Slow Rolling and the birth of an idea

 Cycling has always been an interest of mine since I bought a GIANT hybrid bicycle a decade ago in an effort to put in more low impact exercise into my lifestyle.

However, riding alone was not always appealing and I was never fit enough to join the spandex crowd.  I would ride around the neighbourhood alone and was interested in expanding my knowledge of the growing recreational cycling infrastucture being developed in Mississauga.

A chance opportunity on holiday in New Orleans set me on another trajectory.  While on a visit to this beautiful historic city at the mouth of the Mississippi in the Southern US we had the opportunity to rent a tandem cycle to tour around the historic sights which were mostly below sea level.  I didn't realize that much of New Orleans is protected from the Mississippi by levees built along it's banks and pumping stations along it keep the seepage from accumulating by draining it through canals back to river.  So the flat land was ideal for cycling.  We enjoyed the tandem ride since Lisette does not ride on her own and it was an ideal way to see the city up close.

When we returned to Canada, we decided to look out for a tandem of our own but were surprised at the cost of them which was in the few to several thousand dollar range.  Knowing it would just be for recreational riding, possibly just a few times over the summer, I was unprepared to make that major investment until we saw an ad online for a modestly priced tandem bicycle.  We made enquiries and drove over to see it and made a decision to purchase it immediately.  It was a new bike assembled, tuned and outfitted with fenders so we were excited to start riding which we did several times over the ensuing summers.

In 2018, we were invited to an inaugural ride of the Port Credit Slow Rollers by a new friend Ray Marentette, who we had recently been introduced to at a mutual friend's event.  We seemed to hit it off immediately and were excited to participate in a group riding event for the first time since acquiring our bicycle.  The Port Credit trails lend themselves well to recreational cycling in Mississauga and Ray took full advantage of them to create routes that took us to picturesque locations as well as through some of the older, mature neighbourhoods to local attractions such as the Benares House.  We were fortunate to have an old Previa minivan in which we could transport the 8' tandem the 30min drive to Port Credit without having to take off wheels.  

After enjoying several rides over that first season, at the close of the final ride there was a City representative who queried the group on whether this model could be replicated in other parts of the city.  Living close to the picturesque Village of Streetsville in the heart of Mississauga, I offered to host a Streetsville Slow Rollers group closer to home.  Ambitiously, I decided to organize a ride weekly instead of Ray's model of fortnight rides alternating a shorter 5k ride on the week coinciding with the Port Credit ride with a 10k ride.  

When plotting the routes I needed to keep in mind that we were catering to groups of varying fitness and we would need to have a midway stop point for a water break, bathrooms if necessary and water refill station.  Although there were many community centres that could fulfill that function, I thought it would be worthwhile to incorporate local retirement residences so that both the residents and the members of the group would have a chance to interact and share stories giving both groups an invaluable insight.

That first season in 2019 was a wild success which gave me the impetus to carry on the group.  But one of the memories that stood out were our interactions with seniors who were, for the most part, cooped up in their cocoons but had vivid memories of their cycling days for which they pined.  I felt that there had to be a way to allow them to experience that joy without the inherent risks that all cyclists face but could be catastrophic for a senior.  It was through that quest that I chanced upon Cycling Without Age.