Philippe Wauthier and Mélanie Trottechaud, new residents in Brome Lake, are going to open the first Canadian Museum of Bicycles on Victoria Street in 2019.

More than a museum, the project includes a thematic B&B on the second floor. The rooms will be mini museums with each having a different theme related to cycling. In order to see a room, one would have to spend the night in one. The impression would be of “living in a museum”, for tall glass doors will allow the B&B clients to see through the rooms reserved for the museum, which will certainly please cycling enthusiasts. Everything on site will remind one of the bicycle, even the lighting and accessories will be made from old bicycle pieces.This celebration of cycling in all its forms should please the road bicycle amateurs as much as the mountain ones.

Philippe is the owner of three bicycle boutiques in Québec City and his wife is a policewoman. They both compete in the Ironman Triathlon. They will retire in the next two years and leave cycling competition long enough to set up their project. Much is left to do before the museum becomes a reality and they truly intend to be totally involved in the endeavour. Philippe has an inclination for transmitting his passion for cycling through the stories about the creation of this sport in Québec and in Canada. “Very few people know the key role that certain companies in Québec and Canada have played in the bicycle history. Just think of Giuseppe Marinoni and his made-to-measure bicycles which were the envy of so many cyclists.”

While visiting here, these two great athletes fell in love with the region and, above all, with the large white house ideal for realizing their museum project and to move in with their big family. They have five children who are also into sports. Co-ordinating work, children, the museum project and training is quite a challenge. Renovating, gathering bicycles and accessories, and building the museum decor is on the agenda. But they are motivated, love the challenge, and aim at finishing within their time limit.

Translation: Guy Côté