Cycling Without Age - Mississauga

This page contains most of the information an aspiring pilot for CWAM will have to be familiar with.  It starts with our first Zoom orientation session for those interested in the program and is followed by the Zoom session we had outlining the 10 skills of a good pilot for all those who had submitted and Expression of Interest form.  I have embedded both these sessions below followed by the Q&A session following the 10 Skills presentation. Please take some time to view and study these short training videos that have been created by Lanark County CWA and being used with their permission.  They have a similar model of trishaw to ours. This video is on the battery and electric controls for the e-assist motor The next video is on Braking and Stopping the trishaw The third video is on maneuvering on curbs and uneven ground The fourth video is on loading and unloading passengers. After viewing these few videos, take a look as some provided by Cyclin...

This document was adapted from the training manual to help develop the skills for being an effective trishaw pilot with CWAMississauga.  Please go through these skills and keep honing them as you enjoy the experience of volunteering to ride passengers around our beautiful city. The last four of these skills are relevant to riding the trishaw along public roads in traffic.  Although we may need to do this occasionally to connect to a trail, it is not our intention to ride on public roads in Mississauga, whether they have a designated bicycle lane or not.  We will be using Multi-Use Trails, Waterfront boardwalks and paved off road bicycle paths endeavouring to reduce the use of unpaved gravel trails to avoid the possibility of a puncture.

 The following is a document created by Cycling Without Age to prepare potential pilots for the calling they intend to pursue.  It explains some of the objectives of the program and what is required of the pilots.  Please go through it prior to applying to become a pilot which you can do through this link to the Book2Go app.   Create a profile on the Mississauga location of Book2Go  to establish a presence on our pilot graduating and scheduling platform.

 We (Lisette & I) were invited to this event at Williams Cafe at 42 Discovery Drive in Hamilton on the 21st of October as HB-CWA was winding down their activities for the year by co-founder of the group, Nancy Gray. As I had a challenging surgery that morning, we got there around 2pm for a 1pm start and were just in time to meet a few of the pilots and site co-ordinators before grabbing a bite and coffee to settle down to hear from the organizers. The afternoon was ably compered by veteran cyclist, spin instructor, internet guru and Elvis impersonator, Adam Kulchyski who kept everyone on track and tried to limit their talk time.  There were so many stories to go around as we heard from each of the five site co-ordinators.  This was a concept that I was grappling with as to how to grow the use of the trishaw(s?) while keeping the administration manageable.  Using a site co-ordinator for each of the facilities seemed like the best way to develop the program while s...

 JoAnn is a one person powerhouse behind the Brockville affiliation of Cycling without Age. JoAnn explaining some of the features of the AMI trishaw I first contacted JoAnn about a month ago when I contacted her through her online contact info and then had a lengthy conversation with her over the phone. Today I had a chance to meet the legend who actually took Lisette & myself for a trishaw ride for over an hour while we chatted about everything about her experiences.  She was happy to share and advise on many aspects of their program and I learned a wealth from her. Reminders for the pilot and QR code to the waiver We were to be in Kingston this Thanksgiving weekend and knowing that it was a family weekend for many, I asked JoAnn if she would mind meeting us at her convenience sometime this weekend.  We settled on Monday morning since we would be spending the night in Kingston and getting to Brockville in the morning would be the most convenient.  At the South E...

 While visiting Vancouver enroute an Alaskan cruise, I decided at the last minute to make contact with local CWA chapters.  I found two, one of which was just across False Creek from the hotel we were staying at downtown Vancouver on Hornby Street. I sent out emails to both via their contact information on their websites, both hosted by CyclingWithougAge.org, leaving my contact information.  Next morning I got a call from a deep voice identifying himself as "Ian from Cycling Without Age".  I quickly recognized him as Ian Rose-Innes, the driving force behind the North Shore chapter of CWA and found out that he was going to be out all morning doing rides and other related work for the affiliate.  He promised to contact me when he was heading back to the 'Shipyards' a trendy neighbourhood on the north shore of Vancouver harbour where they store their trailer with two trishaws in a secured underground parking garage leased to them by the owner of the Shipyards. Righ...

 While looking up CWA affiliates in Ontario, the website of the Lanark County Cycling Without Age website stood out for it's simplicity and it's content.  As I was interested in creating a website independent of the free page offered by the parent CWA.org I found their format on WordPress impressive. I had contacted a childhood friend in India who runs his own web publishing business about the possibliity of creating a website for us and his recommendation was to use WordPress as a platform for ease of editing and adding content after the template had been created.  As there was no names I could Google associated with the site, I used their web submission form to send in a message in the hope that someone would see it and get in touch with me. The following morning I got a call from Treff Peters who was Lanark County affiliate and the instigation behind the Lanark County program.  As a retiree with a lot of contacts, he mentioned that he went through the fundraising ...