This great shape CCM roadster was donated to the Bicycles for Humanity cause, in Thunder Bay.  Being of very poor design for use in third world riding condition, bicycles such as this old CCM are not amongst those sent to Africa.

In fact, these old roadsters, lighter weight roadsters and Ten Speeds are not sent over seas.  Since none of those bicycles are practical for use there, they are used for other purposes, often times helping to fund the shipping of bicycles across the pond.

The day I picked this old bicycle up, the sun was shining, but there was a bit of crispness to the Spring air.  I pulled up in front of a modest house on Tupper Street.  The knock on the door, was rewarded by an elderly lady.  She recognized my truck, with the Bicycles for Humanity sign on it, and invited me into the back yard where she had the CCM waiting for me.

When I saw the bicycle I was impressed with the great shape and original condition presented before me.  The bicycle had obviously been used, and used lots, but it had not been abused.

Though the signs of great use were present, the paint, art and chrome were in wonderful condition.  When I learned of how the bicycle was used, and for how many years, I was astonished at the state of preservation.

According to the lady, the CCM had belonged to her husband.  He used to ride it to work, she said.  And he rode it to work, almost every day, through all four seasons, for close to forty years.  Unbelievable!  As she was sharing the story, she became a bit weepy.  I can certainly understand why.

The bike was is such good shape, I hated not keeping it for myself, claiming it through the B4H Earn A Bike Program.  But I restrained myself.  My interest is in old racing bicycles, and I have enough trouble keeping a lid on that stable, without adding another gender to the mix.  So, like so many other really old, and neat, bicycles, the CCM got lost in the row upon row of bicycles stored away in our storage facility.  That is until we lost the use of the facility...

In the space of a month, our little group of volunteers had to stage and prepare over a thousand bicycles for three separate shipments - one to Namibia, one to Sierra Leone and a third to Toronto.  Why Toronto, you would ask?

Bicycles for Humanity had to move and, to do so, we looked at every possibility to reduce our inventory.  Thus an extra shipment to Africa to reduce, actually eliminate, the mountain bike inventory and a third shipment of old roadsters, Ten Speeds, and antiques, all sold for fifteen dollars each, in bulk, to a buyer in Eastern Canada.

The Fifties CCM Roadster was one of those bicycles.