According to the World Health Organisation, up to one in three older people experience loneliness across countries and regions all over the world. Jimbo Pintado Ruiz, known as Jimbo Safi, is determined to change this with his heartfelt initiative, Looping Gramps. The mission is simple but powerful: to encourage younger generations to embrace and engage with the elderly in their lives.
Inspired by his grandma, Marina, who would always light a candle ahead of his cycling adventures, Safi wanted to give something back to her, rooted in the belief that “when you give, you receive back; the more you offer, the richer you are.” And so began his quest for the biggest candle he could find, a candle that would become the central point of his cycling challenge. The result: a candle that was 40 centimetres tall and 10 centimetres round.
He planned to have his grandma light this candle as a symbol of care like she always did, but this time, he’d be riding for her, and he’d keep riding until the flame went out. “I didn’t want to have empty conversations about the weather with my grandma, but I wanted her to be a part of my whole journey,” Safi said to Rouleur about his keenness to have his grandma involved in Looping Gramps. But how long would it take to burn? He was about to find out.
Safi’s ride began in October on the 9th at 8:40am in Murcia, Spain, but there was no finishing destination set – Safi just had to keep pedalling until the candle had completely burned. His grandma, however, did have a destination in mind – Mugardos in Galicia, where she was born, and, more specifically, Rilo, the villa where she spent her youth – 1,000km away from Murcia. Safi himself also wanted to honour his grandfather, the only other cyclist in his family, by reaching La Almunia de Doña Godina, as well as wanting to include Spain’s Girona to ride with Women’s WorldTour pro Alison Jackson, a rider Safi feels is “the best Looping Gramps ambassador”. This totalled his route to 2,000km, a hefty distance to cover before the candle went out.
But while the challenge was inspired by his grandma, Safi wanted to connect with other elderly people along the way to connect further with his mission to raise awareness about the isolation older generations often face. He also wanted to make a tangible impact and had joined forces with Cycling Without Age, an NGO founded in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2012 by Ole Kassow that helps elderly individuals experience the joy of cycling by offering seniors the opportunity to enjoy the fresh air, the outdoors and the companionship of the younger generation through the use of trishaw bikes. Cycling Without Age found that 20% of older adults in Europe live alone, and it is a figure that is rising. The lack of social interaction by living alone can have a negative effect on physical and emotional health, making it more and more important to bring this to the forefront to encourage more people to help alleviate the isolation experienced by the elderly.
Riding for the millions of elderly people, Safi was determined to push as hard as he could, racking up an enormous 1,080km in the first three days, averaging only three hours of sleep. Luckily, Safi is no stranger to long, arduous stints on the bike. When he first got into road cycling, bikepacking and ultra races were the only things on the menu. He also worked for the bike manufacturer BMC as the project manager for components, living and riding in Switzerland. Ultra-distance races and rides might be few and far between for Safi now as he’s the Pas Normal Studios’ Destination Everywhere van driver, driving all over Europe to represent the cycling apparel brand. “We basically celebrate cycling in a moving HQ. We just get people together to do what we love doing – cycling. We do it a lot, we do it outside, and we celebrate everyone,” he said.
However, on day four of the Looping Gramps challenge, Safi hit a wall both physically and mentally. The riding was not only taking its toll, but also the pressure of running a project of this nature was weighing heavy. “I had to accept that the project’s responsibilities had to be handed over to the rest of the team so I could find mental peace, ride, and make room for meaningful interactions with the elderly along the way,” Safi said.
As a result of admitting that one person, and one person under extreme fatigue, can not do everything required, the second half of Looping Gramps ran smoothly. Safi continued to produce 300km per day, and the challenge was gaining traction, not only via social media, but his video calls with his grandma were getting longer, and Safi was stopping to tell every elderly person he passed along the way about the project. “I could feel the energy of the community we were creating,” he said. “People were connecting with us and the cause, and it was just beautiful to see how inspiring we were in the way I aimed.”
By the time Safi arrived in Rilo, the candle was still burning. Immersing himself in the place that’s so special to his grandma, he spent time with some family, including her cousin, and he also visited a Cycling Without Age 'chapter' and took someone out for a ride. “I called my grandma to tell her I would continue riding straightaway,” he said, fuelled by an inspiring day. “I felt like I should harness the last days or hours of the candle, but she asked me to have a proper rest in her homeland and enjoy the air of the ocean a bit longer. ‘Do it for me," she said.”
Only an hour into the next day’s ride did Safi receive the call to say the candle had gone out – 82 hours and 42 minutes after they had lit it in Murcia. “I finished the ride in a very emotional place because it ended close to where my grandparents met for the first time. It was very magical,” he said. Immediately after, he travelled back to Murcia, this time in a four-wheeled van, to celebrate this milestone with his grandma in what is now a long-running campaign to raise awareness.
He added: “Looping Gramps, to me, was a chance to put together everything and everyone who loves and supports me into one project. At first, my grandma didn’t really connect with it, but by the end. she was completely connected with Looping Gramps. The candle was living with her, and we were calling each other on the phone, and she was really moved. She has also seen the impact that the challenge has had and the money that we have raised will open a Cycling for Age chapter in my hometown, so in a few months, my grandma will actually see one of the cargo bikes riding around her neighbourhood.”
Looping Gramps may have started as a simple idea – a ride fuelled by a candle’s flame and a grandson’s love – but it has grown into something far greater. Safi’s nine-day ride not only strengthened his bond with his grandma but also shed light on a universal issue: the loneliness experienced by millions of elderly people worldwide. Through his tireless efforts, meaningful conversations, and collaboration with cycling brands and Cycling Without Age, Safi has created a movement that bridges generations and inspires connection. So, while the flame has gone out on the candle, the fire inside of Safi continues to burn as he works to help others like his grandma.
