By John Chenier
If there was a competition for the most environmentally conscious individual in Lowertown, Richard Guy Briggs would certainly be a strong contender. Throughout his adult years, he has pursued two major interests many consider to be at the heart of environmental sustainability, cycling and solar power.
Like most children, Richard started cycling when he was young, but it was only after he completed high school that friends introduced him to the joys of taking longer bicycle trips out into the surrounding countryside. His first major trip took place at the age of 20 when his regular means of transportation to a music camp in the Laurentians was not available. Given the choice between driving his father’s car or cycling the 135 km to the camp, he opted to cycle – a practice he continues at least yearly to this day.
That trip marked the start of his enthusiasm for long-distance biking. Some examples: in 1991, he fulfilled his dream of biking across Canada from Victoria to Montreal; in 1993, he biked across Australia from Adelaide to Cairns; and, in 1998, he and his wife, Carole, celebrated their honeymoon by biking the length of Cuba.
His bicycle trip across Australia came about as a result of his other interest, solar power. During his last year in computer engineering at the University of Ottawa, Richard was a member of the solar-car design team that entered in the Dallas-to-Minneapolis competition, Sunrayce 93 (now The American Solar Challenge). During his visit to Australia, his solar-car credentials got him “hired on” as a volunteer for the solar-car competition, the World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide. After the end of the race, he cycled back north.
Eventually, the aches and pains that came after long rides led him to make the switch to recumbent bikes. The years since then have been filled with experiments and experiences using various “cargo” and other forms of working bikes. He is a founding member of the Human-powered Vehicle Operators of Ottawa (HPVOoO) — a club “set up to be a non-club, with no dues, no meetings, and not even any organized rides!”
In 2007, using only what members of the HPVOoO, refer to as a vehicle with two power-plants (that is, people) towing a tandem-axle trailer, Richard and Carole moved all of their worldly possessions from their old house on Cambridge Street to their new house on Wurtenburg. The trailer was initially built to carry a person playing a full-sized Hammond Organ in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It continues to be modifed and entered into parades throughout the Ottawa region. Over the years it has carried a giant snowman, a child’s swing set, complete with swinger, even an Irish pub and, of course, it is still used to help people move. Richard says the hardest part of using the trailer to move peoples’ possessions is carrying them in and out of the houses.
Richard and Carole have never owned a car. Over the last decade, residents of Lowertown have grown accustomed to seeing Richard transporting people and things — children to school or daycare, groceries, canoes — using various forms of cargo bikes. The children have grown up now but are still seen riding in Richard’s version of a family sedan, “the caterpillar”. Given his engineering degree and his interest in solar cars, it is no surprise that the roof of his house and his garage are covered with solar panels. According to Richard, the 40 panels generate about 9 kW, but the output varies with the seasons. The heat in the summer, and the low angle of the sun and short daylight hours in the winter diminish the ability to generate power. Peak time is in the cool months of spring,
In case you are wondering whether he uses an HPV to commute to work, the answer is no. As a committed open-source Linux kernel security software engineer, he works from home 2011.