Now that I have some extra time I decided it would be a good to purge my closet of older cycle clothing….I swear that my male jerseys and Margaret’s female jerseys have wild orgies in our closet and produce ever more jerseys…we have a lot (and the piles of  t-shirts are even bigger).  Between the two of us we had about 15 jerseys that were in good enough condition to warrant a donation.  Just so happens that I received my weekly issue of RoadBikeRider digital newsletter that day where I read an article about donating used cycle clothing and bike parts to Lon Haldeman’s PAC Tour organization.

Lon and his wife Susan Notorangelo have been leading bike camps for many years.  In 1999 they traveled to Peru and found many young people interested in cycling but they were too poor to afford the correct clothing let alone bikes.  Since that time Lon and Susan have raised monetary funds and bike parts and clothing to help those less fortunate in Peru and most recently Ghana, Africa.  As they say on their website  “During our travels by bicycle we became friends with several cyclists from Peru. These friends were active in promoting races and cycling events. We got to know these cyclists better when they joined us on our tours to different regions of the country. We could see their equipment was very basic and outdated but the riders were very strong and passionate about riding bikes. We decided to try and help them get better equipment.“

Lon and Susan have been very successful in supplying these young Peruvians and Africans with the means to keep their cycling and racing passion alive giving them the self esteem everyone, even the poor, deserve.  If you or someone you know have a closet full of jerseys and shorts or a garage full of bike parts consider donating them to Lon and Susan’s cause….click HERE for more information.

Below are some photos Lon emailed from recent cycling events they sponsor in Peru….