Burnette
12-30-2019, 11:08 AM
Story out of Copenhagen, about a program to get seniors outside by giving them rides on bikes. This is so awesome. I would sign up to carry them around and I would sign up to be carried around when my time came:
Ole Kassow, of Copenhagen, Denmark, was riding his bike to work one morning in 2012 when he noticed an old, disabled man sitting on a bench outside a local nursing home. The man reminded him of his father, who uses a wheelchair.
Knowing the challenges that come with limited mobility in old age, and thinking about how deeply engrained bicycling is in Copenhagen culture, a thought occurred to him: The man likely hadn’t ridden a bike in a long time and, Kassow thought, he probably missed it.
“I couldn’t get that thought out of my head, that I needed to get this man back on a bike,” Kassow told Bicycling.
These volunteer rides grew into what is now the nonprofit Cycling Without Age.
“It really has the potential to change people’s lives dramatically,” Kassow said.
Their evidence of this was anecdotal at first. But after conducting an impact study in their Singapore chapter, they discovered that these rides have the potential to improve participants’ reported mood and outlook on life by up to 80 percent.
https://www.bicycling.com/culture/a30300121/cycling-without-age-nonprofit/
Ole Kassow, of Copenhagen, Denmark, was riding his bike to work one morning in 2012 when he noticed an old, disabled man sitting on a bench outside a local nursing home. The man reminded him of his father, who uses a wheelchair.
Knowing the challenges that come with limited mobility in old age, and thinking about how deeply engrained bicycling is in Copenhagen culture, a thought occurred to him: The man likely hadn’t ridden a bike in a long time and, Kassow thought, he probably missed it.
“I couldn’t get that thought out of my head, that I needed to get this man back on a bike,” Kassow told Bicycling.
These volunteer rides grew into what is now the nonprofit Cycling Without Age.
“It really has the potential to change people’s lives dramatically,” Kassow said.
Their evidence of this was anecdotal at first. But after conducting an impact study in their Singapore chapter, they discovered that these rides have the potential to improve participants’ reported mood and outlook on life by up to 80 percent.
https://www.bicycling.com/culture/a30300121/cycling-without-age-nonprofit/