A retired teacher is using his knowledge of bicycles to keep community wheels spinning.
Before the pandemic struck, John Scott dreamed of having a space where he could teach people how to repair their own bicycles. While that's still his goal, in the meantime he's offering repair services out of his Aqua Street, Elora home – something he insists isn't intended to compete with traditional repair shops, but rather to keep people peddling when they can't otherwise afford it.
“I just put out a sign at the front of my driveway,” Scott said. “Because of COVID, everybody's walking. There's tons of people walking by my house, who I've never seen walk by my house before, and things just sort of spread from word of mouth.”
But since the pandemic halted his original plans, Scott has been focused on helping community members by providing lower cost bike repairs.
“There's a lot of bikes out there that just need a bit of love, and there's a lot of people out there that don't have the money to bring it up to new standard,” Scott said. “I'm happy to help them that way.”
Scott said when he first started repairing bicycles, there was a bit of a learning curve.
“The first two bikes I got, I had no idea how to fix them – absolutely zero,” Scott said. “It was like, ‘Oh my goodness. I guess I'm in this now’ so thank goodness I figured it out.”
In addition to providing repairs, Scott advocates for stronger bicycle infrastructure in the area and sees the benefits it could provide.
“The reason I do that is not because bikes are the be all and end all, or that I'm a bike fanatic, because I'm not,” Scott said. “It's a great way to fight our environmental crisis and it's a great way to fight our health crisis. When I started thinking about what's the one thing that you can do to has all these implications these ripple effects further down, the bike sort of comes in there as one of them.”
Scott said he’s noticed an increase in ridership, which he hopes will keep up post-pandemic. However, the increase in ridership has made it harder for people to gain access bicycles.
“The demand is way up,” Scott said. “I think it's primarily just because we're looking for something we can do. I'm worried that once we get occupied again, that there will be a big percentage that will go put their bikes in the garage and not use them again. But I also know there'll be a huge bunch of people who discovered it, and it’s now part of their lives.”
For Scott, the experience of helping others with affordable bicycle repairs has taught him many things, but has also enriched his life.
“Science actually shows the (interactions) that really make us happy are those interactions we have out in the community with acquaintances that we have,” Scott said. “These little conversations give us a true boost of happiness and I'm hoping I'm helping with that. My streets are lined with people, and that's because I'm out front and they're walking or they're riding. It just makes everybody feel good when we're out on the street, and we're alive.”
