OTTAWA — The cyclist who died Thursday morning in a collision with a tractor trailer had recently expressed concerns online about the drivers on his regular route to work.

And friends say that just a few weeks ago, Mario Théoret, worried about cars driving into designated bike lanes, started affixing a camera to his bicycle.

“He said the next time that happened, he’d have proof of it,” Cat Weaver, a close friend, said Friday. “He felt that he had the right to ride his bike to work safely.”

Théoret, 38, collided with a tractor-trailer at the intersection of West Hunt Club Road and Merivale Avenue on Thursday morning while riding his bicycle on his 25-kilometre commute. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police wouldn’t say whether they recovered a camera; their investigation is ongoing.

Théoret, an avid cyclist and outdoorsman, was much-loved in Ottawa’s mountain biking community for his boundless generosity and positivity, friends said.

With Weaver, he founded the Ottawa chapter of Trips for Kids, which provides recreational activities such as mountain biking to underprivileged children.

He helped to run much of it out of his Bells Corners home; his garage is full of about 50 mountain bikes and his basement features neatly-organized stacks of spare bike parts.

He worked tirelessly creating and maintaining mountain biking trails in Kanata, friends said. He was also a dedicated uncle to his two nieces, aged 14 and 12, and his nephew, seven. And he’d never forget anyone’s birthday or anniversary.

When a co-worker of his started chemotherapy for breast cancer, he shaved his head so she wouldn’t be the only bald one in the office. And next week, he would have made his 74th blood donation.

“He gave so much, and asked nothing of anyone,” Weaver said.

Théoret also frequently posted on the Ottawa Mountain Bike Association’s online message boards. According to one post in late August, he wrote to the City of Ottawa about cycling on Hunt Club, stretches of which don’t have dedicated bike lanes.

He got a quick response within hours, which he wrote online “addressed all my questions/concerns and reads optimistically.” The response said that the city considers Hunt Club Road as a route requiring bicycle lanes, and that they will be implemented “as soon as there is an opportunity to add them to the roadway.”

The stretch of Hunt Club where Théoret died on Thursday does have a bike lane.

Théoret’s older brother Roch said he often spoke to Mario about his safety.

“I did express a lot of concern to him about his own safety, hundreds of times. But he was too passionate,” he said. “He did what he loved to do.”

Friends said Théoret, an experienced cyclist with thousands of hours under his belt, followed bike safety rules to the letter.

“His bike handling skills were top-notch,” said Sandra Beaubien, who knew Théoret for almost a decade. “I don’t know how much of a warning he would have had, because I know he can react very fast to situations.

“The mountain bike community here in Ottawa is like an extended family,” she added. “When something like this happens to our community, it’s devastating.”