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by Thia James from https://thestarphoenix.com Saskatoon’s Rik Albert speaks about his unique art and his 10-year quest to bring an ergonomic bike handle bar to market. “You build that?” asks a man walking along the residential street where Rik Albert rides his bike, equipped with a Toon bar, a raised handle bar of his invention. Albert explains that the handle bar is for people with carpal tunnel syndrome — since it’s intended to relieve some of the pressure put on the rider’s wrists — and people with spinal injuries, since the rider remains in an upright position. “Holy smokes,” the man replies. Both continue on their way. The Toon bar has been a 10-year passion for Albert. It’s still at the prototype stage, but he’s been an unfailing advocate for his invention. He created a video, wrote a letter to talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, and has appeared on local television to spread the word about his creation. He reached out to DeGeneres, who is originally from Louisiana, because they share Acadian roots, he says. He’s originally from New Brunswick. Albert’s father was from New Brunswick and his mom was from Western Canada; they met in Ontario and moved to New Brunswick, then to Montreal, where he became bilingual by learning English. When his parents divorced, he moved to Esterhazy, Sask. when he was about 10 years old. “(When I) got off the train, I could see the Atlantic and I could see the Pacific, and went ‘Wow, this is flat,’ ” he jokes. Albert went on to work for General Motors and Harley-Davidson, which speaks to both of his passions, cars and motorcycles. The idea for the raised handle bar came almost out of necessity. As he puts it, he’s already used seven of his nine lives. When he