By Roberta Rosa and Naelle Le Moal
If you know Peter Mason, you know he cycles. And if he has his way, you will soon be cycling, too.
Last month, Mason, 37, won the Bruce Timmermans award for his work promoting safe cycling and encouraging people to get back on their bikes.
Mason bikes at least 40 kilometres to work each day and carries a full case of tools, ready to help anyone stuck on the side of the path. If he ever uses the car, his bike sits on top.
This spring, Mason made a new challenge.
He convinced 20 out of his 25 colleagues at the Defence Research Development Canada to join him in a cycling competition and collectively log 20,000 kilometres this year.
They’ve already passed their goal and covered at least 26,000 kilometres.
“I had a very strong support from my colleagues and that’s probably why they chose me this year,” says Mason, whose colleagues nominated him for the award.
The City of Ottawa’s TravelWise program gives the award each year to promote cycling in Ottawa.
The award recognizes Bruce Timmermans, a tireless cycling advocate who died in 1999 and was a founding member of Citizens for Safe Cycling.
Coun. Janet Stavinga presented a commemorative plaque to Mason, commending him as one of the best kinds of cycling advocates.
“He leads by example and gentle encouragement,” she says.
“He’s there to offer advice and information on routes, cycling techniques, dealing with injuries or the weather and bicycle repair.”
Terry O’Shaughnessy, a cyclist for 40 years, was part of the three-member committee which chose Mason from among the cyclists nominated.
Nominations by members of the public are made through the City of Ottawa website.
“He is very deserving, very passionate about cycling,” O’Shaughnessy says about Mason.
“He gets people at work involved. He’s gone out of his way to go back and get tool kits for flat tires. He’s amazing. He is exactly what the Timmermans awards epitomize.”
Mason keeps four bikes in his garage and hopes to have biked 9,000 kilometres by the end of the year.
He has a doctorate in physics and regularly turns his backyard into a bike repair shop for families and friends.
But Mason wants to do more as Bruce Timmermans did.
“What I really want to do is figure out where the decisions are made and see if there’s anything that I can do to make a change,” he says.
Mason says he wants to be an active member of Citizens for Safe Cycling to help make the city friendlier to cyclists.
“I’m settled in Ottawa. This is my city now. I probably should be doing something to make it a better place rather than complaining all the time.”
Mason says many of the roads in Ottawa, such as Carling and Bronson, don’t have room for bikes and complains that the city doesn’t spend enough encouraging and building space for bikes.
“I pay $6,500 a year in tax for my house in Centretown and a significant portion of that money goes to roads in Ottawa. It doesn’t go for the roads that I use. It goes to building highways, big ramps and those things are not something that cyclists use,” Mason says.
City planners forget about cyclists when they build roads and don’t leave enough space for commuter bikes, he says.
“As a functional cycling city, this is not a good city to bike in.”
Many cycling groups and bike shops in Ottawa have been involved in lobbying the city for better cycling and their efforts are paying off, says O’Shaughnessy.
With help from cycling advocates, the city is developing a 10 and 20 year plan to promote cycling in the city, he says.
The plan will be going to city council soon.
Ottawa has its problems, says O’Shaughnessy, but “the city is making efforts to make it better for cyclists.”
Ottawa is trying to become one of the top cycling destinations in Canada, he says.
“It is important that we recognize cyclists as a value contribution to the city.”