Bicycles Blum in Agoura Hills

MAN ON A MISSION-Mark Blum, who is wheelchair-bound, donates bicycles to the needy through his organization, Mission with Bikes. Though he has just given away his 3,000th bicycle, Blum said he's always looking for bikes to fix and give away. Contact Blum at (818) 991-5805. Just because Agoura Hills resident Mark Blum can't ride a bike doesn't mean he's going to let someone else miss the experience.

Blum has multiple sclerosis, uses a wheelchair and is legally blind, but he still finds a way to repair and donate bikes to the needy. Last week Blum reached a milestone--he helped repair and donate his 3,000th bike.

Blum's organization, Mission with Bikes, has donated bicycles to people on three continents and in countries as far away as Russia and Kenya. He has repaired and donated 600 bikes in the last year.

"I can't see the looks on people's faces when they receive the bike, but I still feel their joy," Blum said. "I had a little girl come up to me at the T.O. Library a couple years ago when I was donating bikes and she personally thanked me. I had not given her the bike personally, a charity had, but she recognized my face from a picture and knew I had something to do with it. So that felt great."

The garage at Blum's house on Lake Lindero Drive is filled with bike parts, awards and plaques. On the wall is a congressional award. A sign, updated daily, shows the number of bikes Blum has repaired and donated.

"I've had many people drive down this street, see the garage, and then stop by and ask what I do," Blum said. "I actually had a 93year-old man ask me to donate him a bike. I said I would do it if I could watch him actually ride it. Then he did! I also got my neighbor to ride a bike for the first time in 50 years."

Blum's backyard holds a couple hundred bikes, lined up against the wall. Blum's 18-year-old son, Dave, is one of a group of about 10 people who help with bike repairs.

"When you are around this all the time, you can really get desensitized by all of these bikes," Dave Blum said. "But when you stand back sometimes and look at all the different types of bikes we repair and how many there are, you really do it in awe. I mean we have bikes in here to fix that are as old as 1890."

Blum's story was so awe-inspiring that the Kiwanis Club recently made him an honorary member. A documentary called "Pedaling a Dream" was made about Blum's life.

"I read about what he did and saw the bikes in his backyard and thought it would be a great visual," the film's producer, Gordon Durich, said. "And his story is just so captivating."

Blum says that the repair and donation of his 4,000th bike is not out of reach, and he thanks all the people who have given him bikes to fix.

"We always need bikes," he said. "The 3,000 milestone is just as much a tribute to the people who brought in the bikes as it was with us fixing them. We especially need tricycles as we don't get as many of those."

Blum said Mission with Bikes will repair a bicycle no matter what. The only thing he does not do is paint.

"We have received bikes that have been stripped to a bare frame and still been able to repair them," Blum said.

To have a bike repaired and donated by Blum, call (818) 9915805.