Frequently Asked Questions

All our volunteers agree to follow CWA’s Guiding Principles:

1

Generosity

Pilots will be generous by the giving of their time freely to enable their passenger to enjoy the chance to feel the wind in their hair.

All our volunteers give freely of their time and try and make every outing a “special” outing. Enjoying the fresh air and experiencing new places has a positive effect on our passengers.

2

Slowness

Slowness allows you to sense the environment and be present in the moment. It allows people you meet along the way to be curious and gain knowledge, because you make time to stop and talk.

Normal life can be frenetic and fast. Pilots slow down so our passengers have time to enjoy the ride and engage with other park users. Sometimes we share a coffee stop and even more conversation.

3

Storytelling

Older adults and those experiencing lonely journeys all have interesting stories to tell. Our pilots will listen, engage and through their stories retain those special memories.

Conversation happens on all our rides. Our pilots focus on the journey, not the destination. All our passengers have experienced interesting and varied life journeys. As pilots we listen and engage with our passengers.

4

Relationships

Our CWA rides cross many layers of society and create new relationships and inter-generational friendships between participants and pilots.

We learn from the people who have walked the path before us, Pilots enjoy the wisdom and knowledge imparted by their passengers when riding.

5

Without Age

Life evolves at all ages, young and old and can be thrilling, fun, sad, beautiful and meaningful. CWA is about letting people age in a positive context.

Happiness is cycling and feeling the wind in your hair!

We know this feeling of happiness can last for more than just the time of the ride—by lifting spirits and feelings. Staff in rest homes have noticed that sensation carrying through to many of the other residents after a CWA ride day, so a CWA ride has many positive repercussions.

In 2018 there was an initial  CWA Evaluation Report 2018 Scotland which evaluated the benefits and outcomes of CWA rides by The Ageing Lab at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. The success of this ‘health’ trial and assessment led to the establishment of “CWA Scotland” with funding from the Scottish Government, for over 50 Chapters with 50 Triobikes. The benefits and outcomes of CWA passenger rides from this study are:

• Social interaction with others in the community during the ride.
• The feel of “breaking out” and freedom from the rest home.
• Being invigorated by the fresh air and meeting new people.
• The intergenerational conversation between pilot and passenger.
• Having a fun time and something to look forward to.

In 2020 further detailed research was carried out and the report Cycling Without Age: Assessing the Impact of a Cycling-Based Initiative on Mood and Wellbeing 2020 was published.

This second report, linked findings directly to mental health and wellbeing benefits for participants, relating them to mood and well-being changes when comparing no-rides days with ride days.

The “mood scale” measured feelings of pleasure/stress and levels of energy. The “wellbeing scale” provided an overall score for wellbeing.

The findings (in the table above) demonstrated how stress level plummets on days when there is a bike ride, as well as how moods are lifted on the days of bike rides, even before the ride, in anticipation of the same.

CWA Copenhagen was part of a study looking to answer this question: How can passengers benefit as they aren’t moving, they’re just sitting there, so how can they physically benefit?

The study documented how CWA rides affect neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the nervous system that influence mood, muscle movement, heart rate, and many other functions), which means that even if our passengers are not moving they’re actually getting in ‘better shape’.

Here is an example—Dopamine which is known as the “feel-good” hormone.

It gives you a sense of pleasure. As a neurotransmitter, dopamine is involved in movement, memory, pleasurable reward and motivation, behaviour and cognition, attention, sleep and mood, just to name a few!

When you are doing something pleasurable, your brain releases a large amount of dopamine. You feel good and you seek more of that feeling. Dopamine levels can be increased in a natural way by engaging in activities that make you happy or feel relaxed such as walking or riding outside in nature. CWA rides provide just that.

Stopping at a café for a cup of coffee or an ice cream brings pleasure and is a part of the experience which brings people out of their isolation and into the local community.

Being outside also gets our circadian clock (physical, mental, and behavioural changes that follow a 24-hour cycle) recalibrated, as light is the strongest signal in the environment to help reset your sleep-wake cycle.

These natural processes respond primarily to light and dark but aging can cause symptoms such as extreme daytime sleepiness, decreased alertness, and problems with memory and decision-making.

Our CWA rides also help to prevent these symptoms, another wonderful effect of providing these simple but effective rides.

Online Passenger Application Form

Or download our Passenger Handbook, and you’ll find the Application Form at the end. Once completed, please email it back to betterlives@cwanapier.nz