Cycling Without Age: Wind in their hair

The Hamilton and Burlington chapter of Denmark-born non-profit provides free rides on trishaws for those who can’t pedal for themselves. 

Copenhagen businessman Ole Kassow frequently saw an elderly man sitting on a bench while Kassow was out for a bike ride. One day, in 2012, he offered him a ride. 

That led to him finding a trishaw bike (a three-wheeled rickshaw) and taking out residents of a nursing home in his neighbourhood. Kassow’s father used a wheelchair, so he empathized with the stigma and isolation that comes with a lack of mobility.

So began Cycling Without Age (CWA), with a mission to allow everyone – regardless of age, ability or fitness – to experience the freedom of exploring their surroundings from a bike. 

The program is now in 3,500 locations in 41 countries around the world and about 43,000 trained volunteers, called pilots, have provided more than 5 million rides.

In 2018, the Hamilton-Burlington chapter launched and the first ride happened in 2020 with a pilot site at the Welcome Inn Community Centre in north Hamilton. It’s now one of 46 CWA affiliates in Canada.

The local chapter provides rides from a number of locations in Hamilton and Burlington and beginning this year, in Dundas, on one of four electric pedal-assisted trishaws, including one that allows a wheelchair to be rolled on. 

In 2024, more than 70 local volunteers provided 879 rides for more than 1,500 passengers. The treks typically last an hour, though often when rides are booked for groups at care homes, they run for 20 minutes to allow for more participants. 

Sharon Gibbons, a CWA pilot and coordinator of the Welcome Inn site, says the initiative gets people out into the fresh air (its motto is “The right to wind in your hair ), provides some social connection for people who might be isolated, and introduces people to natural areas in their community they might not have seen before. 

“We’ve logged thousands of kilometres on those paths at the waterfront, and some of the people have never been down there at all, because they just don't have the mobility, right? I think one of my first rides was a lady who had never been down there, and she only lived three blocks away, and she was just astounded.”

In addition to Welcome Inn, Hamilton rides begin from Williams Fresh Café at Pier 8, Shalom Village and St. Peter’s Residence at Chedoke. Local social service organizations, including Mission Services and Good Shepherd, bring their clients to the waterfront for rides. 

A bike buddy always rides another bicycle alongside, helping to navigate busy streets and trails. 

“You never ride alone. So if there's an issue with traffic, if there's an issue with the bike, if there's an issue of any kind, you aren’t out there alone with a vulnerable person,” says Gibbons, who has been a pilot since the program launched.

Retired elementary school teacher Geoffrey Honey “loves all things bicycle” and found a TED Talk by Kassow and was immediately intrigued. Then he answered a call for CWA volunteers in a newspaper story in 2021. He’s now a pilot, a bike buddy, a fill-in trishaw mechanic and a volunteer trainer. 

Honey says he loves to spend time with his passengers exploring nature, reading plaques, checking out public art. Passengers share stories of Hamilton’s history, too.

“For some of them, it's bringing back their memories and connection with Hamilton again.”

Honey took out George and Betty last year. George is 90 and Betty's 88 and they've been married 69 years. They reminisced about camping trips, their RV and their cottage. They loved see turtles on the Waterfront Trail. 

“They were just thrilled to have that connection to nature again.”

Honey says the program is also empowering for volunteers, many of whom are seniors. 

“Some of them are really tentative. And then, as they gain their skills, especially as we take them, we take them down to the Leander (Boat Club) and actually help them negotiate traffic with a loaded trishaw, that gets them confident. They're amazed. They come alive and say, ‘Oh, I can do this.’ And so it becomes enabling for them as well.”

The local CWA chapter spreads the word through its website, social media accounts, posters and by connecting directly with community organizations, attending local events and handing out small information cards during rides, says Gibbons. 

“People are always stopping us and saying, ‘That’s really cool. How do I book a ride?’”

But awareness and funding remain challenges, says Gibbons. The trishaws are supplied to the program through an affiliated organization founded by Kassow called Copenhagen Cycles, which co-designs, brands and sells trishaws that run about $20,000 CAD, including shipping. 

There is no cost associated with being an affiliate of Cycling Without Age, and partners, affiliates and members are not required to buy their trishaws from Copenhagen Cycles but sales of the trishaws help to fund the CWA initiative.  

Gibbons knows first-hand how important the bike experience is for those who can’t ride on their own. She took her father out for rides last summer. He loved it but can no longer go out after being diagnosed with a serious cancer last fall. 

People are always happy on the bike, says Gibbons. 

“It’s so gratifying. The people are having fun, but we're having just as much fun. Anything involving a bike is fun.” 

The local chapter is looking for more pilots, especially in Burlington. Pilots must be confident cyclists, carry a personal cell phone, obtain a vulnerable persons criminal record check, and sign a confidentiality agreement, a code of conduct and a waiver through New Hope Community Bikes, the charitable organization that hosts CWA.

New Hope provides training to pilots, along with maintenance services for trishaws. 

Volunteer training will begin in April and rides take off at the end of May and run until the end of October. If you are interested in volunteering please email cwahamilton@gmail.com.