Seniors sought to pedal trikes around Sellwood Riverfront Park

By Merry MacKinnon

The Bee, Oct 4, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Reed resident Fran Daggett rode around on a three-wheeled bicycle at Willamette Park last month. As part of a Portland Department of Transportation pilot project called “the Older Adult Three-Wheeled Bicycle Program”, seven recumbent 21-speed adult tricycles will be at Sellwood Riverfront Park twice a week in October. Seniors are invited to try them out.

Merry MacKinnon / THE BEE

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The City of Portland's already got the gold. Now it’s reaching for the platinum.

Each year, the League of American Bicyclists rates cities according to their bicycle friendliness. So, to help nudge Portland to platinum--the league’s top rating--the Portland Department of Transportation (PDOT) is testing a new bicycle project aimed at seniors.

“We're looking at different demographics, besides children and young adults,” says PDOT’s Kirsty Hall. “We're thinking: Just because you’re over 60 doesn't mean you shouldn't have the opportunity to ride a bicycle.” Or a tricycle, as the case may be.

With that in mind, and thanks to funding from a federal “Safe Communities Bicycle Safety” grant, the City of Portland purchased seven recumbent tricycles, and a trailer to house them. In October, the trailer, the trikes, plus volunteers and staff will come to Sellwood Riverfront Park on Tuesdays and Thursdays to offer 60-year-olds and over the opportunity to ride three-wheelers around the park.

“We’re aiming for the over-60-year-olds,” says Hall. “But we're not finicky--our riders could be in their 50s.”

Officially launched on September 12th at Willamette Park, Portland’s “Older Adult Three-Wheeled Bicycle Program” allows seniors to try out trikes, and to join a class on how to ride them. That event convinced Reed neighborhood residents Ron and Fran Daggett that three-wheeled bikes could be feasible transportation alternatives for short errands or, simply, for exercise.

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