancer and became completely blind at such a young age. Daniel is not an active cyclist, but an enthusiast and optimist in accepting the daunting challenge of riding 220 rides in order to raise money for the Braille Institute in San Diego. He is also hoping that by taking this challenge, he would be able to include it in his resume to support him land his first job!
The money raised by the Braille Institute will be utilized to help with work and recreational activities to all the blind residents of the Braille Institute. The Braille Institute?s mission is to help the blind and visually-impaired an opportunity to bicycle down the coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego and raise awareness and funds to support Braille Institute in its mission to eliminate blindness and severe sight loss as a barrier to a fulfilling life.

Lynn and Lilian have also accepted this challenge and we are very excited for Daniel. We began training with Daniel back in February of 2008, and so far we have done 300 miles with much more to go before August.
This experience for us has been sort of bitter sweet. While we are looking forward to participate in such a rewarding experience, we also learned that we take much more than we should for granted, our own sight and the most simple gift of all; the ability to see and care for ourselves.

We are hopeful that we will be able to make a difference in these children?s lives by giving them an opportunity to do something fun and to ride 220 miles down the California Coast. Please help us make a difference also. Any donation amount is appreciated and it is 100% tax deductible.

We will personally update you all on how the ride went, the total amount of money raised for this great event, and we will even share the pictures with you.



To donate please visit www.cyclyingforsight.com and choose Lynn Wilkirson or Lilian Wilkirson as the rider to sponsor.

Thank you!

Lynn and Lilian Wilkirson
NCCC memebers

Our Blind Stokers Club is fortunate to have giving souls like Lynn & Lilian. We endorse and applaud their efforts. Lilian is hoping to do her first multi-day tour on single, after completing her first century recently. Normally, we do not encourage stokers to flutter away on single bikes, but in this instance its a good thing, to lend her seat to Daniel.  Dave White

the address for the website is www.cyclingforsight.org