This year, 2023, marks the 10th year since I launched the Ontario Bike Trails (OBT) website. To mark this milestone, I wanted to celebrate my success, give you a brief history, and add some insight to its beginnings and the path I took to get here. 

In 2013, I started the website as a way to share information about mountain bike trails that I’d learned while leading groups for a dozen years as a member of the Toronto Bicycle Network (TBN).

I had basic experience in building websites and when I came upon a WordPress directory theme that could display my reviews properly, I got to work. Initially I had about 30 short reviews that year that were mainly mountain bike loops I knew. Some needed photos, so I had to revisit them (what a good excuse to go for a ride!).

I had always been frustrated with the lack of accurate trail information available online. (And this has only got marginally better over the years. I still find government sources fall short when it comes to informing the public about their trails.)

I could have posted all the trails that existed on my site that first year but I promised myself that I wouldn’t post any trail until I could give it a complete review, after I had ridden it and taken photos. I didn’t want half-finished pages.

Every year I ventured out farther to add new locations, sometimes taking my young son and partner on family cycling outings. It was a slow process, but now, 10 years later, I have almost 180 trail locations between my books and on the site. 

Over the years the website evolved from those very humble beginnings. As with most websites, for the first few years, I was out there in the WWW wilderness with very little traffic. But I carried on and kept gradually building an audience while working as a handyman by day. 

I invited my friends to like my Facebook page and got about 40 to start with. Now I have 4,000+. That number took many years to grow (and thousands of dollars in Facebook ads to get there sooner). 

The first five years, I didn’t even bother putting annoying Google ads on the site. Yet eventually I did, and they have paid for better hosting, new plugin features, and security monitoring. OBT is not government funded, unlike most Ontario bike info sites so ads exist.

My audience over the years has been a consistent split between 65% male and 35% female visitors, with a median age group in their 40s. At the beginning, users viewed my site from desktop computers; now everyone uses a phone. I’ve had to change how the web pages look over the years to suit this transition to tiny screens. Can’t say I like how limiting it gets.

My busiest times are fair-weather weekends. Cyclists come to my site in the mornings looking for ride ideas. And that’s the purpose of the site. (I even use it when my mind’s blank for places to go, lol.)

Eventually I expanded out from mountain biking trails to include Park path and Rail trail reviews, as it seemed to me that the MTB universe was covered by other sites, but these other categories offered more opportunities. I also came to realize there are way more weekend recreational cyclists than avid mountain bikers in search of outings. 

At one point, I started posting BMX locations, but that has not evolved as my son did not take to it, so that category remains incomplete.

From the traffic and questions I get, I’d say OBT became the go-to website for Rail trail info in this province. 

The influx of riders during the two Covid summers was a surprise, and a little overwhelming for my web server. During those summers I had over 2,000 daily visitors on weekends. Yet with supply shortages and closed businesses, no one was advertising on Google, so the increased traffic did not equate to more revenue.

The site had a major theme redesign in 2016, and hosting has moved a number of times to adapt and improve page loading speeds, always an issue on a photo- or map-heavy site. I am happy now with the service from Hawkhost, an Ontario web hosting business I recommend.

The site logos have changed a few times. I think we need a new one soon. Anyone have any ideas?

At first, trail reviews were written to be a short read, but now I can go on and on. The real challenge is how to write about the same thing over and over again (how many ways can you describe a bike trail?) without getting repetitive and boring.

It can take a few days for me to find an angle (as they say in the press) to write about this topic. Then I use that perspective and work on stringing together all the points to sum it up. I think most of you get the picture. Though I am no faster at typing it out than before.

Even to this day it’s hard to get used to the idea that thousands of unknown people visit the site weekly. Few reach out, but I know that people find joy on the trails that I recommend. Knowing this gives me satisfaction: what I do benefits the many who need a little escape from their weekly grind—a chance to enjoy the outdoors, perhaps out of town—on their bicycles as much as I do.

The future ahead has promise for cycling and bike trails in Ontario.

There is a momentum coming out of the pandemic, and it’s growing steadily. OBT will continue to follow this growth and keep you informed as best as I can.  

To reuse a quote from my recent book, “May the weather be on your side and the wind at your back!”  

Dan Roitner

Most Pages Views

These are the most popular trail review pages visited on my OBT site. Results are from 2016 onward and a little skewed, as older posted reviews have more visits then ones written in the last few years.

Humber River – Park Trail 41k page views

Nokiidaa – Park Trail 18k

Toronto Islands – Park Trail  17k

Welland Canal – Park Trail  17k

Ajax Waterfront – Park Trail 17k

Caledon – Rail Trail 40k  page views

Hamilton Brantford – Rail Trail 30k

Uxbridge Lindsay – Rail Trail 28k

Elora Cataract – Rail Trail 19k

Oro – Medonte – Rail Trail  18k

Durham Forest – MTB 17k page views

Dufferin Forest – MTB 16k

Albion Hills – MTB 15k

Don Valley – MTB Trail 15k

Palgrave – MTB 15k

July 2 – Book has been Published. Woo hoo!

June 2023 Update, Park & Rail Trails guide book – Volume 2

Greetings fellow cyclists welcome to another season of pedaling to your heart’s content on the bikeways of Ontario. I hope you have started the season in earnest. You’ve lubed your chain, adjusted the brakes, raised your seat and have been out in the sunshine.

Not so much for me. I did buy a new hybrid gravel bike, a Giant Cypress 1 and have been out a few weekends to scout the last of the trails I needed for my next book. Research for this book keeps me at my desk (sigh) till I’m done, then the summer is mine.

I’ve been busy since the beginning of the year working on another bike trail guide. So this is going to be a short post…just to tell you that I don’t have the time to write a proper one till the book is done.

Book Preview

Instead, I’ll give you a sneak peek at the contents of my next book, which will be out in a few weeks.

This book is the 2nd volume of my first book, Best Park and Rail Trails in Ontario, published a few years ago. This one is similar with 60 new bicycle trails for you to discover. 30 rides are Park paths and another 30 are Rail Trails, some are very new.

I am in the middle of selecting photos and rendering maps for the layout. My Editor Jennifer and I have been working on the last details. We are making sure the text reads right and my typos get fixed. It’s going to be even better than the last guide.

Here is the working list, not yet finalized, of the TOC (table of contents) for Volume 2 of this new Park & Rail trail guide. And a mock-up of the proposed front cover.

This is an excerpt from a recent Newsletter I sent out. You can subscribe here.

Welcome to yet another unusual spring. We had an early melt and a long cool spring, now it seems like the heat is here. I can see from the surge in traffic on the OBT site that everyone is keen to get out. This Covid lockdown is almost over and has got us primed and eager to hit the trails.

I have been reluctant to post any new trail locations and to encourage you all to travel. The Ont. government does not want us cyclists travelling too far from home. With that in mind, I have just posted my first new trail review this season. It’s a good one out in Markham you can bookmark; many more to come.

The Trail Guide Grind:

I was very busy over the winter updating my two trail guides. Beyond minor typos and layout fixes, I have replaced the 65 maps in the Park & Rail Trail book with more detailed versions. I also added a large map with all the trail locations as a quick reference and listed parking lot locations. Oh my, so many details, so boring, yet important! LOL.

Park & Rail + MTB eBook Update – For those of you who bought a copy, an email was sent out in April with a link to the new version. It now has pdf bookmarks.

Park & Rail Paperback Update – If you bought the actual book, you can get the latest eBook version too.  And as a bonus, I made an extra file you can print out as an insert for your paperback that lists parking lot addresses. Details as to where to get those downloads can be found at the back of your book.

Being Popular is Good & Bad:

I started the OBT site eight years ago as a side project. It has recently grown quickly due to the limitations of this pandemic. With few other sports activities permitted, everyone is cycling!

Now, I am not complaining that the site traffic has doubled again this year. It’s now seeing over a thousand visits daily, and more on any sunny weekend. What comes with this popularity are increased costs. I had to upgrade to a faster website server to handle the visitor volume. And my costs for security and the use of Google Map services have risen.

So now the site has to pay for itself. As you will experience, the site loads faster but costs more to run. You might think income from those annoying Google Ads I have might do it. Alas, at less than a penny a person it’s lunch money.

Income from my two books covers the time invested to make them. So I am at an awkward point where I have to start selling other items or services on the site. Not a natural direction for me to take, but necessary. Don’t worry I’m not going to sell mugs and baseball caps.

I added a Store page to the menu. It’s a humble beginning. I am not driven to push products or recommend everything I see. Rather, I shall be selective and mention quality goods and services I believe in.

Any businesses wishing to advertise relevant services or products on OBT, send me a note.  There are many opportunities to do so for bike shops, bike touring, lodging and eateries…

What’s New

Add Rail Trails – Last year my focus was on MTB trails as I was all in publishing my book. This year I am working on the Rail trail category. Plans are to ride more Rail Trails this year (if possible) and post reviews.

I have already started to add trail lines to the map starting in Eastern Ontario, even if I have yet to review them. This is a shift for me, as I do not like to suggest trail locations and then have little info to follow up. Yet I am asked often why this or that trail is not on the map… so now you know where they are.

Blue Mountain DH MTB – Sadly management has changed the flavour of mountain bike riding over the winter to a more mellow offering. No more Downhill MTB thrills, trails have turned into hiking paths.

I have few answers and will have to inquire as their site says currently little and they are still closed. Certainly a blow to the regular avid MTB downhill riders in the province. It was a top spot with few alternatives close by. Let’s hope the times change and it comes back one day.

I wanted to write this as a public service to riders who may be using this site to plan outings. I have been diligently working on my new MTB trail guide for this spring. But let me take a moment away from that, as some of you have been asking…

As the long weekend arrives and the spring weather prompts us to head out on our bicycles, the question is, should you? 

Yes, you can go bike riding, but these are not normal times and precautions need to be taken.

Currently, for exercise, and mental sanity, the government is allowing us to ride our bikes (this may change). Is cabin fever setting in? Planning to get out for some sun and fresh air is certainly a welcomed thought.

You are best to stay close to home and ride solo, on the backstreets in your neighbourhood.

That is what I am doing and have concluded this from reading the links below. Please read them too and make your own judgement. 

This is all about RISK management. You do not want to get hurt, go to the hospital, tax the medical system or catch the virus. 

This means ride within your limits, keeping your ride risk LOW. I know this could be boring and easy terrain. Or riding the road, a paved one at that, OMG! Get over it!

Cycling with someone you live with is OK but NOT other friends, or a club group ride, sorry.

The concept is the virus can be airborne briefly and you, riding behind someone, could inhale what they exhale. If they are contagious, and this could be days before feeling ill, it poses a risk to you.

When you ride the road or a wide park path there is plenty of space, the winds blow and one keeps their distance from others; lower risk. On mountain bike trails passing someone can be a tight squeeze, riders are exercising harder = more exhaling = higher risk.

With that and the fact that many more cyclists are free to go out, it has CLOSED Provincial Parks, Conservation Areas and woodlots. Parking lots are too crowded, trails are too confined when encountering others and because many still don’t get it.

This is a nasty virus, that has a new set of rules, be it temporary. Follow them, play it safe for you and the sake of others.

These are just a few key points regarding your safety to add to what you are already doing…which is social distancing, stay close to home, limiting your visits to stores, washing your hands (scrub for 20 seconds before rinsing) refrain from touching your face. (mouth, nose and eyes are virus entry points)

Stay informed, read a few links below for more “new rules of the road”. 

Doing so will reduce your fear, anxiety and the need for speed. Remember this will pass, the trails will still be there to welcome you back, in time. Actually a little vegetation rejuvenation would be a good thing for our trail ecosystem.

Sure, browse this site to make future plans, but for now, stay home and ride on your own, locally.

I am going to post a few favourite videos this weekend to keep you dreaming of that day we are all back doing what we love – Trail Riding 

Be Well – Dan Roitner