At the Saint-Léon church in Paris, a former soldier offers a bicycle repair workshop

About twenty Saturdays a year, from 10 a.m. to noon, as indicated on the poster posted in the church, Christian Planes welcomes free of charge – and without presentation of the baptismal certificate! – half a dozen cyclists anxious to have their bikes repaired. And since there are even more of them in the summer, Laurent de Feraudy, an executive in the pharmaceutical sector who also knows how to repair old studs, comes to give him a helping hand. “Christian is very nice. I trust him to maintain my two children’s bikes. I find it difficult to do it myself,” confides Sandrine, a maths teacher. A financial executive, Laurent (who has nothing to do with the one in the pharmaceutical sector) came to have the tires of his daughter Clémence’s bicycle reinflated. “It’s also an opportunity to check the derailleur,” emphasizes this fifty-year-old, while thanking Christian for “his kindness and technical advice.”

The transmission of knowledge

No appointment is needed to be seen at the bike workshop. “People just have to come with the spare part (inner tube, brake pads, derailleur cable, etc.) so I can show them how to change it. The goal is to teach them how to do it themselves so that they become independent,” confides the former lieutenant-colonel. “We are mainly here to pass on knowledge,” adds his colleague Laurent de Feraudy.

A practicing Catholic, Christian Planes makes no secret of the reasons for his commitment: “Reaching out to others and helping them brings me joy. Basically, I am here to bear witness and recognize the image of the Lord in each one.” Does a bicycle workshop really have a place in a parish? Denis Metzinger, the priest of Saint-Léon, is convinced: “As long as it helps families, this activity has its place in the church.”

Word of mouth is spreading around this initiative, so much so that neighbours sometimes bring their old bikes that have been stranded in the cellar. “We repair them and sell them twice a year. The money we earn allows us to buy equipment or help young people go to WYD (World Youth Day),” explains Christian Planes.