Tenth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

This paper focuses on the ways digital technologies (such as smartphones and GPS devices) and “Big Data” websites (such as Strava.com and MapMyFitness.com) are changing how Toronto’s mountain-biking communities are connecting with urban-ecologies in downtown Toronto’s Don River Valley. I focus especially on the ways the extensive and historically secret, or at least hidden, singletrack mountain-bike trail systems – created over a span of 30 years in downtown Toronto – are being “made visible” by digital technologies for a new generation of mountain bikers, “digital natives,” and nature lovers. The increased digital exposure of Toronto’s unsanctioned trail systems comes at a time when Toronto’s ravines and natural spaces have become a focal point of the city’s public policy planning. Since over 17% of Toronto’s total area is defined by ravines (11,000 of Toronto’s 63,200 hectares), the city’s green spaces are being recognized as beneficial to the health and well-being of Torontonians, especially given ongoing population growth and climate change. In the face of this increased exposure, I examine the ways Toronto’s mountain bike communities are both flourishing and evolving as they continue to embrace a sport that offers exhilarating and restorative recreation right in the heart of North America’s fourth largest city.