Secret mountain bike site in Cape-Rouge: Immediate closure to users' dismay

Despite the mobilization of many activists, Quebec City will move forward with removing the informal network of mountain bike trails known as La Marmotta in Cape-Rouge.

• Read more: Quebec City wants to close an illegal mountain bike site on one of its lands

“There is no monitoring of the site, anyone can come and you will notice that the “jumps” are really for professionals. So we decided to intervene, for the safety of the people and to bring the land back to its normal state,” explained François Moisson, public relations director of Quebec City, on Friday.

The closure of the location, accessible from Boulevard de la Chaudière, is imminent and the city will be monitoring, the spokesperson advised.

Signs should be installed to prevent entry on Friday afternoon.

Removal of the mountain bike facilities is expected to begin in the second week of May. The aim is to return the land to its natural state and allow activities such as walking.

“We're in the process of estimating it, but in the removal process, we're talking $50 to $100,000,” Mr. Moison said.

disappointment

Organized journalistic activity on the site has not gone unnoticed and has been closely followed by users who have expressed their dissent on more than one occasion.

Michael Lachance, Founder

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

“It breaks my heart. I've worked here for 15 years to build such a beautiful site,” lamented resident and mountain bike enthusiast Michael Lachance, who founded the site.

Quebec City maintains that it is bound by an agreement with the Ministry of the Environment that obligates it to protect the land on which the Isabelle marsh is located and, among other things, compensate for commercial and residential developments in the area.

Before being sold in 2017, the place was owned by a private developer. It is located near an IKEA store that was built a few years ago.

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

Security

However, jumps, slopes, dips, bumps and holes created without authorization can crush the roots of many trees and deplete the nutrients of wetlands.

According to François Moisson, interventions on the cliff below the CN railway are also worrying.

François Moisson, spokesman for the city

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

On the other hand, it was brought to the attention of the municipal authorities that ambulances “regularly arrive at the site”, the spokesperson maintained.

Because it owns the land, the city may be civilly liable, although no action has been filed to date.

Petition

Michael Lachance, for his part, argues that there has only been one major accident in 15 years and believes that athletes who use the tracks want to protect the environment first.

The installations were done by hand without machines, he maintains.

DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

Backed by an online petition that has amassed more than 10,000 signatures, Marmota officials want to be heard at the next municipal council and still hope to reverse the decision.

What did they say?

“If my 14-year-old self comes here and thinks he's better than everyone else and decides to do these jumps, there's no one to watch him. There is no one to watch him. What can happen can happen. So for us there is a level of risk.

“Quebec City invests heavily in sports training, but when we invest in sports training, it's in huge numbers.”

– François Moisson, director of public relations for Quebec City

“For the last two years, 2022 and 2023, no ambulances have come here.”

“It hurts my heart to hear this today. […] And they don't take into account all the benefits a place like that can do to the neighboring community here and the mountain bike community in general.”

“We're a touring bike by nature, so we're not interested in coming undone, and we're well aware of that.”

– Michael Lachance, founder of Marmoda