The Walden Mountain Bike Club was formed in the fall of 2008. We are an incorporated, not for profit club that is run by a volunteer Board of Directors. We are affiliated with the International Mountain Bike Association. In 2021, we had 530 members.
Our home venue is at the Walden Trails. We maintain the single track trail system, and help Walden Cross Country (WCC) with their ski trails. Thousands of volunteer hours have gone into creating a trail system that has something for everyone. Mountain bike riding now has a home in our city.
In 2009 the Walden Mountain Bike Club was asked to host the Sudbury Fitness Challenge Mountain Bike Tour MTB race, and hosted a very successful event, with races for all ages and abilities. 82 racers provided us with an exciting day of racing. This has now become a popular event with the local and regional cycling community. The SFC MTB Tour made its return in 2015 after a two year break to allow for the Canada Cup events.
The "Wolfpak Racing" Team was formed in 2010 and has competed at Provincial and National Series events. The team members also participate in Enduro and Epic racing events in Canada and the USA. Since the Wolfpak formed, there has been a team member on the podium at every Ontario and Canada Cup event we have participated up to the end of the 2013 racing season. We are hoping this streak will continue. Wolfpak Racing and WMBC is now highly respected in the mountain biking world as a fun loving and "ambassadors for the sport" . The race team is competitive, but bring a huge fun and friendly atmosphere to any event we attend. We are very proud of this. The Wolfpak team has now evolved into a factory sponsored team with sponsorship from several companies.
The Walden Mountain Bike Club has hosted several provincial and national series racing events at our home venue in Naughton. In 2011, WMBC hosted the Ontario Summer Games MTB event. In 2012 we hosted the Plastiglas Ontario Cup Series event and the Canada Cup XCO Series races in 2013. These events were a resounding success and received national media coverage and high praise from the sport governing bodies and the racing community. The club is set to host the Canada Cup again July 11-13 2014 in Naughton and will boast a world class field including World Champion Catherine Pendral, our national team and many of the major trade teams.
The recreational side of the club is also active and we now have weekly group rides at venues around the Sudbury area. The focus on the riding groups is to have fun, make friends and to learn how to be a better rider. The group allows riders to enjoy a low key and casual environment with a variety of skill levels.
In 2015, the Club started to host the Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day and the Global Fat Bike Day group ride.
In 2016, the Club began to host monthly Social Group Rides in the summer.
In January 2016, the Club worked with Walden Cross Country to allow occasional fat bike riding on the skate trails.
In 2017, the Club began to host a summer evening race series - The Bush Pig Open.
In December 2018, the Club made an agreement with WCC and began to groom snowshoe trails for winter Fat Bike riding at the Walden Trails.
In the Spring of 2019, the City Park, known as the Naughton Trail Center, was renamed The Walden Trails.
For the winter of 2019-2020, the WMBC and the ski club, WCC, entered into an agreement to offer winter fat biking at the Walden Trails, with WCC selling Fat Bike memberships, selling day passes for Fat Biking and renting Fat Bikes to trail users.
In 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic brought more users & Club Members to the trails, along with more volunteers to add riding features and develop new trail segments. During the summer, a Canada Summer Jobs grant was used to hire two summer students to complete the day-to-day trail maintenance task.