TS member Mandy Farmer heads up new trails society
Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2015 12:16 pm
Mandy Farmer is yet another TS member contributing in a big way to Victoria cycling. Mandy is heading up a new organization, The Nature Trails Society, trying to build links between existing trail networks for mountain bikers, 'cross riders, runners, walkers and horseback riders.
The vision is connecting existing trails, like Hartland, Gowland Todd, Partridge Hills, and Thetis Lake in a network from Brentwood to Sooke. For those who have ever tried to link Thetis to Hartland, or the Goose to Shawnigan, or remember the closure of the Millstream trails when Bear Mtn was first built, will know that feeling of 'if only...'.
The society has been catalysed by Bear Mountain, owners of a big chunk of land in the middle of those areas, changing ownership, and the new owners deciding off road cycling really does belong in the community they are building. (Bear is also the new home of the national mtb xc team, a sponsor and race site of the School Bike League, host of Jump Ship, and start-finish for the Victoria Gran Fondo.) But trail access is also the dream of many in the cycling community including SIMBS (South Island Mountain Bike Society, stewards of Hartland), and veterans of the first mtb boom in the 90's, and fans of Victoria's famous mtb racers like world cup champ and Olympic medallist Alison Sydor, and commuters looking to avoid traffic and spice up the daily back and forth.
Well, here's a chance to make "if only..." happen. As a rider and coach who uses these trails regularly, and knows the effect of variety and connection on participation, (it's huge) I'd just like to say thanks to Mandy and suggest we consider helping out any way we can. There will be plenty of ways, from supporting requests for access to managers of public land, to helping on trail building days.
If you ride, walk, run, ride a horse, coach, race, run a tourism business, would prefer an ex-urban environment maintained for outdoor recreation, or would just like to go for an off road ride without driving somewhere or grinding down the knobs first on asphalt, this project is for you.
Thanks Mandy! Tell us when the trail days are.
The vision is connecting existing trails, like Hartland, Gowland Todd, Partridge Hills, and Thetis Lake in a network from Brentwood to Sooke. For those who have ever tried to link Thetis to Hartland, or the Goose to Shawnigan, or remember the closure of the Millstream trails when Bear Mtn was first built, will know that feeling of 'if only...'.
The society has been catalysed by Bear Mountain, owners of a big chunk of land in the middle of those areas, changing ownership, and the new owners deciding off road cycling really does belong in the community they are building. (Bear is also the new home of the national mtb xc team, a sponsor and race site of the School Bike League, host of Jump Ship, and start-finish for the Victoria Gran Fondo.) But trail access is also the dream of many in the cycling community including SIMBS (South Island Mountain Bike Society, stewards of Hartland), and veterans of the first mtb boom in the 90's, and fans of Victoria's famous mtb racers like world cup champ and Olympic medallist Alison Sydor, and commuters looking to avoid traffic and spice up the daily back and forth.
Well, here's a chance to make "if only..." happen. As a rider and coach who uses these trails regularly, and knows the effect of variety and connection on participation, (it's huge) I'd just like to say thanks to Mandy and suggest we consider helping out any way we can. There will be plenty of ways, from supporting requests for access to managers of public land, to helping on trail building days.
If you ride, walk, run, ride a horse, coach, race, run a tourism business, would prefer an ex-urban environment maintained for outdoor recreation, or would just like to go for an off road ride without driving somewhere or grinding down the knobs first on asphalt, this project is for you.
Thanks Mandy! Tell us when the trail days are.
