Wayne pedals through Paradise, bringing joy to people of all ages

It's just another beautiful day in Paradise, or at least Paradise Point on the Gold Coast, and Wayne Sticher, 66, founder of the Gold Coast branch of Cycling Without Age, is peddling up a storm while his joyful passengers can't keep the smiles from their faces.

The charity Cycling Without Age has around 100 volunteers and 11 trishaws - bicycles with specially adapted bench seats at the front that can take two passengers. Some of them also take a wheelchair.

From Tuesday to Friday, volunteers take older people who can no longer ride bikes or people with disabilities on free rides through beautiful Paradise Point or The Spit at Southport.

It's difficult to tell who enjoys the outings the most, the passengers or the volunteers, as both are buzzing with excitement at the end of the 40-minute ride.

The Cycling Without Age concept began in Copenhagen in 2012 when Ole Kassow decided he wanted to help older adults get back on their bicycles to make them feel a part of the local community. However, he had to find a solution to their limited mobility. The answer was a trishaw, and he started offering free bike rides to the local nursing home residents.

The idea has spread worldwide, and there are forty chapters in Australia.

Retired firefighter Wayne was nominated for a Queensland Senior of the Year Award in the 2025 Australia Day Awards.

Although Wayne didn't get the gong, his sideboard is beginning to bow under the weight of recent accolades he and the organisation have received.

Cycling Without Age won the 2024 Queensland Community Achievement Award, the Volunteering Gold Coast Diversity and Inclusion Award and last year Volunteering Queensland Community Impact Award. In October, Wayne was awarded the inaugural Everald Compton Community Medal by National Seniors Australia.

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But Wayne and the other volunteers don't do it for the awards.

"It's a pleasure and a privilege," said Wayne. It's more than heartwarming. We've taken a 108-year-old lady out for a ride, and we've got kids with complex disabilities who are nonverbal and otherwise would never get a chance to ride a bike. Their carers go with them, and they're just loving it.

"The ratio between the simplicity and the profound effect it has is unbelievable."

Wayne reckons he's busier now than when he was working. In addition to his weekly volunteering with Cycling Without Age, he is also on the Australian organisation's management committee, helping establish new chapters around Australia.

Wayne also volunteers with Volunteer Marine Rescue, the Queensland Tissue Bank, Queensland Eye Institute and Donate Life.

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