Crime in the Don

Log ride bike stunt near DJs

If this post on a mountain biker forum is to be believed, a young boy was robbed of his bike in the Don Valley today. A place at the south edge of Crothers' Woods known to the biking community as DJ's (Dirt Jumps) has been heavily modified with earthen bike jumps and planks nailed on top of logs. The bikers love these stunts and go to great efforts to build elaborate setups.

Since it is often visited by kids and/or lone riders and since it is quite isolated from the rest of the valley, it would be fairly easy to jump someone here and take whatever, in this case an expensive stunt bike. The biking community is understandably upset and having been alerted will keep an eye out for such things so it may be awhile before it reoccurs.

This isn't the first time there have been problems at this location. Last year there was a problem with paintballers. They dug a trench near DJs and would take potshots at passing bikers. Fortunately they seem to have moved on.


Tree at DJ's shows sign of paintball hits

The city and the Task Force choose to ignore this section of the valley because it is in a difficult to access section (between a railway and the river) and because the forest here is mostly exotic trees and filled with invasive species. Still there may come a time in the near future when the city decides that enough is enough and clear this area out. There is a small pond nearby so there is some potential for restoration. The city is working on a management plan for this area so we'll see if anything happens.