Aaron Burgess has been breaking the law... by riding his mountain bike in Sterling Heights. What makes it ironic is that Burgess is a sergeant with the Sterling Heights Police Department and he was riding on a trail he is now improving and making legitimate.
Burgess is heading up a group of local volunteers that are improving a mountain bike trail that starts in Sterling Heights and stretches nine miles through northern Macomb County.
"I have been riding what is an illegal trail for the last 13 years," Burgess says. "I have wanted to do the project for last 10 years."
During most of that time, the path was little more than a deer trail that locals used to get their mountain bike fix. During that time, vegetation had been destroyed by riders using it and erosion spread as people strayed beyond the informal path's boundaries.
Burgess and his fellow volunteers are creating a permanent trail to help stop the erosion and close off rogue paths. The idea is to create a greenway that will help enhance the recreation options in Sterling Heights. They are bringing in the Michigan Mountain Bike Association to help make the whole thing legit.
"This will be the first sanctioned mountain bike trail in Macomb County," Burgess says. "I want it to be the nicest mountain bike trail in Michigan."
The first leg will be 2.5 miles between Jaycee Park (near Henry Ford II High School) and Dodge Park. More than 60 people showed up to help improve the trail earlier this month.
Burgess hopes to finish that first section this fall. Next spring they plan to start tacking a 6.5 mile section between Dodge Park and the Edison corridor. The plan is to have it done within two years.
"We're just starting with baby steps," Burgess says.
For information on the trail and the efforts to improve it, send an email to Burgess at aburgess@sterling-heights.net.
Source: Aaron Burgess, sergeant with the Sterling Heights Police Department
Writer: Jon Zemke
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