Committed to Cycling… In Both Senses of the Word

Posted July 1st, 2009

What’s the difference between a fanatic and a visionary?
Answer: Time and luck. If enough time passes, and you’re lucky enough to have been fanatic about something that eventually caught on, now you’re a visionary. Examples of things that caught on: abolition, child labor laws, organic farming. Example of one that didn’t: The End Is Nigh!
Bicycling is one that caught on, and in a time of constant, dipsy-doodle fluctuations in the price of gas, is continuing to catch on. Pierre Bernier was there first; he was just a little ahead of his time.
From the beginning, he had a deep commitment to bicycling. How deep? For five years, between 1984 and 1989, Pierre never once rode in a motorized vehicle. Not once—no car, no train, no plane, no elevator. He walked, he skied, and most of all, he biked. When Pierre shifted apartments, he even biked his sofa from the old place to the new.
Cycling-commitment-wise, that ain’t all. Pierre owns almost every kind of bike ever built: an actual wooden cycle, all manner of racing bikes (for two years he raced with the legendary Louis Garneau), towering unicycles, an ancient Penny Farthing.
All this bikeology has left him with strong opinions on what’s good for cycling—and what’s not. Pierre holds in disdain two of cycledom’s favorite projects: bike paths and rails-to-trails paths. “These are things we’d be better off without.”
About bike paths, he says, “It’s a way of segregating cyclists. Here’s a bike path for you. So load the bikes on the SUV, drive to the bike path, then load up and drive home. Puh-leaze.”
In Bernier’s view, building bike paths encourages recreational biking; he strongly prefers purposeful biking. “Cities should be designed so you can bike to work, to shopping, to get a haircut. Get out of the car and onto a bike. It’s good for you and good for the air. I’m in favor of bike lanes on city streets, not bike paths away from them.”
Rails-to-trails gets his thumbs down for a different reason. “Those rail beds were designed to carry massive weight, not flimsy two-wheelers. The world would be better off if the rails hadn’t been removed. That way, if cities decided to run a light rail from one part of town to another, or between one town and the next, the rails would still be there. This way, we’ll never be able to use that rail bed again. That’s why car manufacturers love them.”
But Pierre Bernier’s biggest commitment to biking is that he cycles all year long. Now, if he lived in Miami or Dallas or San Diego, that would be one thing. But Pierre lives in Quebec City, where snow lasts long and piles high. Winter biking in Quebec pretty much defines commitment. Rain or snow, August and December, Pierre is pedaling.
And when he’s not on a bike, he’s working on one. Though he’s also a performer, musician, mime, actor, dancer, and artist, Pierre’s day job is running a bike shop in downtown Quebec City. There, he sells bikes (including the chainless Danish bike), repairs bikes, rents bikes, leads bike tours of the city, and, not so incidentally, presides over what must be the smallest museum in Canada, Museovelo, the museum of self-propulsion.
The museum occupies one wall of the shop plus every cranny that’s not already bursting with cables, shift levers, and tubes. Ancient bikes share space with ancient skis. Books vie for room with photos. The entrance fee is two bucks, and for bikeophilics, it’s the best bargain yet.
Next time you’re in La Belle Province, either bring your bike or rent one from Pierre. Better yet, hire him for your own personal Tour de Quebec. And don’t leave town without seeing Museovelo, the Lilliputian museum of self-propulsion.
PIERRE’S TIPS
What people don’t understand about snow-riding is that narrow tires are actually much better in snow than fat tires.
Stay velonomus! Always carry a spare inner tube, tire lever, and a pump. And stick two pre-glued patches in your wallet.
Baskets are the bicyclist’s best friend. In front, at the back, on the side, they are always ready to receive goods, and they’re faster to remove than panniers.
For heavy-duty urban cycling, buy a pneumatic horn like Air Zound. It may save your life.
Insert an old towel under your seat to wipe your hands and a plastic bag to cover the seat when you park your bike on rainy days.
MORE INFO:
Museovelo, 463 St Jean, Québec, QC G1R1, 418-523-9194,
museovelo@lycos.com