THUNDER BAY -- According to a consultant tasked with modernizing the trail system between Trowbridge Falls and Shuniah Mines, what mountain bikers want most is more.
"They all want more trails," said Think Design trail specialist Daniel Scott at an open house to discuss the Trails Master Plan draft plan on Monday.
"They want more progression so they want real beginner trails that they can take their young children on and ride an easy loop... they want intermediate trails that are going to challenge them and not be too scary, then you've got the group that's like, 'I've been mountain biking for 10 years, I'm looking for something that will challenge me.'"
Scott marvelled at the character in the canvass of the Canadian Shield. Adding to it will not only connect the ad-hoc trails volunteers have built over decades into a trail system with best practices for the sake of municipal liability but also expand it so it can cater to families, varying skill levels, and tourists.
"So events, races, bike parks, dirt jams, cross country, downhill, all those kinds of components in a cohesive system that's easy to navigate so you're not relying on signage or mapping in order to navigate through it," he said.
"And then it meets the needs of the users -- not just the mountain bikers but also helps the other users in the system -- be it the dog-walkers, the hikers, the skiers, get through it with as little conflict as possible. So everyone kind of gets along through design, rather than through enforcement or signage."
The plan's jewel is a 115-metre-long, 60-metre-wide bike park at Kinsmen Park between Trowbridge's parking lot and the treeline.
It would include pump tracks, berms and rollers as well as jumps, tabletops, wall rides and other features comparable to a skate park. Like the trails, it would be layered to expertise. Scott said there's less risk in that kind of a park than a public pool or hockey arena and it's ideal to meet the need.
"If you could have it all, what would it be? This is it. This covers all the bases and what happens with budgets -- with reality -- as we move forward, whether it's a phase thing or whether it's an opporutnity to build it all at once," he said.
"Reality can get you but this is the time to aim high. I've been in enough to projects to know you can aim high and actually achieve it."
