Bicycles belonging to two New Brunswick men who are cycling across Canada for mental health awareness were stolen while they did a media interview in Winnipeg’s downtown area on Friday morning.
Thomas Clark and Valentin Duquenne were devastated after the bikes went missing outside CBC Manitoba’s headquarters, but uplifted by an outpouring of support from Manitobans afterward.
“When I walked out, Tom started running towards the car and then I saw the bikes were gone. We were pretty speechless,” Duquenne, 24, said. “It’s not great. We’re kind of stranded in Winnipeg without the tools that get us across the country.”
Valentin Duquenne, left, and Thomas Clark had their bicycles stolen while they did a media interview in downtown Winnipeg Friday morning.
Valued at $15,000 to $20,000, the bikes — Trek and Cannondale models — were locked on a rack on the back of a support car that was parked on Young Street, just south of Portage Avenue, when the theft happened between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. The lock was cut.
“We’ve biked halfway across the country on those bikes,” Clark, 23, said. “We’ve had all the ups and downs, and everything along this journey so far has been done on those bikes. It really sucks because they kind of feel a part of us now.”
The men, from Moncton, expected to set off on the next leg of their journey from North Sydney, N.S., to Victoria, B.C., after completing a radio interview. The charity ride began June 22.
Because of the theft, they planned to spend Friday night in Winnipeg, while they hoped to recover the missing bikes or acquire new ones.
“Even if they’re found after we’re gone, if we have to get new bikes or whatever the situation ends up being, those bikes do mean a lot to us, so it would be incredible to have them back,” Clark said.
The Winnipeg Police Service shared photos of the bikes on its social media accounts. People with information about the theft or the location of the bikes, or surveillance footage, are asked to call the property crimes unit at 204-986-2426.
Police spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon was disappointed by the incident.
“These guys are coming to do really good work and they pass through our city, and they go to share the word and this is what happens,” she said.
The Free Press has contacted the CBC for comment. Duquenne said video from CBC’s surveillance cameras was reviewed.
A Cannondale bicycle, valued between $15,000 and $20,000, was one of two stolen outside the CBC building Friday morning while its owner was doing a radio interview.
A Trek bike, also worth as much as $20,000, was stolen Friday.
Clark and Duquenne dubbed their charity ride “Men Don’t Ride Alone,” while raising funds for men’s mental health initiatives. The friends, who began the effort with no cycling experience, hope to raise $250,000 for the non-profit Movember Canada.
Duquenne said the pair came up with the idea after he sought help for substance abuse problems and mental health issues in September.
“After that, once I got help and everything, I really wanted to make a difference in other men’s lives,” he said.
This is the first time Clark and Duquenne have visited Winnipeg.
“We had no idea it was like that,” Duquenne said of the theft. “We’ve stopped in major cities, like Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa and even some nights we didn’t even have the locks on the bikes, and we’ve never had an issue, not even a close call.”
He said the theft could have happened anywhere during their travels across the country.
“We really do appreciate the whole city coming together for us.”
Clark and Duquenne said people have rallied behind the pair since they publicized the theft on their social media accounts.
“We really do appreciate the whole city coming together for us,” Duquenne said.
“Everyone is looking for these bikes and doing everything they can, so really shout out to Winnipeg for doing all they can to help us get them back,” Clark said.
“It may have been where they were stolen, but all the good people in Winnipeg are doing everything they can for us.”
3,000 bikes stolen each year
It’s not the first time visitors, be it people on a charity bike ride or walk, musicians or vacationing families, have suffered at the hands of thieves in Winnipeg.
In July, Fergus Watt, 69, was on a cross-country ride when his bike was stolen outside the Mountain Equipment Company shop on Portage Avenue. It was later recovered after a Winnipeg Transit bus driver spotted a person trying to get the bike on the bus.
Blue Rodeo guitarist Jimmy Bowskill’s bike was stolen at The Forks in October while the band was in Winnipeg for a pair of gigs. It was later recovered.
Police estimate that about 3,000 bikes are stolen in the city every year. The WPS encourages people to register their bikes with Project 529 to improve the chances of recovery, if stolen.
chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca
Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter
Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.
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