Two dozen volunteers turned out to the Varsity Blues mountain biking team’s annual Don Valley trail clean-up day at E.T. Seton Park last Saturday morning to help maintain the trails where they train.
“To have this as an oasis in the middle of the city is spectacular,” said David Wright, the team’s coach, who called the trails an “urban haven”. Team members agree that while other parks’ gravel roads can be used for cardio, this terrain provide a bona fide mountain biking experience. Alumna Tara Nicholls said that the Blues have trained on the Don Valley trails since the team came together nine years ago.
Alumnus Eric Van Beurden kicked off the effort promptly at 10 a.m. with his
find: an empty 50 mL vodka bottle left in the middle of a trail. By noon, the
group had amassed over 45 bags of trash and other odd items. These included a Nintendo ice hockey game, a wooden toy snake, a pair of underwear, various plastic shrubbery, the top of a table, the bottom of a vacuum cleaner, 16 rubber tires, and a broken shopping cart. “We get that much off the forest floor, and that’s important,” said coach Wright.
