{"id":151454,"date":"2025-09-17T23:44:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T23:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/151454\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T23:44:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T23:44:08","slug":"wisconsin-seniors-are-biking-all-over-the-state-thanks-to-cycling-without-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/151454\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin seniors are biking all over the state thanks to Cycling Without Age"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 92, Nancy Stepaniak of Hudson still loves to bike. But ever since a stroke in 2018, her sense of balance has made riding a traditional two-wheeled bicycle too dangerous.<\/p>\n

When Nancy\u2019s son, Matthew Stepaniak, became her full-time caretaker, he set out on a mission to get her back in the saddle. He started by getting her a side-by-side tandem bike that they could ride together around the neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That first ride, they didn\u2019t get very far before people were stopping them to express interest and ask questions. That\u2019s when they knew they were onto something special, Matthew said.<\/p>\n

News with a little more humanity<\/p>\n

WPR\u2019s \u201cWisconsin Today\u201d newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am just a boy who wanted to give his mother a bicycle,\u201d Matthew told WPR\u2019s \u201cWisconsin Today<\/a>.\u201d \u201cAnd things got way out of control in the most beautiful way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AnNancy Stepaniak sits on the side-by-side tandem bike she first rode with her son, Matthew. It was the very first adaptive bike in Limitless Cycling\u2019s fleet. Photo courtesy of Matthew Stepaniak<\/p>\n

The experience led Matthew in 2019 to co-found Limitless Cycling<\/a>, a nonprofit in the Hudson region that provides adaptive bicycles and other equipment for people of all abilities to enjoy the outdoors. It\u2019s one of the many Wisconsin chapters of Cycling Without Age<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cycling Without Age was created in 2012, when founder Ole Kassow of Denmark acquired a three-wheeled, pedal-powered vehicle called a trishaw and started giving local seniors rides around the community. The one-man operation evolved into an international nonprofit that aims to give seniors and people with disabilities around the world \u201cthe right to wind in their hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, the first ever Cycling Without Age chapter in the United States formed in Oshkosh. Now, Wisconsin has more than 100 chapters statewide \u2014 more than any other U.S. state.<\/p>\n

Wisconsin became a hub for the international nonprofit because of long-standing collaborations with the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, the Wisconsin Bike Fed<\/a> and the University of Wisconsin, said Pernille Bussone, executive director of Cycling Without Age.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would not be where we are today without Wisconsin,\u201d Bussone said.<\/p>\n

\"TwoMatthew Stepaniak gives a trishaw ride to two passengers. Photo courtesy of Matthew Stepaniak<\/p>\n

Bringing back memories \u2014 and creating new ones<\/p>\n

Limitless Cycling now has a fleet of six bikes: three electrically assisted trishaws with room for a pilot and two passengers, Nancy\u2019s side-by-side tandem bike and two bikes specially designed for transporting wheelchair users. They also have several track chairs \u2014 wheelchairs with tank-like tracks \u2014 for outdoor use year-round and on unpaved trails. The bikes cost $10,000 to $20,000 each, which the group purchased through grants and fundraising.<\/p>\n

Matthew and his team lend their equipment to people who have difficulty riding a two-wheeled bicycle \u2014 especially seniors, veterans and people with disabilities. For most of the bikes, trained volunteer \u201cpilots\u201d pedal and steer while passengers ride in the front.<\/p>\n

\"AnA rider with Limitless Cycling sits in a bike designed specifically for wheelchair users called the VeloPlus. Photo courtesy of Matthew Stepaniak<\/p>\n

Nancy, who also volunteers with Limitless Cycling as an administrator and ambassador, said many seniors return from their rides asking if they can go again.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of seniors were bicycle riders, and this way they\u2019re getting a chance to be out in the fresh air, riding around and seeing different things instead of their rooms,\u201d Nancy said.<\/p>\n

Bernadette Russow, cofounder of Cycling Without Age of Walworth County<\/a>, said the rides often trigger fond memories for seniors. She recalled one person who had biked all the way around Lake Superior when she was young, but could\u00a0 no longer walk or talk and was partially blind.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe rode (on the trishaw), and when she came back tears were rolling down her cheeks. Her shirt was wet, and she was grinning from ear to ear, because it brought back the memory of when she used to ride,\u201d Russow said.<\/p>\n

\"AnA veteran at the VA Hospital in Union Grove rides with a caregiver on a trishaw owned by Cycling Without Age of Walworth County. Photo courtesy of Eric and Bernadette Russow<\/p>\n

Bike rides that connect generations\u00a0<\/p>\n

The trishaw rides also create opportunities to connect pilots, riders and their families.<\/p>\n

Diane Ludwigsen, vice president of Cycling Without Age of Door County<\/a>, encourages her pilots to repeatedly volunteer at the same facility to build relationships with passengers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our pilots was really worried the first time he went out. He said, \u2018What are we going to talk about? What do we have in common?\u2019\u201d Ludwigsen said. \u201cAnd he didn\u2019t get a word in edgewise. It was all the history that these people can give you when you\u2019re riding through the community that they lived in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TwoA father-daughter duo ride on a side-by-side tandem bike, with other adaptive bikes in the background. From left to right: The OPair wheelchair bike, the Fun2Go side-by-side bike, the VeloPlus wheelchair bike, and a rickshaw bike or \u201ctrishaw.\u201d Photo courtesy of Matthew Stepaniak<\/p>\n

Ludwigsen recounted other moments of family connection. One pilot got to give her mother her last trishaw ride before she passed away. Another family had a reunion at Peninsula State Park in Door County. With the help of Cycling Without Age, they explored the park on bikes, their grandparents riding along in a trishaw.<\/p>\n

Russow recalled a 13-year-old girl and her great-grandmother taking a ride together, holding hands and talking the whole time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long do you think (that girl) is going to have that as a memory?\u201d Russow said.<\/p>\n

Pilots are often in awe witnessing these connections. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so much more than a bicycle ride,\u201d Matthew Stepaniak said. \u201cIt\u2019s very rewarding \u2014 not just the act, but everything that goes along with it. You can\u2019t get that feeling anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy loves the rides not just because she is back on a bike, but because it allows her to nurture her relationship with her favorite pilot, her son Matthew.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we ride on the bike that I have, it\u2019s a blast,\u201d Nancy said.<\/p>\n

An online map<\/a> of Cycling Without Age chapters is available online. More information on how to start a chapter<\/a> is on the nonprofit\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"FourA group of pilots and riders from Limitless Cycling on trishaws (left) and a VeloPlus wheelchair bike. Photo courtesy Matthew Stepaniak<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 92, Nancy Stepaniak of Hudson still loves to bike. But ever since a stroke in 2018, her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-151454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}