Cycling Without Age chapter brings rickshaw-like rides on the Poudre Trail to Greeley seniors
Tess Jones pedals down the Poudre Trail with Randall Darby, and Laurie Avalos, on a rickshaw ride last week in west Greeley. Photo by Joshua Polson.
By Dan England
There comes a time in your life when the opportunities to spend some time with those a generation older than you don’t come any longer. Mike Ketterling, at age 68, thought he was reaching that point, until he helped start a Cycling Without Age chapter in Greeley.
Under the program, Ketterling and about a dozen other volunteers give rides to seniors along the Poudre Trail in rickshaw-like bikes, although the volunteers call them “trishaws” because there are three seats, one for the navigator and two for the passengers.
On one of his first rides, he took a couple that had been married for 74 years. They talked about World War II and a possible party for their 75th anniversary, although the woman reminded Ketterling with a grin that “they were day-to-day.”
“If I don’t do another ride ever,” he said, “that was worth every expectation for that program.”
Regina Leachman, right, and Jone Sommers, left smiles as their rickshaw driver Bruce Barrie pedals them across a bridge last week on the Poudre Trail in west Greeley. Photo by Joshua Polson.
The main idea behind the program, after all, was to bring generations together. Residents in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, invented it in 2012, and now there are 2,500 chapters across the world, including ones in Boulder and Littleton.
Greeley resident Tess Jones got the idea for the program but had a hard time finding money for it, and Ketterling, a board member of the Poudre Trail, decided to help. He brought it under the umbrella of the Trail, as long as the organization raised its own money for liability insurance and bikes.
The program runs Monday through Friday. Rides last up to an hour and are free. Ketterling hopes to touch base with senior living facilities to spread the word.
“They want to have programs to get folks out, get the wind in their hair,” he said. “That’s exactly what our program is set out to do.”
Green grass stretches out around the rickshaw as Bruce Barrie pedals Jone Sommers and Regina Leachman down the Poudre Trail last week in west Greeley. Photo by Joshua Polson.
The program runs out of the Red Barn trailhead at 71st Avenue, one of the main trailheads of the Poudre. That makes it difficult for some because the seniors have to travel there, but Ketterling hopes to change that, including a meeting area off the Colo. 257 trailhead in Windsor.
In the meantime, Ketterling keeps in touch with that old couple that made him a believer in the program. He also hopes to help them celebrate their 75th. He has an idea on how to do that.
“If it’s a nice day,” he said, “I will take them out on a ride.”
For more information
For more information, go to https://poudretrail.org/cycling-without-age/.