“You can’t be sad while riding a bicycle.”

Founder and former president Nicole Lepping said that after a full year of no rides and the stop-start season of 2021, the Sequim Wheelers are gearing up for the organization’s fifth season of offering rides to fellow citizens with mobility issues.

The COVID pandemic wiped out the nonprofit’s 2020 season, as well as all rides after Aug. 23 last year following a rise in COVID rates.

But with rates still in the low category as of early this week, Sequim Wheelers volunteers and board members are looking to get back on the roads and trails.

“The desire for nature and companionship is for most people amplified due to the restrictions we had to experience due to COVID and other circumstances,” Lepping said. “So we all are ready for these simple yet wonderful pleasure.

“Especially when you’re in a nursing home. They’re probably more ready than ever [to ride].”

Sequim Wheelers give rides to residents of local nursing home facilities — Sherwood Assisted Living, Home Instead, Sequim Health and Rehabilitation, Dungeness Courte Memory Care, Discovery Memory Care and others — as well as participants of Clallam Mosaic, private individuals and others who are unable to ride a regular bicycle.

The organization is looking for new volunteers. Training sessions are scheduled for April. To volunteer with the Sequim Wheelers, email to sequimwheelers@yahoo.com, visit sequimwheelers.com or call 360-809-2182.

Volunteers and participants will follow what county COVID protocols are in place at the time.

The Sequim Wheelers “fleet” includes four bikes — three wheelchair bikes and one side-by-side tandem bike — each of which are pedal-assist bikes.

Sequim Wheelers has a new board president in Bob Fitton, a three-year board member, while Lepping, who works as a paradeducator at Hamilton Elementary School in Port Angeles, will continue to help the organization she founded.

Lepping immigrated from Germany to the U.S. in 2011 and worked for years as a special education teacher. She was inspired to start Sequim Wheelers after seeing an adaptive bike video of Healing Rides, a partner program in Illinois.

“I was instantly touched and inspired to start an adaptive bike program for our community,” she said. “I thought, ‘This would be a beautiful contribution to our community.’”

Sequim Wheelers is funded almost entirely from private donations. Donations are accepted at: Sequim Wheelers, PO Box 276, Carlsborg, WA 98324.