Search and rescue crews in the Halifax area are looking for a man who failed to return home from a mountain biking excursion Thursday.

Police say 30-year-old Marty Legere went biking alone around noon on Thursday. He was expected to return home around 4 p.m. but failed to show up.

“Mr. Marty Legere went mountain biking in the Spider Lake trails around noon yesterday and was supposed to return home around 4 or 5 o’clock yesterday afternoon,” confirms RCMP Cpl. Scott MacRae.

When he failed to return home, Legere’s family went looking for him. They found his vehicle at the end of Spider Lake Road in Waverley and reported him missing shortly after 8:30 p.m. Thursday.

Police and search crews spent Friday scouring the Waverley area. A police dog and the Department of Natural Resources are assisting in the search.

“The search is quite intensive at this time,” says MacRae. “It’s made up of several teams from around the province. DNR resources are also at play, including helicopters.”

At one point Friday afternoon, three helicopters were searching the area and 80 volunteers were helping in the search.

“There’s DNR helicopters, the RCMP helicopter, there’s other resources that are coming that we have arranged, other boats, ATVs,” says Steve Mills of Nova Scotia Emergency Measures.

The search is especially difficult because of the size of the area and the varying terrain. The Spider Lake trail system covers 60 square kilometres and many spots are covered in dead trees and thick brush.

“An area this size takes an extreme amount of people power to cover,” says Evan Hansen of the Colchester County Search and Rescue. “For every square kilometre, to have it searched with a pretty good degree of accuracy, it takes about 100 people.”

Police say Legere did not have a cellphone with him and he was riding alone.

The search will be scaled back after dark due to safety concerns. Searchers plan to return to the area Saturday morning.

Legere is about six feet tall and weighs 260 pounds. He has short hair, a beard and a moustache.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Alyse Hand