Age No Barrier When It Comes to Cycling

By Shanelle Schick

Cycling Without Age is a non-profit organisation in our community who help our elderly population engage in the community with their trishaw rides. The project came to Yeppoon in 2020 and is now running actively at various locations throughout the coast giving elderly and mobility-challenged residents the opportunity to partake in a ride along one of our beautiful coastal pathways.

I had the pleasure of witnessing the inaugural ride in Emu Park earlier this month and it was such an amazing experience to be part of. The Emu Park rides go from the Surf Lifesaving Club up to the Singing Ship with stops along the Anzac Memorial path to take in the sights and scenery. At the completion of the ride, riders can then socialise over a cuppa and a snack at each location while taking in the scenery. In Emu Park, this was at The Honey Bee Collective, located at the Surf Lifesaving Club

During the morning I had the opportunity to test out a trishaw ride myself and volunteer rider Lyal was wellversed on the history behind the ANZAC

Memorial path I also caught up with Sheila who also volunteers her time who talked me through the whole process of how the rides work. Chatting with some of the community members from Sunset Ridge who had been riding for the morning Wal and Joan gave me a glimpse at the immense joy that this wonderful organisation brings to the ride recipients

under the guidance of Mary O’Donnell who had seen Cycling Without Age online and decided that it needed to be brought here to the coast.

New volunteers are always welcome to join the team. If you are looking for a very rewarding way to give back to the community, then I urge you to get in touch with Mary mary.odonnell@cyclingwithoutage.org.au

Trishaw rides can be booked through the online expression of interest form

There is a scout bike who rides ahead of the trishaws to warn other path users of the trishaws that are coming behind. On this day, Sheila’s daughter was performing this duty with a huge smile on her face. It was lovely to see the interaction between the young

Spending this time with the Cycling Without Age group was such a wonderful opportunity to see the true spirit of community alive and well in our town. It warmed my heart and brought a real smile to my face seeing the faces of the riders light up while they were being chauffeured seeing the beautiful local sights

Funding to purchase the trishaws was originally received through a grant from the local Iwasaki Foundation A team of amazing volunteers help the program to operate