Mary Langenfeld
Duncan McNelly gives Tom Benish (waving) and Peter Li a ride down Mifflin Street on a “trishaw,” which is designed to get seniors out in the fresh air.
Sitting on her walker in front of the Madison Senior Center, Rhonda Babcock waits eagerly to take a spin.
“I used to use a bike for transportation,” Babcock says. “But the last time I was on one was 20 years ago.”
Babcock won’t be riding a typical bike, but rather a “trishaw,” a three-wheel rickshaw with an electric motor. When it’s our turn — I get to ride along — Babcock and I sit down and buckle our safety belts while Duncan McNelly, our volunteer “pilot,” as the drivers are known, steers us out of the parking area and down West Mifflin Street. “This is neat being out here,” Babcock says. “It’s like being on a bike but I don’t have to pedal.”
Babcock is quiet for most of our short ride a few blocks down West Mifflin Street and back. She watches the cars and people crossing streets and looks up at the buildings. Duncan says the rides can be contemplative for him as well. “When I’m biking by myself, I’m trying to get somewhere,” Duncan says. “But with this I can take in everything. That’s all part of the charm.”
Today’s event is sponsored by Cycling Without Age Greater Madison, an affiliate of the international program founded by Ole Kassow in Denmark in 2012. With the slogan “the right to feel the wind in your hair,” the group understands that many elderly people have limited mobility. So its mission is to get elderly people outside on assisted, interactive bike rides in order to counter the social isolation, nature deprivation and lack of community engagement that many senior citizens experience.
While several private senior living facilities in Madison own trishaws, the trishaw visiting the Madison Senior Center today was purchased partly with grant money from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Through an arrangement made by Kate Shaw, director of Cycling Without Age Greater Madison, the trishaw spends half of its time at Oak Park Place, a senior living community on Madison’s east side, and half of its time in the community. Jean Bachhuber, director of social services at Oak Park Place, says they have had the trishaw for about six weeks and it is already very popular among residents. “People have gotten on the bike and they don’t want to get off,” Bachhuber says. “They were just giggling.”
Shaw, founder of the Community Light Elder Network, says she wanted to bring Cycling Without Age to Madison after taking care of her elderly father who enjoyed taking a rickshaw ride on State Street. Shaw says the program is wonderful for people with limited mobility but also for the people who take care of them. “As a caregiver I couldn’t get out either,” Shaw says.
Madison Senior Center director Christine Beatty hopes to raise money to purchase its own trishaw for the center. Noting the center’s proximity to Madison’s bike paths, Beatty wants more older people to be able take advantage of Madison’s extensive trail system. She says it could also be used for short trips. “The nearest bus stops are two blocks away so the trishaw could transport people to the center.”
Peter Li is another person taking advantage of the free rides today. Li, who comes to the senior center nearly every day to play ping pong, had a stroke a couple of years ago and has been unable to ride a bike. Li says while he liked riding the trishaw, he adds that “I want to drive one too!”
After Babcock’s ride she wishes aloud that she could buy a trishaw so that her daughter could bike her around the city. This is a common reaction, Shaw says. “There is just something about being on a bike feeling the fresh air. It brings you back in time a little bit.”
Cost of a trishaw: $8,400
Countries that participate in Cycling Without Age: 40+
First location to start a Cycling Without Age program in the United States: Miravida Living in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 2015
Wisconsin nursing homes with trishaws: 60
Volunteer pilots with Cycling Without Age Greater Madison: 19
Next training opportunity to learn more about becoming a volunteer pilot: October (check Facebook.com/CWAmadison/ for updates)
