Mountain Biking - toronto riders - re: don valley trails situation

i found this today on the dropmachine site. it's a write up by bob bonner, one of the guys currently involved in talks with city officials regarding the situation surrounding the don valley trail network in toronto. i thought you guys would be interested in knowing what's going on.

http://www.dropmachine.biz/features/view.php?id=10&a=full

Please try to stay positive if you can. Sometimes it looks like we are always going to be on the fringes with no respect for our sport and no place to enjoy ourselves legally and safely. I guarantee you that there are a few of us who are in this for the long haul and if we have your support, we will continue to push the City to not only continue to allow us to ride these trails but to take responsibility for them and steward them into the future. (remember trail riding is still allowed though).

Of all of that, that is the key. The riders have to respect the trails in order for the muni to respect the riders. Its a give and take issue and I wish them all the best....

Also...as a hint to anyone who migh care. Rebuild those stunts. Whether or not they really are stable, they don't look it and look very dangerous. I ride a lot of stunts and those look like death becoming. If they 'looked' safer and 'looked' maintained things might be better. This was mentioned in the article but that is a serious issue imo.

I think Bob has the right approach and it seems like things may work out in some way as long as all of the riders respect some of the things that are likely to happen. I wish you guys the best of luck :)

sorry to bring up this old thread, but i thought it would be better to post here than to start up a new thread.

i've just gotten word that it seems like the city has gone in to the don valley trails - specifically the section of the network found in crothers' woods - and begun tearing down any stunts they could find, as well as any dead wood lying around. note: i say seems because although there are some indications - such as little orange/red flags and spray paint markings - no one's really sure yet if it really was them or if it was just some trail nazis running amuck.

one poster on dropmachine said that about 90% of the stunts were down, while another poster on alwaysmad (another ontario based biking forum) said that they were all gone. the alwaysmad poster mentioned that it seems as if they started at the leaside bridge and worked their way south. anyone who knows this portion of the trail network knows that a large bulk of the stunts found in the don are located in there, including that teeter and the steep skinny sections that i posted shots of in the trail shots: don valley trails - toronto, canada (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=106475) thread.

the city rep that many of the don trail mtb'rs have been in contact with regularly checks out dropmachine so i'm waiting to see if she'll post up any info regarding what's going on. i'm also hoping to head out on saturday for a ride... i'll be able to see for myself what's been torn down and what's still up then.

in anycase, this definitely sucks for us toronto riders who frequent the don trails... a sad day, indeed. :(

and to think... i just recently built up the courage to start riding a bunch of them :(

Jeebus!!

Bummer man. Not entirely surprising but still a bummer :(

Bummer to the max man, no more stunts?!?! jeez, I wonder if they're gonna bulldoze the DJs...Man just when I was getting the guts to do everything. Rasheed, I know a trail near st.clair /vic park....It's full suspension trail I hear, called witch doctor or something. Not sure if you wanna check it out but the first stunt is a wooden ladder which is actually a jump. Looks crazy, and I'm definetely not going by myself.

it's best to keep trails like that on the hush hush. we don't want the city going in and ruining the few remaining trails worth riding...

from what one guy mentioned on dropmachine, it seems that the city is worried a great deal about liability issues. i have a feeling that all this was accelerated by that lawyer guy who broke his neck and is suing everyone he can think of - i forget his name... this absolutely sucks.

he also mentioned that they went in and removed any dead trees along the edges of the trails that they felt might topple over or cause injuries and such. they're also planning on some trail re-routes but are holding off until they can remove some big iron pipes sticking out of the ground, which btw make for some pretty cool trail features/obstacles.

i kind of don't want to ride the don this saturday for fear of the carnage i'm going to see.

boo for insurance companies and lawsuits that come about due to the claimant's own idiocies and negligence.

Yeah rasheed, check your inbox. Call me...and I'll take you to the trail. There's a lot of trail heads around the area though I'm not sure if they're cut off.

Does anyone here have a trail map for the Don or something like that? I want to find new trails but I'm having a hard time doing it. I tried finding some new ones yesterday and I ended up East of the DVP(I live on Avenue). Also what are they going to do about the ladders over toppled trees? Clear the tree as well as the ladder?

Also what are they going to do about the ladders over toppled trees? Clear the tree as well as the ladder?
everything's gone. they butchered the place. saw dust and stunt carcasses everywhere from what's being said... :cry:

a lot of people are pissed off to say the least. :mad:

I was just starting to do a lot of those too :( Maybe after a while the city will turn a blind eye and people will start building them back.