Cycling Without Age allows senior to see people, geese, swans and boats with trishaw experience

Cycling Without Age (CWA) gives seniors and people with restricted mobility a chance to experience the wind in their hair as the Burlington and Hamilton chapter welcomes new volunteers.

The not-for-profit organization was founded in 2012 in Copenhagen and has expanded to over three thousand chapter locations worldwide, including 44 active chapters across Canada.

Volunteers with the organization can meet with seniors to take them for rides on a trishaw, a three-wheeled bike with seats in the front for passengers, through local parks or along the Lakeshore.

“It’s a chance to make social relationships,” Lorraine Chapman, a volunteer with CWA, said. “It helps reduce the isolation of seniors, whether they live on their own or in care facilities, and to give them the opportunity to get out in nature and enjoy a ride.”

CWA’s Burlington and Hamilton chapter has been growing over the past few years, adding more than 20 volunteers since 2022, and providing their services to more people across multiple communities, helping 1043 passengers enjoy the outdoors over the course of 655 rides in 2023.

The program is partnered with New Hope Community Bikes in Hamilton, a nonprofit organization that owns the trishaws used by CWA and helps in applying for grants and managing bookkeeping.

Earlier this month, CWA received $10,000 from the Burlington Community Foundation to help the group provide more rides in Burlington. 

Many of the volunteers are seniors themselves, with the average age of the pilots coming to 65.

“These are people who are giving back to the community,” Chapman said. “They love cycling and getting exercise, and (the volunteers) have an opportunity to meet new people and have fun conversations too. It adds some variety and excitement to their lives.”

The program can have a large impact on the people who experience it, especially those without family in the area.

“There was a woman who lived her whole life in Hamilton, but she’d never been to Bayfront,” Chapman remembered. “She took a ride down to Princess Point, and to her it was so exciting. She could see people, geese, swans and boats, she could meet people walking their dogs and talk to people, it added a tremendous amount of joy to her life.”

CWA is looking to expand their transportation options in 2024 to bring multiple trishaws to one location, as well as developing a regular maintenance program for the vehicles and improving their fundraising initiatives.