Everyone and their dog can enjoy a free bike ride thanks to this Johnson County nonprofit

There’s nothing like the feeling of freedom when riding a bicycle, attached to the earth only by a couple of spinning tires, the road spooling out in front of you, the wind in your hair. But for some people, the delight of riding a bike is just a distant memory. Limited mobility, injuries, or the changes of aging can make cycling a thing of the past.

Enter the trishaw: a bicycle built for three. Like a backwards rickshaw, the vehicle is powered by a rider pedaling and steering in the back, while the passengers sit in front with a great view and the wind in their hair.

You may have seen a trishaw trundling along the bike paths near City Park in Iowa City. A new chapter of an international nonprofit organization, Cycling Without Age Johnson County (CWA-JC), purchased the vehicle and has been taking local residents on trishaw rides. Its overall goal is to bring the joy of cycling to those who cannot cycle independently. 

Cycling Without Age is fairly new to eastern Iowa, its first trishaw delivered to Iowa City in August 2025. But the group’s founders and volunteers are passionate about making invigorating bicycle rides a possibility for everyone.

One of the co-founders of the group, Nancy Footner, was inspired to start a chapter here by a news story she saw about Cycling Without Age. It reminded her of an experience she’d had.

Years ago, she’d been hit by a car, and was confined to a wheelchair with serious injuries and seven pounds of pins in her legs. 

“I was living in San Francisco, and it was not easy to get out,” she said, recalling the steep hills and busy streets. But then a friend came to the rescue and took her out to Golden Gate Park. 

“It was almost psychedelic,” she said, laughing. “My senses had become so dull from being inside that I became hyper-aware of everything when I was out in that park.”

That experience stayed with her, and when she discovered an organization that was dedicated to helping people of all abilities get outdoors, she knew she wanted to be a part of it. 

Footner invited me to come take a ride in a trishaw and find out more about the program.

Their current base of operations is Ashton House, home of Iowa City’s Adaptive and Inclusive Recreation programs. The location is perfect; wide, well-maintained trails fan out from the area through neighborhoods, parks and the nearby campus. 

When I arrived, the trishaw was sitting out in the sun, ready to go. The front-facing passenger seats, upholstered in cherry red, are mounted inside a blonde-wood carriage with curved sides. 

“It’s got a Danish design look,” said Footner. “Like something from IKEA.” 

The trishaw — and the organization Cycling Without Age itself — are from Denmark, a country with a strong cycling culture as well as a tradition of beautiful design. 

Behind the elegant carriage was a sleek black e-assist bicycle with two wheels in front under the carriage, and one in back.

This particular trishaw works well for passengers like me, who can step into the seat on our own. A second trishaw, which arrived in late October, has a removable seat. Wheelchair users can roll up a ramp and into position without having to navigate a transfer.

The pilot is responsible for peddling the bike and propelling the trishaw. Our pilot was none other than Michelle Voss.

Voss is an avid cyclist and volunteer with the Iowa City Bike Library. She worked with Footner on establishing a Johnson County chapter of Cycling Without Age — the first in Iowa. Once the fledgling nonprofit had raised funds to buy a trishaw, the Bike Library invited them to be a partner, generously helping to fund the program and sharing space on their website. 

My fellow passenger, Tom McMurray, had heard of the Bike Library through his wife, who donated a bicycle there. McMurray had recently taken his old yellow Schwinn down to the consignment store, so he was ready for the delight of a bike ride once again. 

Once we had signed our waivers and been offered bike helmets to wear (we both declined, preferring to “feel the wind in our hair” as the organization’s website promises), we climbed aboard, buckled ourselves in, and were off.

Rolling along in the beautiful Iowa sunshine at about 10 miles per hour, we waved at neighbors while people on the trail moved aside with a smile. The slow speed of the trishaw seems to invite interactions with others. In fact, helping people overcome social isolation is one of the goals of the nonprofit.

As we rolled through City Park, an older couple with a dog stopped to talk with us. 

“We’ve seen people out in that before, and we wondered about it,” the woman said. Voss quickly handed them a card with information about Cycling Without Age.

“We could give you a ride — and we could give your dog a ride, too,” Voss said with a smile.

Pilots like Voss go through training before they’re able to take people out. Though the vehicle is designed to be very safe, it still takes a bit of practice for pilots to get used to its wider turns and large dimensions. Before CWA-JC got its first trishaw, volunteers were able to train on a trishaw owned by Legacy Senior Living in Iowa City. CWA-JC still gives trishaw rides at Legacy.

Riding along in the front of the trishaw, I was able to see areas of Iowa City that I wasn’t familiar with before. The prospect of blazing new pathways for her passengers is exciting to Voss. A professor in the University of Iowa Department of Psychiatry and Brain Science, she’s been studying the connection between physical fitness and healthy brain aging.

“When people are on these rides, the part of the brain dedicated to navigation is active,” Voss said. “It’s activated by the physical experience of moving through the environment.” So even without physically pedaling a bicycle, passengers are exercising their brains. 

In the fall of 2025, the organization purchased a wheelchair-accessible trishaw with funds from a Community Challenge Grant from AARP. Wheelchair users can roll their chairs up a ramp and right onto the trishaw for a no-transfer ride.

At the Ashton House, Iowa City resident Bob Molsberry, a longtime wheelchair user, maneuvered athletically into and out of this new trishaw with the ramp. Although Molsberry is perfectly able to cycle on his own with an adaptive handcycle (he’s ridden in RAGBRAI 31 times), he enjoyed a ride in the trishaw. 

“It’s fun to have someone to talk to,” he said.

Iowa springs can be cold. Fortunately, underneath the seat of each trishaw is a cozy fleece and canvas blanket to make sure passengers stay warm. A retractable awning offers shade and some wind protection.

“The trishaws came from Scandinavia,” Voss said. “They’re tough.” As long as the paths are clear, volunteer pilots plan to keep giving rides all year round.  

Book a ride in a trishaw or volunteer as a pilot at ICBikeLibrary.org

This article was originally published in Little Village’s April 2026 issue.