Leader comment: A mechanised cycling revolution

'The fresh air and the wind in your hair. It's just amazing.' Ninety-year-old Mary Duncan's description of the joy of going for a ride on an electric tricycle says it all.

Cycling Without Age helps elderly people 'get out of the four walls' (Picture: Stewart Attwood)

And the source of that joy – the Cycling Without Age scheme in Falkirk – is now to be made available ini eight other parts of Scotland, following a £300,000 grant from the Scottish Government. Like many good things, it originated in Scandinavia.

While the elderly pensioners don’t do the actual cycling – volunteers provide the muscle-power for the ‘trishaws’ – they do get to enjoy all the thrill of the ride and the effects on health and quality of life are said to be transformational.

The Scotsman has already reported on the so-called “electric bike smile” and the potential of electric bicycles to become a significant new form of transport. But it seems our elders have cottoned on to the benefits – and the fun to be had – faster than most.

Perhaps younger generations could learn from them and embrace the trishaw. Wouldn’t we all prefer to feel the “wind in our hair” like Mary on the daily commute?