Cycling Without Age reduces social isolation and improves physical, mental health for older adults

This story first appeared in Prestige - December 2025, a biannual special section distributed in The Gazette dedicated to Iowans 55+.

Ray Buch had been a recreational bike rider for years.

“Not a club cyclist, but a regular rider,” Buch, 77, said.

Mobility issues have recently restricted Buch to a tandem trike for short rides around his Iowa City neighborhood. However, he was able to take an hourlong ride on a recent, unseasonably warm fall afternoon thanks to a new program.

“This is really a project that was started by a visionary,” said Nancy Footner, 72. “It’s a social movement.”

Footner, a founding board member of the Iowa City Bike Library, first heard of Cycling Without Age when a short feature on the program ran on PBS News Hour. In the clip, Danish entrepreneur Ole Kassow told of biking to work one morning in 2012 and noticing an elderly man sitting in front of a nursing home, watching the cyclists.

“All the knowledge that sits in our elderly citizens is lost, because nobody’s taking an interest,” Kassow told PBS. “But if you go for a bike ride with a person who has experience and lived life in their local community, they completely liven up. Two people in the front seat and one person riding is like a magic bubble. And within that bubble anything can happen, and age does not matter.”

By 2020, Cycling Without Age International had expanded into more than 50 nations, serving more than 1.5 million riders a year.

“That little segment came on, and it just captivated me,” Fortner said. It reminded her of her own experience at age 30 recovering from two broken legs after being struck by a car while cycling.

“It gave me the experience of being disabled,” she said. “It was not easy to get out, and your senses can get really dull not being outside.”

The key to Kassow’s “magic bubble’ is the trishaw, an electrically-assisted three-wheeler with a bench in front for two passengers. A “pilot” pedals and steers from behind while passengers take in the view.

“The passenger gets the front-row seat,” Fortner said. “They get the wind in their hair.”

Drawing on her experience with the Bike Library, Fortner and a small group of volunteers ranging in ages 30 to 70 set out to start Iowa’s first CWA chapter. They’re used in Asia and Europe as pedicab taxis, but trishaws were somewhat rare in the U.S.

“We had to figure out the nuts and bolts of it,” said Fortner.

The Bike Librarian’s learned Legacy Senior Living in Iowa City had purchased a trishaw in 2023 but hadn’t gotten much use out of it for a lack of pilots. Jim Cochran, a retired University of Iowa math professor and author, volunteered to pilot rides there.

“They were thrilled,” Fortner said.

A fundraising campaign for Cycling Without Age at the Bike Library generated enough to buy a trishaw — they cost about $16,000 — this summer. A second trishaw with a ramp and tie-downs to accommodate a wheelchair was funded through an AARP grant and arrived in mid-October.

While sponsored by the Bike Library, the CWA chapter’s members were wary of using its South Gilbert Street headquarters due to heavy auto traffic there. They found a home for the program at the city-owned Ned Ashton House along the Iowa River. With easy access to trails and quieter residential streets, the home is managed by the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department with an emphasis on adaptive and inclusive activities.

“It’s very compatible with our mission,” Fortner said. “We’re very grateful to the Bike Library. We didn’t have to start a (separate) nonprofit, which takes time and money.”

The CWA chapter trained about 10 pilots who helped map safe routes along trails and quieter streets. Training includes safety precautions, route planning and relating to passengers.

“It’s someone who is going to be comfortable and interested in the people going for the rides,” Fortner said.

“It was pretty simple,” said Horacio Olivo, a retired University of Iowa faculty member and pilot for Buch’s ride. “I had never ridden an e-bike, and I was very surprised how easy it is.”

Fortner said there are about 50 CWA chapters in the U.S.

“There’s a whole lot in Wisconsin, because they’re associated with nursing homes,” she said. “We’re doing a community-based program.”

In addition to older adults, CWA serves anyone with limited mobility. Rides can be booked through the Bike Library’s website (icbikelibrary.org/cycling-without-age), or by emailing cyclingwithoutage.jc@gmail.com.

Fortner requests 48-hour notice to reserve a ride, although availability is yet to be determined.

“That’s something we’ll be working on over the winter,” Fortner said. “What’s the best way to set this up? Once we get out next spring and people see us, I think there’s going to be a surge in interest.”

For Buch’s first ride, Olivo steered a course across the university campus to the downtown Ped Mall.

“It only takes a few minutes to feel relaxed,” Buch said. “It’s a pretty different sensation. Don’t think I’ve ever had anything quite like it.”

Olivo navigated the trishaw along Iowa River Trail, occasionally sounding his bell to alert pedestrians distracted by their phones. They didn’t seem to mind.

“That’s what I like,” he said. “You get a lot of smiles.”