Clubs give seniors a bike ride

Port Washington-Saukville Rotary, Be3 donate $9,000 trishaw three-wheeler to facility so those who can’t pedal can still enjoy bicycle rides through city

BILL AND PAT MOREN were ready to ride around Port Washington in style last week in a trishaw recently purchased by the Port Washington-Saukville Rotary Club and the Be3 fitness group and donated to Harbor Campus senior living. Accompanying the Morens were (from left) Kim Bichler of Harbor Campus, Joel Weinberger of Be3’s Z-Force bicycling group and one of the trishaw pilots, and Doug McManus of the Rotary Club, who is also a trishaw pilot. Photo by Sam Arendt
By 
KRISTYN HALBIG ZIEHM
Ozaukee Press staff

Motorists in Port Washington may find themselves doing a double take this summer as the city’s first trishaw takes to the streets.

The trishaw — a bicycle with one wheel in the back and two in the front as well as a two-person carriage in front — has been purchased by the Port Washington-Saukville Rotary Club, the Be3 fitness club and its Z-Force bicycling group and donated to Harbor Campus senior living facility.

The trishaw, which is expected to hit the road in May, will be used to give seniors a new way to experience the city.

“This is a safe way to get people out who otherwise wouldn’t be able to go on a bike ride,” Doug McManus, who headed the project for the Rotary Club, said. 

“They can feel the wind in their face and look around and get that feeling they had 50 or 80 years ago when they rode a bike. It’s always good to get (seniors) outside, and just getting out and doing something different and being social is a great thing.”

Z-Force member Joel Weinberger said that the trishaw brings joy to both the riders and the “pilots” who pedal them.

  “It’s hard to explain. It’s really so enjoyable. It’s almost like meditating,” he said. “Anyone who rides it has a smile on their face, and anyone who pilots it has a smile on their face.”

McManus noted that as they’ve taken the trishaw out on practice runs, it’s attracted its share of attention.

“People just stop and look when we come rolling by,” he said.

The trishaw project was the brainchild of Weinberger, who brings his therapy dog to Harbor Campus regularly and was looking for another way to engage residents.

The trishaw project, which provides rides to seniors, began in Copenhagen in 2012 and has caught on in Europe, he said, and is catching on in the U.S.

Weinberger said he saw a TED Talk on the vehicles and could see its applications here immediately.

He talked to Be3’s Danielle Peiffer about the vehicles, Weinberger said, and she was enthused.

“She said, ‘That really fits in with what we’re doing,’” he recalled.

The trishaws, which are built by hand, cost $12,000 new, so Be3 and Z-Force joined forces with Rotary to make the project a reality.

“We’ve been interested in collaborating with other groups in the city on important projects,” McManus said, and this one fit the bill.

The two nonprofits became a member of Cycling Without Age, which helps groups establish trishaw projects and train the drivers, known as “pilots.”

Through Cycling Without Age, the groups found a gently used trishaw and purchased it for $9,000, Weinberger said.

“Wisconsin is the mecca of Cycling Without Age,” Weinberger said, noting there are 20 chapters in the state. “We believe it’s because of the bike trails Wisconsin has, our culture valuing time outside and the fact we value our seniors and getting outside in summer.”

Although the pandemic put a temporary halt to the project, the groups didn’t let it stop things entirely. They have been working to not only raise funds for the trishaw but to find and train pilots for the bike.

“It’s a little tricky to ride,” Weinberger said, noting the trishaws are ebikes. That’s helpful given Port’s many hills, he noted.

“It’s easy pedaling with the electronic assist,” he said.

So far, the clubs have trained six pilots, all of whom have received their full Covid-19 vaccinations, he said. 

The groups have plotted out a course for the seniors that will take them along the lakeshore and includes a stop downtown for a treat, Weinberger said. The journey will take about an hour.

McManus said they expect to take the trishaw, which has a black body, red canopy and wooden cart, out from spring to fall, noting they have a blanket for seniors to use if they get chilly.

The trishaw fits in with Harbor Campus’ theme, “Enjoy Life,” Kim Bichler, the campus’ lifestyle enrichment specialist, said.

“We like to promote an active aging lifestyle, and I think this is going to fit in well,” she said.

Bichler said she’s ridden in the trishaw and believes residents of the senior campus will love it.

“You’re riding along with the breeze blowing your hair. It’s really a different feeling,” she said. “I think this is going to give them (residents) some freedom they didn’t have. You can go for a car ride with your family, but you don’t get the wind in your hair or get to look up at the sky.”

Harbor Campus will unveil the trishaw during a May 1 event at its facility.

The clubs are so excited about the trishaw project they are raising funds to purchase a second vehicle, with the goal of sharing it with other senior facilities in the community.

Anyone interested in donating to this effort may send contributions to Be3, P.O. Box 35, Port Washington, WI  53074.

The groups are also seeking community members who may be interested in becoming pilots. For more information, email Be3 at info@be3wi.com.

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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