According to SPACES cycling host Andre Riopel, every season is cycling season.
“In the Sault area, we have over 100 km of fat-bike cycling trails, and this year is a great year for it!” he says. “I love to say that as long as you have the bike for it, you can cycle all year round, just about everywhere.”
SPACES, SooToday's social network for Sault Ste. Marie, is hosted by community champions. Riopel is one of them and aptly suited for the cycling space.
SEE: So you want to be a SPACES host
“I learned how to ride a bike when I was six, and never looked back,” he mused.
Currently, Riopel has six bikes that he rides regularly. He doesn’t own a car, and doesn’t need a gym membership, so he figures he still comes out ahead, financially.
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“You need a bike for mountain biking, one each for winter and summer commuting, a touring bike, one for fat biking…so five or six bikes is good to start,” he said with a smile.
Riopel enjoys analyzing new cycling equipment in his SPACES posts. He recently reviewed the Jones bike and the Jones handlebar, which he says for him is really “a game changer as hand numbness and neck pain really affected my cycling enjoyment on the road and trail.”
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Riopel also enjoys interacting with other members in the group, which is growing rapidly.
“I think SPACES is a great idea and it really goes with my passion of sharing local information to locals about cycling. It’s locally owned and community driven, which makes it so much better than other social network options. I am excited to help it grow and share my knowledge with other passionate local cyclists.”
Riopel has a lot of knowledge. After learning to bike at six, he never looked back. He went to school for physiotherapy and after graduating, cycled to Sault Ste. Marie from London, Ont., for his first job.
"I remember sleeping in a bicycle sack under a picnic table in Blind River because it was snowing," he added.
He joined the cycling club as soon as he moved here, started the first bike advisory committee here, and the trail advisory committee. He also spearheaded the hub trail project.
“When I joined the cycling club, there were around 70 members,” he reminisced. “Now there are over 600, and the bike shops are thriving! If you build it, they will come!”
Also along the way, he worked as a physiotherapist, owned a bike store, invented a therapeutic pedalling device, and cycled every chance he got.
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“I retired two years ago and am winding down the pedalling device project,” he said. “Now I am reviewing the new active transportation master plan as part of the cycling advocacy committee. I am also building a net-zero home with a low construction carbon footprint. That is taking a lot of time . . . when you are a trail blazer you need to do a lot of educating and that’s where I am now with this project.”
Riopel’s other goal for SPACES is to treat it as the unique network that it is. “I don’t want to duplicate what I would post on other social media platforms. I want to be deliberate about what I post, make it very local and very relevant,” he explained.
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He is hoping he can spur lively discussion in the space as well. So far, comments are slow to arrive, but he has noticed an increase in likes and the membership is going up. He is also quick to thank frequent posters David Ellis and John Dowding for their contributions to the space.
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“I think SPACES has a great future for all of us and I am hoping to be part of spurring that journey onward,” he said.
“Sault Ste. Marie is a premiere mountain and fat biking destination in the province. We have a huge network of bike trails. And I want everyone to know all about them!"