So, this article appeared on CBC.ca website yesterday, and it was kind of shocking.

Mountain bikers in LaSalle, Ont., are angry after the town’s council voted Tuesday night to ban the sport in a popular woodlot.

Pathways at the LaSalle Woodlot, an 85-hectare area located in Brunet Park on Normandy Road, will be blocked immediately to prevent cyclists from using them.

The pathways will remain open to activities town officials call “passive in nature,” such as walking, bird watching, hiking and picnicking.

At issue is the woodlot’s status as an environmentally sensitive area, a designation given to expanses of Essex County that house a number of rare species and provide a diversity of habitat types.

The damage from mountain biking in the LaSalle Woodlot was “continuous,” according to Terry Fink, the town’s director of culture and recreation.

“The aggressiveness of the sport, and the overuse of that woodlot, is beginning to have some negative impacts on the wildlife,” he said.

Mountain bikers who turned up at Tuesday’s meeting vowed to protest.

“We’re going to organize ourselves as a cycling community,” said Dylan Lanspeary, a member of the Rocket Mountain Biking Club, a non-profit group based in southwestern Ontario. “This issue is not going to go away.”

“We have a lot more firepower behind us that we could bring forth,” club member Peter Goldhawk said.

The cyclists will have a tough time convincing Coun. Ray Renaud, who is also a member of the Essex Region Conservation Authority, to change his mind.

“What we should be doing with our woodlots is being responsible in managing them so they flourish, not let them deteriorate,” Renaud said.

Are we in any danger of this happening here? Maybe. The important things to remember when ever we use trails:

• Always know if you have permission to ride a trail - it is a privilege and not a right
• Be considerate and polite of all other using the trail, especially those who are on foot, it is like we are the automobiles and they are the cyclists when we are on the same path as they are
• Don’t build trails without permission
• When training be hyper-aware of other cyclists not training (thinking of Bur Oak here): scan the parking lot, does it look like there might be others using the trails; pass with caution and not at your training pace; be polite when you pass - everybody is a good will ambassador when they are on the trail

Two on tap this weekend.

First up is this on Saturday starting at 12:00…

This will be a good one and one not to miss. More info at Cyclocross Manitoba, including the entry form and waiver.

On Sunday there is this…

Registraion form and waiver.

It was a great day for an epic ride. 10 riders made the trip in the morning where the first order of business was to tackle the Lake trail. Although the group split and ended up going on two different trails, we all had a great time and eventually joined up again.

Because there was a longer ride planned for the afternoon we decided that a good lunch was in order and we headed back into town to have lunch at Warky’s. There we were confronted with the trying to figure out what the heck is a Metza-Burger?

The afternoon was where the real ride began. 6 more riders from Winnipeg came down for the afternoon, with two local Tinker riders, we had a large group who headed out for 3 hours of riding. The trails offered a nice mix of flow, technical, speed and climbs.

The Tinker crew is always working on their trails and they are in pristine condition, well groomed, and with great lines. Make sure that you put aside some time and join in the next time that a ride at Tinker is organized.

There is a ride at Tinker this Sunday in two parts: morning around the lake trail and afternoon at Tinker. Contact Hal (hal_loewenATshawDOT.ca) if you are interested.

This weekend’s cross race is on Saturday. Details are in the post below. If you have time, come help with the setup starting at 9:00 at King’s Park. If you can not help with the setup consider helping with the take down following the race - we had a lot of people help with our first race and it was sure appreciated, I’m sure the organizer would welcome the help.