MUSKOKA LIVING Changing Gears at Huntsville’s Cycling Hub

Changing Gears

at Huntsville’s Cycling Hub

BY MATT DRISCOLL PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEELE WENGER

After nearly four decades as Huntsville’s cycling mecca, the torch has once again been passed at the Muskoka Bicycle Pro Shop.

Dale Wenger and his wife Emma Schofield took over the Muskoka Bicycle Pro Shop in February.

The shop’s new owners are no strangers to the area, the sport of cycling, or the shop itself. After more than six years as an employee at Muskoka Bicycle Pro Shop, Dale Wenger, along with his wife Emma Schofield, took ownership of the store in February of this year. Dale was born in Alliston but moved to Huntsville when he was seven. Emma grew up in nearby Gravenhurst. “There are certainly some stressful nights but I wouldn't change it for the world,” says Dale. >>

Dale Wenger worked at the Huntsville bicycle shop for more than six years before taking over as the owner. The Muskoka bicycle pro shop has been the mainstay for cyclists in Muskoka since it first opened in 1982.

The shop bills itself as the largest of its kind north of Toronto, offering a huge range of bicycles and accessories, along with rentals, repairs and advice on different trails.

Becoming a first-time owner in the middle of a pandemic might seem like a risky proposition. But for Dale Wenger, and for the bicycle industry in general, it's been a bonanza year so far.

“Normally when you're opening a business, you're concerned with how you're going to pay the bills. But with us the bigger concern has been how are we going to get the inventory,” says Dale. “We literally have people buying bikes one year in advance of when they can get them.”

While Dale is negotiating a steep learning curve when it comes to business ownership, his love of cycling is something he's fostered from an early age. It’s an aspect of his life that has continued to grow gradually over the years.

Dale has always had an affinity for cycling but it grew into something more than that while attending college in Ottawa. “Quebec has an incredible system of cycling trails that stretches for thousands of kilometres. Essentially, they've taken all of the old railroad lines and replaced them with trails,” he says. “We would head out on a Friday and come back on a Sunday. There are free campsites all along the trails where we’d stay and some times we'd stay in hotels if we were getting tired of camping.”

Dale continued his education in the environmental sciences field at Algonquin College in Pembroke before returning to Huntsville to work an internship at Muskoka Bicycle Pro Shop. At the time, the shop was owned by Fred and Caroline van den Bulk, Dutch immigrants with a passion for cycling.

“Working there was a whole new world for me. You never knew what was going to come through the door,” says Dale. “It was a challenge but over time you get to know things, you get to know the people and I learned to love it.”

There was some idle conversation between Fred and Dale about the potential for Dale and Emma to take over the store but Dale says it took a while before he began to consider the proposal as a serious option.

The couple's main goal is to make cycling in the area accessible and fun to the general public, as opposed to just hardcore riders. “We want to show people that cycling is more than just a road bike guy in Lycra going down Highway 60,” he says. “Cycling is fun for everyone and that's the aspect of the business that Emma is really focussed on now. She's not the type of rider who’s on her bike everyday but when she is she's smiling and that's what we're hoping to show people - that cycling is for everyone.”

Although the couple has barely had time to think since they took over, Dale says they're ready to move forward with their business and bring their love of cycling to the entire area.

mbps.ca 63 Main St E, Huntsville, Ontario Phone: 705 789 8344