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Equestrians on Cycling Trails

We’ve had some great feedback from all user groups on this issue. We have had three people come forward and they where from both user groups that has helped us ID some of the equestrians that were in violation of the County By-law. In all cases there where no trailers in the parking lot so they definitely rode in locally as a group ride. Please keep an eye out going forward and if you encounter an equestrian on the Cycling Trail please politely inform them that are in fact on a County designated Cycling trail and make mental notes to help identify them.

I have gotten out and fully repaired the “Wheel Hill” from the few equestrians “prune and drop” episode on Friday as well as repaired the damaged log-overs. I have also raked that section and filled in the hoof prints so we are starting with a fresh trail again. If you see any new prints on that trail or another Cycling trail please let me know.

Please continue to foster positive relationships with our equestrian community. They have offered to purchase trail cameras and even offered to come out and help us repair the trails. They are tremendously upset with these 7 riders and are all helping discover who they are, ID and name them with good success.

With the very wet spring the growth in the forest is incredible but it also is reducing visibility. Please be careful at crossing as it’s getting difficult for all users to see each other out there. Chat a lot and feel free to ring a bell as approaching the crossings. The horses will hear you before anyone else.

Have fun enjoying the Forest together!

Sunday Ride 2:30

Group ride Sunday 2:30. Trails are in great shape. See you there!

Equestrians on Cycling Trails

Hello everyone. If you get out riding anytime soon you will notice horse prints and manure on over 10km’s of the County’s Cycling trail network. The trails were ridden either late Sunday or on Monday and the Wheel Hill has now seen repeated use as it was ridden and “pruned” on Friday. The wheel hill is now fairly damaged from the equestrian traffic. This use seems intentional as they would of passed over 15 County By-law signs in the process of riding these trails so I doubt it was an accident.

Some have seen this as interesting timing…there was just an OCTRA event this weekend and the trails where ridden immediately before and after their event. If you didn’t know better you may think that this occurred during the OCTRA event. I want to assure everyone that this in not the case. OCTRA members have all shown tremendous respect for other users, the County and the Forest.

Please continue to show respect for fellow responsible and respectable users no matter what their discipline. If you happen upon an equestrian on the Cycling trails, please inform them that they are on a County designated Cycling trail and please make notes in order to describe them and identify them to the County.  No need to engage, just report. There are many equestrians justifiably equally upset about these occurrences as this reflects very poorly on the entire equestrian community and they will be watching for them as well.

Everyone has been working very hard at educating and communicating with each other in order to build respect and understanding between user groups with great success. Please continue to facilitate these relationships despite the actions of a few non-respectful equestrians as they do not represent the majority of the equestrian community utilizing the County Forests.

Please share this post with any other user’s sites you can.

OCTRA Event

Hi everyone, just a reminder that there is and OCTRA event today and there will be up to 50 equestrians out at once enjoying the Forest. Please exercise extreme caution at intersections as with the heavy growth this year intersections are become difficult to see at for both users.

Sunday 10:30am ride

Hi everyone, there will be a causal ride happening at 10:30 on Sunday. Likely cruise around and pick up some flags from the Triple Crown Event along the way.

OTRA equestrian event June 8th-9th

Hi everyone, please be aware that there is an equestrian event happening this weekend in the Main Tract. OTRA will be there June 8th & 9th  and will be conducting various rides throughout the weekend.

Please exercise caution while out there this weekend. Pay extra attention when crossing the equestrian trails as not to surprise an equestrian and their horse. If you come upon someone, please stop and speak up so the horse will become aware that you are present. If you ride with a bell, a quick ring as you are approaching the crossings would also be a good idea to alert riders. If you don’t have a bell, not a bad idea to get one!

As always be courteous and friendly.

Between everyone cooperating and paying attention I’m sure everyone will have an uneventful enjoyable weekend. It’s all about mutual understanding and respect for each other.

Enjoy your time in the Forest.

Sat Ride

K &I are heading out at 2pm Saturday for a ride and anyone is welcome to join us. Looks like a beautiful day ahead!

Hill Trail Update

FYI, Hill Trail is now completely leaf blown and cleaned up (downed tree removed). Thanks to the person who took care of the first half. Made for a lot less leaf blowing!

Ralph’s Trail followed by Hill Trail will be an awesome challenging start to a ride. Get climbing!

Team Van Go annual Insurance and Waivers

Hi All,
Another year has come and gone, and it’s time to fill out those pesky waivers. They are a requirement from our insurance company and only need to be done once a year. Here is a link to the waiver:

https://imbacanada.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/imba_canada_insurance-program-generalliability.pdf

They are required by anyone partaking in any Team Van Go events. Please be sure to fill them out completely as some have come to me incomplete in the past. You can e-mail them to me or give them to me in person.

It has been quite a year since May 2018. Trails are all now marked & mapped, Trailforks is up to date. Hill Trail, Max Trail, Ridge Connector, Ridge/H2i and Trail to Somewhere have all been added to the map. The Ralph’s Trail build was a complete success with 50 amazing TVG’ers and a few of our equestrian friends working hard to complete this trail in one day. It adds in just under 1km of a very challenging trail to build and a trail completely different than anything else in the Forest…so awesome! During the winter our ambitious (and hard working) Fat Biking community kept 16km of single track groomed for riding which was super fun to ride. The Friends of Dufferin County Forests was formed and there are 25+ cyclists volunteering their time to the County for trail maintenance and general Forest tasks.  A great show of respect and appreciation for our County by having our members give back and show we are willing to put in the work required to have the privilege of playing in the County Forests and we don’t just take things for granted.

The equestrian community also added 10 more km’s of trail to their trail network and we continue to work together to enhance everyone’s experience. Sue and I spoke at the Mountain Bike Summit in November about multiuse forest management practices and success.  We also presented at the Simcoe County Forest permit holder meeting during the winter.

There are lots of fun things on the go for 2019 coming up. The club has one very ambitious idea/requirement for 2019…stay tuned for that. It will require funding way over and above our normal donations and will likely require some fund raising projects! We are planning on changing some of the cycling\equestrian intersections to improve safety. I’ll be looking for some help with this coming up. The changes will be completed under County supervision and advisement.

If you feel you would like to donate funds to help contribute to the costs of running the club and help fund trail build days and trail maintenance here’s how you can do it!
Over to the right, you will see the icon below. If you click it you will be re-directed to our Paypal Account. As always we do not impose a membership fee on our members so we rely completely on donations to keep doing what we do.

Any amount at all is appreciated and 100% of your donations go directly back into the trails…

Thank you and see you on the trails!

Trans Epic Day 4 & 5 videos

For anyone interested in the last 2 days….