PHOTOS: MACycle auctions off abandoned bikes on campus

At the end of every school year, bikes are left abandoned on campus, locked to posts and bike racks without being claimed. MACycle, the university's student-run bike co-op, hosted a bike auction today in Mills plaza to help find new owners for those bikes.

The most expensive bike was auctioned at around $110, while the cheapest bike was sold for only $1 to a woman who told others at the auction that it was her own stolen bike.

David and Jonathan Yoon, Peter Otyeka, Jackson Waite and Busayo Balogun, are MACycle representatives who helped make the auction happen. The group said it was possible another bike auction could be held in November.

"If a bike has been left for months on campus without anyone claiming it, security will cut the lock and take it away," said MACycle co-director David Yoon. To avoid having the bikes go to waste, MACycle obtained them and sold them to the highest bidders.

"I think the auction benefits students because it helps establish a stronger cycling community on campus and also promotes a positive environment towards bikes on campus," said Jonathan Yoon, who has volunteered with MACycle for more than a year.

Proceeds of the auction will go toward sustaining MACycle's bike shop (now moved to the north end of Ron Joyce Stadium), where members who pay $5 for the year can go for repairs.