Latest news with #tricycle
CTV News
4 days ago
- General
- CTV News
St. Albert woman starts tricycle passion project to help seniors connect with nature
Martina Rouault can be seen taking a local senior and her daughter for a tricycle rickshaw ride in St. Albert. She volunteers her time and her ride through her retirement project Tricycle for Three. (Nahreman Issa/CTV News Edmonton) Martina Rouault is helping local seniors connect with nature, one ride at a time. Tricycle for Three is Rouault's retirement passion project and offers local seniors free rides in a specialty tricycle rickshaw. 'Before my mom passed away, I really had a hard time seeing how many people in her care unit never had company, never had visitors and they never got out of their rooms,' she said. 'I felt the need to change something.' 'And being that I love cycling and I love being with seniors, I decided that this was going to be my thing,' she added. Rouault said she was inspired by Cycling without Age, an organization that offers rickshaw rides to seniors to help combat loneliness. She said her own specialty rig cost more than $17,500. Since buying it two years ago, she has given about 200 rides. tricycle rickshaw Martina Rouault 's specialty tricycle rickshaw offers seniors -- or anyone -- to enjoy a bike ride without the work. (Nahreman Issa/CTV News Edmonton) There aren't many requirements beyond signing a waiver, wearing a seatbelt and a helmet – and trying to enjoy themselves, Rouault said. Laureen Wright and her daughter Lisa Pape took a ride on Thursday. 'I really wanted to do something for my mom's 89th birthday that she would enjoy, because she's a big nature lover and she used to be a long-distance cycler,' Pape said. Wright was always an outdoorsy person, loving hiking, biking and cross country-skiing. However, she said mobility issues have made it difficult to get outdoors very much anymore. 'So this really is an exceptionally wonderful thing for me to do,' Wright said. 'It was wonderful, a real treat for me, that's for sure,' she added. 'The sun coming through the trees, beautiful flowers. It was a lovely experience.' Martina Rouault Martina Rouault (left) helps 89-year-old Laureen Wright with her helmet before a tricycle rickshaw ride through St. Albert. (Nahreman Issa/CTV News Edmonton) Dr. Ganz Ferrance said there are emotional and social benefits for seniors taking a ride outdoors. 'We know from studies that when people are out in nature they feel calmer, they feel clearer, they feel more connected and just generally better,' he said. There are physical benefits too, he added, even if they aren't pushing the pedals themselves. For example, lower blood pressure and a stronger immune system. 'All these physiological things happen when we're happy and in a good mood and connected,' he added. 'Even just eye contact and a smile and a little 'Hello' does wonders for people, right? 'But especially if you've been kind of secluded or in the same environment for a long time, like seniors.' Rouault said she also benefits from the rides, and it makes her happy to see the joy that shared experience can bring. 'It's my gift to our senior community,' she said. 'I worry that they do get overlooked too often, and it makes me feel full-hearted that I can do even just a little bit in our community.' Rouault gives rides between May and October each year. If you would like to book a ride, you can reach Rouault on Facebook or by emailing tricycle4three@
BBC News
03-06-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Littleport man finds Sinclair C5 on Facebook and drives it on the road
An unusual mode of transport has been turning heads after it was restored to its "former glory". Mark Robinson from Littleport in Cambridgeshire said he had spent the last few years restoring a tiny, electrically powered tricycle-like vehicle. The Sinclair C5 was invented by British entrepreneur Clive Sinclair in 1985 and has a pedal-assisted electric Robinson, 49, takes his restored vehicle onto the roads and said the invention had been "ahead of its time," and was called "cool by the youth of today". Mr Robinson bought the vehicle - affectionately named Clive - on Facebook Marketplace in 2021 before he revamped said the tyres were ruined, it was black and he had to 3D print the rear indicators due to price and availability for the model. "In 1985, in my opinion, the world wasn't quite ready for electric vehicles," Mr Robinson said. "They looked like nothing else that was out there, and people weren't quite aware of that sort of genre of vehicle."He added that Clive moved at about 14 mph and could travel about 12 miles on a decent charge. Mr Robinson said he had been impressed with its range and drivability, adding it also received lots of smiles, waves and "looks of bafflement" from younger generations. He remembered the first time he saw the invention at a Cambridge electrical shop in January 1985."It was a demonstrator, you couldn't drive it or anything like that, but you could sit in and have your photo taken, and that was my first time in one. "I was impressed, it was a fun thing to see." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
