In just three years, a brand-new trail organization in Essex County, Ontario, has raised over $200,000, logged more than 5,000 volunteer hours, and built 8km of trails from scratch. And they’re just getting started.
The Windsor Essex Bike Community (WEBC) stepped into a void during the pandemic and found a community that was not only ready for trail development, it was willing to put its money where its mouth was.
A new club founded by riders who met on the trails
WEBC was founded on the trails. Literally. The club’s president, James Braakman, told us how he met the others who helped form the group on their local trails. Along with connecting over mountain biking, these new friends connected over the positive impact it has on their mental health.
“It was right after COVID, so there was like an epidemic of mental health and lack of community and connection,” Braakman said. “We got to know each other through [mountain biking], and thought that we needed to find a way to help other people experience the therapy that mountain biking can offer.”
So, WEBC was founded in 2022 and began by offering group rides. For context, the group is in the Windsor area of Ontario, Canada, just across the border (US/Canada) from Detroit. “Essex” in the club’s name comes from the county the organization is located in and advocates for.
But they quickly hit a problem. Aside from a few trailheads clumped together in Windsor, the group didn’t have many trail options for their group rides. And, since they were now an official community organization, they didn’t necessarily want to hold the group rides on the area’s few social trails.
As the group’s rides continued to grow during the very earliest days, they realized they needed more trails. Without a place to gather, spread out, and enjoy more trails, they would quickly hit their cap.
The city of Amherstburg had the perfect spot
WEBC set out to propose new trails at, well, somewhere. And after a few meetings with municipalities that didn’t seem particularly promising, the group struck gold.
About 20 minutes south of Windsor is the City of Amherstburg and a community building called the Libro Centre. The Libro Centre is home to indoor ice rinks and soccer fields, as well as outdoor facilities and fields for other sports.
It is also home to a large wooded area behind the building that, other than hiking trails, was relatively untouched.
“Behind the community center, they have these rolling hills, which […] we kind of stumbled upon and said, ‘Wow, there’s actually a little bit of elevation here,'” Braakman told us. “We’ve got to find a way to build some trails here.”
Braakman explained that elevation is hard to come by in Essex County, so trail builders will take anything they can get (even if they have to truck in loads of dirt; more on that later).
So, the organization put together a proposal and met with the Amherstburg town council in the fall of 2023. A growing mountain bike community with trails behind a community center seemed like a good fit.
And the story that follows is pretty remarkable.
Three phases of fundraising and building in three years
Despite WEBC’s young age, the city council took a bet on them, entering into a land stewardship agreement and unanimously approving trail building. But before shovels could hit the dirt, the group would need to raise funds for the trails.
For that, they turned to the community.
During the winter of 2023, WEBC raised roughly $30,000-40,000 for the first phase of trails. They would build the initially proposed trails the following summer, a much-needed addition to the Amherstburg community. Braakman said the trails were a “big hit,” especially with the local kids and families. Quickly, it seemed the initial build was actually turning into “phase one.”
In the winter of 2024, the organization returned to the council to seek approval for additional trails at the Libro Centre. What would officially become phase two, they wanted to increase the scope of the trails, making them a bit more advanced and progressive.
The council granted approval, and the surrounding community once again stepped up, donating between $70,000 and $80,000 for the trails. Just like the previous year, WEBC fundraised and planned in the winter and spring, building the trails during the summer.
This process would be repeated the following year, with 2025’s phase three adding even more kilometers of trail from roughly $100,000 in donations.
In just three years of existence, the club raised over $200,000 and put in over 5,000 hours of volunteer trail building work. After completing the phase three addition last summer, the Libro Centre now sits at around 8km (5mi) of trails.
The impact has extended beyond just trails. A high school mountain bike club has launched since the trails opened, and WEBC has also started a youth program that’s apparently bursting at the seams.
But Braakman and the organization are quick to direct praise to others, crediting the municipality of Amherstburg for recognizing mountain biking’s community health benefits. And, of course, they point to the Amherstburg and greater Essex County community, which recognized the positive impact mountain biking can have and contributed significantly.
What will mountain bikers find at the Libro Centre?
The three phases built a natural progression across the Libro Centre’s 8km of trails, from beginner to more advanced. Braakman said they wanted phase one to focus on beginner-friendly singletrack, since many in the community would be new to the sport.
Phases two and three built on that foundation, each adding increasingly challenging terrain.
The Libro Centre, or Essex County for that matter, doesn’t have much in the way of elevation. To help mitigate that, WEBC brought in over 300 dump truck loads of dirt to gain some elevation in certain areas. Braakman also explained the area caters to flow trails, so rock was brought in (donated by a local company for $25,000) to create some techy areas.
He also explained the Libro Centre trails are fairly feature-rich. Taking inspiration from places like Bentonville, Arkansas, many of the trails feature tabletop jumps, doubles, and wooden drops and bridges. While obviously not on the scale of a destination like Bentonville or Whistler, WEBC wanted to build features comparable in size to those a rider might find at such a destination.
Phase four is already in the works
If three years of proposals, approvals, fundraising, and successfully built trails weren’t enough, WEBC is making it four. As it seems they do every winter, the group returned to the council to propose phase four.This time, phase four will be a progressive skills park, connected to the Libro Centre trails. The organization anticipates the park costing up to $50,000 and is currently fundraising for the project. If history repeats itself, which it seems to have a habit of doing, they will have shovels in the dirt this summer.
Know about a new trail project we should cover? Whether you’re breaking ground on the next must-ride destination or putting the finishing touches on a neighborhood flow trail, we want to hear about it. Drop us a line at [email protected] with high-quality photos of your build, plus details like trail mileage, location, difficulty, and what makes it special. We’re always on the hunt for the next great trail story, and there’s a good chance your project could be featured in an upcoming article.
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