Windsor MTB
From a bulldozed ‘Dirt Church’ to plans for more trails
About a year ago, Windsor mountain bikers lost some key riding areas in the city. Things looked bleak until a few champions, some good luck and great timing gave those riders hope. In November 2017, Windsor residents lost their cross country trails in the Black Oak Heritage Park, the main mountain biking area in the city’s west. The city closed off all the trails for an environmental reassessment of the park. The fate of many of those trails is still unclear. But the catalyst, the real kicker that got the International Mountain Biking Association – Canada involved, was the threat to the jumps at the Dirt Church on the Ganatchio Trail in the Little River corridor. For 10 years, the unsanctioned jumps were a hidden gem for locals, who built the features themselves. That November, when city council announced it wanted to remove the jumps for safety and liability reasons, riders contacted International Mountain Biking Association Canada for help. “We were hopeful that we could at least say to council, ‘Hey, before you bulldoze these jumps, can we look at them and look at where we can incorporate infrastructure like this maybe somewhere else in the city?’” says Justin Truelove, trails specialist and program co-ordinator for imba Canada. The city, however, moved fast. The jumps were bulldozed within a few days of council’s decision.
At the Toronto Bike Show this past March, Andrew Jenner, one of the founders of the Essex County Trail Association, approached imba to look at two regions that could be new riding sites: Malden Park and the Little River Corridor Park.
Malden Park was a natural choice for a singletrack trail system. It hosted the Ontario Summer Games in 2014. The city approved the site to host the 2022 Can-am Police Fire Games, which include a mountain bike event. The former dumpsite, however, needs work on its trail infrastructure.
The second piece of land Jenner wanted imba to review was the Little River Corridor Park. Instead of trails, the area located behind homes along a river is perfect for a kids’ skills park and pump track.
After walking around the lands in late April with Jenner and locals, imba and the team put together a five-minute presentation for the city the following day. The Parks and Recreation Department hired and contracted imba to provide a full assessment and trail plan for both Little River and Malden Parks.
In September, imba returned to the area for three days to see what the organization could do and what kind of trails would be suited to these new areas. Sixty-three people came out to give their input. People from the Essex County Trail Alliance, Friends of Black Oak, Malden Park runners and other community groups – even the unofficial Dirt Church group who maintained the former jumps – showed up. Later, imba submitted a report. At the beginning of October, city council approved the report.
The City of Windsor will start developing trails using some of the $500,000 it has set aside for this type of infrastructure. Now, it’s just a matter of putting the right trails in the right spots – bit by bit, trails will grow and evolve.
“It was a win-win situation for everyone,” Truelove says.
“For 10 years, the unsanctioned jumps were a hidden gem for locals, who built the features themselves.”