The program En Bici Sense Edat, which offers rides on adapted tricycles for seniors in Barcelona, has accumulated 300 volunteers on a waiting list due to a lack of vehicles. In 2025, it made over 1,800 outings with only nine tricycles.
The program En Bici Sense Edat, which has been offering rides on adapted tricycles for seniors in Barcelona since 2016, will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2026 with a paradox: while the number of volunteers grows, the lack of tricycles hinders its expansion. 300 people are waiting to join as volunteers, but the association only has nine vehicles in the Catalan capital.
Over 1,800 rides in 2025 with nine tricycles
The entity, founded by Elisa Ojeda after learning about the Danish initiative Cycling Without Age, has made 1,834 rides in Barcelona during 2025, according to the organization's data. Each outing lasts approximately one hour and covers neighbourhoods like Gràcia, where 96-year-old Berta Rodón resides, who felt the "wind in her face" again thanks to the program.
Currently, the association has 230 active volunteers in Barcelona, but the waiting list already triples that number. The entity hopes to incorporate a tenth tricycle through a crowdfunding campaign, which does not yet have a specific date.
The program is not limited to the capital: it also operates in another fifteen municipalities, including Terrassa, Sant Cugat del Vallès, Mataró and Granollers, where the same pattern of growing demand is repeated. In Terrassa, the service is provided with one tricycle and has about twenty volunteers, although the local waiting list is around 40 people.
The value of the ride goes beyond the journey
Dídac Sabater, a volunteer in the program for three years, emphasises that the main objective is not the transportation. "In the end, the ride is the least important; what matters is the visibility we give to these people and being able to talk and exchange experiences with them," he explains. For many seniors, the weekly outing is the only opportunity to leave home and engage with their surroundings.
Pedro Cano, general director of Gent Gran de la Generalitat, describes the initiative as a case of "social prescription": "You socialise, you leave your environment, and you build community," he states. Since May 2025, the Department of Social Rights has collaborated with the program at the senior residence in Gràcia, where the tricycles pick up users directly.
The vehicles, named Alfonsina, Eulàlia and Mercè, avoid numbers to create a more personal bond. Each tricycle can carry two passengers and is driven by a volunteer. The association estimates that, with a tenth tricycle, it could accommodate about 50 more volunteers from the waiting list.
For Barcelona residents who wish to participate, the entity organises monthly information sessions. The next one is scheduled for 15 March at the Centre Cívic de Gràcia, where the requirements to be a volunteer will be explained: having a few hours a week and a willingness to share experiences. "You don't need to be fit, just have a conversation," jokes a spokesperson for the association.
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