CYCLISTS SEEK NEW TRAIL
Mountain bikers eye Greenway
After being kicked out of Black Oaks Heritage Park in Windsor, mountain bikers want to use the conservation authority’s greenways for a single track trail. The narrow, natural trail would be off to the side of the Chrysler Canada Greenway and would wind around trees and bushes and go down and up beside the existing trail that’s used for walking and cycling.
“Our hope is to try and get something done sooner than later because there’s just no trails in Windsor,” said Rob Lovell who was opposed to the closure of trails at Black Oaks Heritage Park for mountain bikers.
The only other good treed spot for mountain biking is in Wheatley, he said.
The Essex Region Conservation Authority board met Thursday night and had a staff report that said “single track trails blend into the surrounding environment, disturb much less ground, and are easier to maintain” than gravel or paved trails.
ERCA staff were directed by the board to do a thorough investigation of the proposal, involving consultation of other conservation authorities and municipalities in the province.
“We’ll dive into this in much greater detail and provide a report back to the board of directors,” said ERCA’s director of conservation services Kevin Money. It is unknown how long that process might take.
Single track cycling trails are available at the Grand River Conservation Authority with the Guelph Off Road Bicycling Association and there are 10 kilometres of trails at the Hamilton Conservation Authority.
The report said a mountain bike trail would not be permitted on conservation lands other than the greenway corridor if the board wished to consider the idea. Because inexperienced cyclists would be able to use the natural paths, the staff report said the liability is more than traditional cycling on the greenway but a partnership with a formal club may partially offset the liability. Some mountain bikers from Friends of Black Oaks Heritage Park are forming an advocacy group called the Southwestern Ontario Trail Association. They want to see if the conservation area will create a few sections of single track mountain bike trails as a pilot project.
Lovell said there are about 1,000 local mountain bike enthusiasts who would use a trail that would be built to be easy to navigate so both adults and children could enjoy it. Volunteers could help create the trail in sections off to the side that have trees and keep the cost low, he said. If families take their children for a bike ride on the existing trail they are in the sun and get too hot too quickly, he said. “That’s the thing to add a bit of twisty turniness and get it through some wooded or some treed areas,” Lovell said.
At Black Oaks Heritage Park, Lovell said it was mountain bikers who helped clean up the park. He suspects that once that park is less used, there will be an increase in illegal activity there. Lovell still hopes the City of Windsor will allow mountain bikes back on the Black Oaks trails. The city’s online information says there is one accessible trail for walkers, birdwatchers and leisure cyclists and the other larger trail in the south section has been closed. Lovell said people don’t connect or care about protecting natural areas that aren’t accessible. “Now people have stopped caring to some extent about Black Oaks. What do you care about a place that has a fence around it and you can’t use it?”
The conservation authority is also considering whether it will allow horseback riding on the Cypher Systems Group Greenway trail from Amherstburg to Essex. There will be an online survey for horse riders and other users in July and a full report with recommendations is expected in September.
NOW PEOPLE HAVE STOPPED CARING TO SOME EXTENT ABOUT BLACK OAKS. WHAT DO YOU CARE ABOUT A PLACE THAT HAS A FENCE AROUND IT AND YOU CAN’T USE IT?