Loss of cycling trail a tragic failure

It’s a tragic failure on many levels that the Little River off-road cycling trail area was sentenced to destruction in a knee-jerk decision by the city that was influenced by biased information. The importance of this area to the community and the gravity of the decision should not be minimized.

Twenty-five years ago, my friends and I honed our skills on the woody trails that snaked through the wetlands. Many of us actually went on to compete at various levels. We had a sense of pride in maintaining the grounds while keeping them safe and challenging for all riders.

Over the years, inevitable development meant that people’s homes now sit where some of our favourite trails took their dips and curves. At least the protected areas would never be encroached upon, and cyclists would always have some areas to ride on. Now that’s not the case. Friends, exercise, outdoors and hard clean work. Are these not rapidly receding values that parents would be ecstatic for their teenagers to willingly explore? Every hour that every kid spent there was an hour not spent playing video games or sitting in a parking lot. While it’s fair to say some juvenile behaviour may have taken place out there, it’s certainly not unlike anything that you would find in a regular city park. Now, everything I have written about in this letter will cease to exist. It’s clear that the complainant spearheading the demolition may have dealt with a bad egg. The entire riding community is extremely disapproving of this type of behaviour. Ultimately, she’s not the real villain in this episode. It’s the city that bears the final responsibility for such a sideways decision. I have lived in Toronto and Ottawa for the last 10 years, where there are absolutely no shortages of outdoor trails and activities. Some are actually maintained by private organizations embraced by both the city and community. Why not in Windsor? Dan Cockerham, Windsor