Zoe Binschus’ legs pumped furiously as she raced her custom tricycle through the parking lot of Chandler Tripp School in San Jose on a recent autumn afternoon.

In that moment, the wind rushing past her smiling face, the 5-year-old Morgan Hill girl was unencumbered by the mild cerebral palsy she was diagnosed with as a baby.

Asked just how fast she can ride “Cherry,” her red “trike,” Zoe exclaimed: “Really fast!”

The tricycle and the joy it brings were made possible by the Bay Area Trykers. The San Jose-based nonprofit organization, through Wish Book, is hoping to raise $10,000 to help other kids like Zoe. That sum would fund the purchase of 10 more custom cycles.

“We know there are a lot more out there who would benefit from it and who would really enjoy it,” said Bay Area Trykers President Renee Cortise. “We’d love to put a smile on their faces.”

In 2016, Cortise, then a full-time physical therapist with California Children’s Services, helped found the Bay Area Trykers chapter of parent organization National AMBUCS Inc. There were no chapters in Northern California then, but the number now stands at three.

To date, the nonprofit organization has provided 74 tricycles to children in the Bay Area.

“We started with a small group of therapists who were interested in being involved with something outside work that would help kids with their leisure and mobility,” Cortise said. “As therapists, we’re kind of selfish in that we know it’s going to help what we’re working on with the children.”

Renee Cortise, president of the nonprofit Bay Area Trykers, oversees their fundraising Tryke-a-Thon in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. Bay Area Trykers, a local chapter of AMBUCS, Internationa, is dedicated to providing adaptive bikes for kids with special needs. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 

Cortise said the tricycles help kids like Zoe improve their motor skills in a way that’s “fun.”

“The work they’re doing while they think they’re having fun we’re able to utilize in therapy to help build their skills for other things like sitting, standing, walking and crawling,” she said.

Zoe’s father, Michael Binschus, has seen the benefits.

“I think she’s made good strides with the bike, especially physically because she has weak lower extremities,” said Binschus, 39. “It creates exercise she wants to do rather than having to work when she goes to therapy.”

The trikes are expensive, starting at $600 and topping out around $1,200. The price is dependent on the size of the cycle and the amount of customization the child needs, Cortise said.

Families are invited to pay a portion of the cost, but it’s not mandatory, Cortise said.

Some trikes are handed down as their owners outgrow them. That’s what Gurteg Singh, 11, of San Jose, did with his cycle, “Mike the Bike,” which now belongs to Zoe.

“I decided to donate it to people who need it,” said Gurteg, whose family helped cover the initial cost of the trike. Like Zoe, Gurteg has cerebral palsy and is unable to ride a traditional bicycle.

Gurteg Singh, 10, with his father, Manpreet, and sister Sidak, participates in the Bay Area Trykers’ fundraising Tryke-a-Thon in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 

On Oct. 17, Gurteg got to reunite with his old cycle and meet its new owner at a “trike-a-thon” — the Bay Area Trykers’ first in-person fundraiser since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“Thank you,” Zoe told Gurteg.

“She loves the bike,” added Zoe’s mother, Stephani Binschus, 35. “It’s in good hands.”

Gurteg has a new tricycle, which he’s named “Mike 2.0.”

“The bike is great,” he said. “This helps me do another thing other kids can do. It makes me feel like I’m normal.”

Gurteg’s father, Manpreet Singh, said the tricycles have boosted his son’s confidence.

“It’s one of those things where everybody else is riding bikes in the neighborhood and they’re going fast and he can’t keep up,” said Singh, 46. “Now he feels included.”

At the trike-a-thon, Zoe and Gurteg rode laps around the Chandler Tripp School parking lot along with other children. The annual event brings in funds to purchase tricycles and helps get the word out about the nonprofit organization, two things that didn’t happen last year when it was canceled because of the pandemic, Cortise said.

The pandemic has impacted the Bay Area Trykers in other ways. Cortise said it’s taking longer to build and ship the custom cycles. But an order of 11 tricycles, the first in two years, is on its way.

Adriano Araujo, 5, of Mountain View, and Mateo Miranda, 7, of San Jose, are on the list to receive trikes when they finally arrive.

For the past year, Adriano has borrowed a tricycle.

“He feels free when he’s on the bike,” said his mother, Fiorella Burlando, “like he can go anywhere.”

Diagnosed at 1½ years old with spinocerebellar ataxia type 5, Adriano can only use a walker for 10 to 15 minutes at a time, said Burlando, 41. But he can ride the tricycle for up to half an hour.

Adriano Arajuo, 5, prepares to ride in the Bay Area Trykers fundraising Tryke-a-Thon with the help of his father Renato Araujo and Renee Cortise, president of the non-profit, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021, in San Jose, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 

“He is running but in a different way,” said his father, Renato Araujo, 37.

Mateo, meanwhile, has had limited opportunities to ride a trike. But his mother, Ingrid Miranda, said it’s clear he wants one of his own.

“I see him looking at the kids all the time who are riding around on the bikes,” said Miranda, 43.

Mateo, like Zoe and Gurteg, has cerebral palsy, but his case is more severe. He is nonverbal and sometimes struggles to interact with other children his age, Miranda said.

“I just feel that for him it will make him feel a little more normal maybe, like he’s doing something the other kids are doing,” she said. “I also think that it’s good for other kids to see that even though he’s in a wheelchair he can do something that they can do.”

Mateo Miranda, 7, rides in the Bay Area Trykers fundraising Tryke-a-Thon with the help of his mother, Ingrid Miranda, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021, in San Jose, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 

THE WISH BOOK SERIES
The Wish Book is an annual series of The Mercury News that invites readers to help their neighbors.

WISH
Bay Area Trykers is seeking to raise money to buy tricycles — as well as specialized parts for the bikes — for children with disabilities or special needs to help them with their motor skills. Currently, there are at least 8 children on their waiting list. Goal: $10,000.

HOW TO GIVE
Donate at wishbook.mercurynews.com or mail in the coupon.

ONLINE EXTRA
Read other Wish Book stories, view photos and video at wishbook.mercurynews.com.