On June 10, 2025 we lost an important member of our bicycle community. John Anderson was a thoughtful, caring and deeply community minded person. On behalf of Bike Winnipeg we want to express our condolences to his friends and family as well as our deep sense of loss for the bicycle community.
John was a lawyer, however in the 90’s he went back to school and became a teacher. That is where John first got involved in growing bicycling in our city. Inspired by the school bike program at Hugh John Macdonald, John started his own bike repair program at Elmwood high school in 2011. Elmwood’s Cycle program soon became one of the first schools that the WRENCH partnered with to provide bikes for students. John stayed involved with Elmwood’s program for years, even after he retired from teaching.
In 2012 John joined the board of The WRENCH where he stayed on for 7 years, including 2 years as board president. After stepping down from the board he continued to volunteer at the WRENCH’s shop, not only repairing bikes, but teaching others how to repair their own bikes. Never one to be idle, John soon after joined the board of Bike Week Winnipeg where his knowledge and experience helped to continue the growth of Winnipeg’s cycling culture.
A calm, quiet and unassuming person, John could often be found acting as the sweep on many Bike Winnipeg rides. He was also a regular volunteer with Bike Valet Winnipeg and a member of Safe Speeds Winnipeg. John was always willing to help whether it was fixing a bike, marshalling a group ride, parking your bike, distributing Safe Speeds signs or just sharing his vast knowledge and experience to make our city a better place for riding bike.
A final thought taken from John’s Celebration of Life. “John always showed up.” Its true.
He will be missed. Rest in peace John.