Winkler comes together to get bike shop's wheels in motion
Peter Loewen spent six years building up his bike business, Country Cycle, and in one night it was gone.
The Winkler, Man., cyclist lost his shop, more than 50 bikes, and $100,000 in merchandise after a group of people set fire to the building.
A 40-year-old man, 18-year-old man and 22-year-old man were arrested and charged with break and enter and arson.
"It was really hard to know that something I had been building up for the last six years … just like that it was gone," Loewen said.
"The first person that I ran into after the fire I just broke down," he added.
The community, located about 116 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg, rallied behind the bike shop and its well-known owner. Two GoFundMe pages were set up and Loewen said he was given a location to run a temporary shop.
The help is welcomed because Loewen said his insurance will only cover about three-quarters of what he has lost.
Prior to the fire, Loewen had a new baby at home and hadn't updated his insurance policy to cover a shop expansion. That means that some of the customer bikes, costing around $15,000, were not covered.
"People have been so incredible," Loewen said, about the support and understanding he has received.
The bike shop was also known for making wacky, humorous commercials in the community. Loewen said after the community rallied together he thought about making a video to thank his neighbours and friends.
But then he thought that having a sense of humour was more his style.
"It's still very genuine and people who know Country Cycle know we are very approachable, we are very relaxed," he said.
With the help of his brother-in-law, Loewen came up with a different sort of commercial. He recruited some of the shop's mechanics, local racers, and friends to make a funny video.
"It took us a day to shoot it and it was just so therapeutic to kind of see this thing unfold," he said.
"It just lightened my mood a little bit. It was a tragic thing but to give it a bit of humour [helped]."
More than $35,000 has been raised to help Loewen rebuild. He will be taking possession of a new location on Sept. 1 but doesn't know when he will be moved in.
One major lesson Loewen has taken away — know your insurance policy.
