The non-profit organization, Cycling Without Age, just celebrated 10 years of giving senior citizens living with limited mobility the enjoyment of riding a bike again.
In 2012, Ole Kassow was riding his bicycle to work in Denmark when he saw an older gentleman sitting on a park bench. The man reminded Kassow of his own father who was wheelchair-bound.
“I couldn’t get that thought out of my head, that I needed to get this man back on a bike,” Kassow told Bicycling.com during a 2019 interview.
The next day, he rented a bike and started giving rides to seniors at a retirement home. One elderly woman told him stories about living in Copenhagen and seemed to be full of life again after the outing.
The experience led Kassow to create Cycling Without Age (CWA) and volunteers or pilots, are now helping others all around the world.
Pilots operate a trishaw, which is a bike with a passenger seat in the front. They partner with nursing homes and senior care facilities and have the flexibility to cycle their clients as often as they want.
The company’s website reveals that the movement is driven by “generosity and kindness.” It also focuses on taking the time to talk to one another, sharing stories, and not letting age get in the way of freedom.
CWA recently shared on its social media pages that its representatives are now cycling in 52 countries.
“The truly powerful thing about these bike rides is that they tie people and stories together to create new relationships,” Kassow said. “And social connectedness and close relationships are the two most important markers for longevity and quality of life.”
Even though one-day outings are the most popular, some volunteers have become more imaginative with their treks, according to Bicycling.com.
Bike tours and fishing trips have been arranged, which include family members of the elderly passengers or staff members from their care facility.
Ultimately, the goal of CWA is to give seniors the freedom and joy of being able to move around outdoors.
“It really has the potential to change people’s lives dramatically,” Kassow noted.
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