Hartshorne/Huber Conditions

Tim

aka sptimmy43
Can anyone comment on conditions? How are they with night riding here?

@pooriggy already has you covered but I'll add that this place is really well drained. I haven't been there in about a week as I am fighting a nasty cold right now but I've ridden here the day after inches of rain and my bike didn't even get dirty. It is true that you can't mess up what isn't cared for but I don't particularly enjoy riding through endless sloppy mud, whether anyone cares or not. You won't find any mud at Hartshorne. I'm pretty sure you could even ride this place in the rain and not get muddy.
 

Tonggi

Active Member
@pooriggy already has you covered but I'll add that this place is really well drained. I haven't been there in about a week as I am fighting a nasty cold right now but I've ridden here the day after inches of rain and my bike didn't even get dirty. It is true that you can't mess up what isn't cared for but I don't particularly enjoy riding through endless sloppy mud, whether anyone cares or not. You won't find any mud at Hartshorne. I'm pretty sure you could even ride this place in the rain and not get muddy.

I'm with you. I don't want to ride in slop. I only remember seeing mud between the connector of harts to hubers, forgot lot name now. Otherwise place is always fantastic. With the impending doom of rain saturday I will shoot to go here early Saturday morning.
 

SmooveP

Well-Known Member
There's a TM session scheduled for this Saturday, Nov 18. I may show up for the simple reason that the MTB community is criminally under-represented.
 

RobW

Well-Known Member
Generally we don't worry too much about messing this place up, TM is not really a thing here. It's hard to mess up something uncared for;)
this shouldn't be the message from a team member of the site (many people read this that arent a member of the site). just because the park system wont have jorba involved doesnt mean we need to bash or trash the park because you feel indifferent.

just a general question here for the board... how many of us here have the park training and participate in the maintenance.... also, could you imagine what the park system do if there was an influx of people from the mtb community that was to take the training class and actually show up for maintenance?

when was the last time Jorba inquired to help the park system? the squeaky wheel gets the lube- all they need to know is that NICA kids practice here and they may end up making it a better place and take the offer from jorba.... i think its time they know about NICA---- kids getting hurt at a place wont go over too well!
 

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
this shouldn't be the message from a team member of the site (many people read this that arent a member of the site). just because the park system wont have jorba involved doesnt mean we need to bash or trash the park because you feel indifferent.
Just telling it like it is. I ride here every week, the place is uncared for, it would seem that there is indifference to TM here.

just a general question here for the board... how many of us here have the park training and participate in the maintenance.... also, could you imagine what the park system do if there was an influx of people from the mtb community that was to take the training class and actually show up for maintenance?
I have the park training and so do a lot of other folks in the mtb community. Several years ago myself and a large percentage of mtbers/jorba members showed up to a TM and ended up shoveling gravel on a road for 3hrs and building water bars. Activity is not productivity son.

when was the last time Jorba inquired to help the park system? the squeaky wheel gets the lube- all they need to know is that NICA kids practice here and they may end up making it a better place and take the offer from jorba.... i think its time they know about NICA---- kids getting hurt at a place wont go over too well!
Rob, we've been down this road before. The management for the park system has there own volunteer base organization, which they feel is adequate. I am 98% certain that they will never let Jorba in, however maybe you should prove me wrong and convince the park system to allow an outside organization in to provide TM for Hartshorne, using Jorba guidelines and modern trail building techniques.
 

Matt_

I Get Jokes
just a general question here for the board... how many of us here have the park training and participate in the maintenance.... also, could you imagine what the park system do if there was an influx of people from the mtb community that was to take the training class and actually show up for maintenance?

when was the last time Jorba inquired to help the park system?

There was a very large group of us representing JORBA and the mtb community at the training session this past Spring @ Clayton.

Very positive atmosphere and the park people seemed really excited about our involvement.

I think that a lot of us were hoping for a TM day or two scheduled at Clayton park to get our foot in the door and start working together & sharing TM strategies.... didn't happen but maybe 2017 dates were already established. Fingers crossed for 2018
 

mwlikesbikes

Well-Known Member
As far as conditions, I was there Sunday. Overall good, there's a couple logs down on the first section of rocky point as you head in from the grand tour connector climb and a bigger tree that has to be climbed over just before the next road crossing.
Then in several places throughout the park some smaller logs have been cut out.
 
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SmooveP

Well-Known Member
I love these threads where everybody complains. Very effective!
The TM sessions at Hartshorne usually get decent turnout (20 or more people), but very few are mountain bikers.
I attend randomly. A few times, I was the only mountain biker in the group.
The Park System people are very receptive to ANYONE who shows up to help. FWIW, most of the Park people and other volunteers are not mountain bikers, so their priorities might be different than ours.

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact:

Tracy Shiffman
Coordinator of Volunteers
Monmouth County Park System
805 Newman Springs Road
Lincroft, NJ 07738
Tracy.Shiffman@co.monmouth.nj.us
732-842-4000, ext. 4283
 

Tim

aka sptimmy43
Got a ride in after work today after over a week off the bike due to a nasty cold that I just couldn't shake. Anyway, conditions were good. In fact it was much drier than I expected even after the rain yesterday. The sandy spots are sugar. I almost went over my bars in a spot that was a bit obscured by leaves. Not sure how I managed to save it but I won't be surprised if I wake up tomorrow with something hurting.

In other news the MCPS has been out with their chainsaws in the last week or so. Nearly every log-over has been cut away. There was a tree that fell a couple weeks ago that needed to be cut away as it was about 3.5 feet above the ground (not ride-able for mortals like me) but I am actually disappointed about the others. In fact, the (12"? or so) log that has been down on Grand Tour just as you come off of Rocky Point riding clockwise gave me a sense of accomplishment when I could finally bunny hop it cleanly. It's been there for months. Not sure what made them cut it up now. Rocky point still has a couple smaller logs requiring hopping skills.
 

SmooveP

Well-Known Member
In other news the MCPS has been out with their chainsaws in the last week or so. Nearly every log-over has been cut away. There was a tree that fell a couple weeks ago that needed to be cut away as it was about 3.5 feet above the ground (not ride-able for mortals like me) but I am actually disappointed about the others. In fact, the (12"? or so) log that has been down on Grand Tour just as you come off of Rocky Point riding clockwise gave me a sense of accomplishment when I could finally bunny hop it cleanly. It's been there for months. Not sure what made them cut it up now. Rocky point still has a couple smaller logs requiring hopping skills.

That's not MCPS with the chainsaw. I caught some dude in the act of cutting a 4" log across the trail around noon on Friday and asked him what he was up to, and was he the one cutting the other logs in the park. He replied that he was the guy. When I suggested that he shouldn't be doing that, he said logs are a pain in the ass and "too bad, I'm doing it anyway." Left him with a few choice words and called the rangers on him. If you can't ride over a 5" log, maybe you should work on your skills or stick to the paved paths.

I showed up for TM this morning at Hart. Only 2 mountain bikers out of 20+ volunteers. Had a nice chat with Tracy and some of the other park people about mountain biking and the state of the park. She is very receptive to ideas. If people want changes, show up, send her an email, call or go visit in person. Ranting here accomplishes diddly.
 

Tim

aka sptimmy43
That's not MCPS with the chainsaw. I caught some dude in the act of cutting a 4" log across the trail around noon on Friday and asked him what he was up to, and was he the one cutting the other logs in the park. He replied that he was the guy. When I suggested that he shouldn't be doing that, he said logs are a pain in the ass and "too bad, I'm doing it anyway." Left him with a few choice words and called the rangers on him. If you can't ride over a 5" log, maybe you should work on your skills or stick to the paved paths.

I showed up for TM this morning at Hart. Only 2 mountain bikers out of 20+ volunteers. Had a nice chat with Tracy and some of the other park people about mountain biking and the state of the park. She is very receptive to ideas. If people want changes, show up, send her an email, call or go visit in person. Ranting here accomplishes diddly.

Wow. That's pretty brave to take a rogue chainsaw to things!!!

I'm with you on the TM thing. If I had done the training class I would have been there today. Lame excuse, I know, but I have only been mountain biking since May so I am still figuring out how all of this works. I will make a point to get that done so I can start helping out. I appreciate the efforts of guys like you who have spent countless hours building and maintaining trails so I could get totally hooked on the sport!
 

MMuller

Well-Known Member
That's not MCPS with the chainsaw. I caught some dude in the act of cutting a 4" log across the trail around noon on Friday and asked him what he was up to, and was he the one cutting the other logs in the park. He replied that he was the guy. When I suggested that he shouldn't be doing that, he said logs are a pain in the ass and "too bad, I'm doing it anyway." Left him with a few choice words and called the rangers on him. If you can't ride over a 5" log, maybe you should work on your skills or stick to the paved paths.

I showed up for TM this morning at Hart. Only 2 mountain bikers out of 20+ volunteers. Had a nice chat with Tracy and some of the other park people about mountain biking and the state of the park. She is very receptive to ideas. If people want changes, show up, send her an email, call or go visit in person. Ranting here accomplishes diddly.
Was he a dickhead cyclist or just a dickhead? Hard to believe someone who makes the effort to go ride in the woods on a bike would take a chainsaw to its better features.
 

SmooveP

Well-Known Member
Was he a dickhead cyclist or just a dickhead? Hard to believe someone who makes the effort to go ride in the woods on a bike would take a chainsaw to its better features.
He said he was a mountain biker and riding over the logs was "a pain in the ass". Never mind that one of the logs he cut already had a long established ride around. I've seen him in the woods before. I'm guessing he's around 40 yrs old, 5'10", dark hair with pony tail. Oh yeah, he's also carrying a chainsaw. Shoulda snapped a pic.
 

Tim

aka sptimmy43
Was he a dickhead cyclist or just a dickhead? Hard to believe someone who makes the effort to go ride in the woods on a bike would take a chainsaw to its better features.
Exactly. Go ride a road bike if you don't want to learn to ride obstacles. I am pretty bummed that all those logs were cut away. I really enjoyed learning to hop over them. It really gave me a sense of accomplishment being a new MTBer.
 

don

Well-Known Member
Iggy hit the nail on the head.

To add: the TM's are on Saturday mornings which anyone that has kids that play sports is a horrible time.

I used to skip games/change plans/hustle like mad to make them. But after patching up a fire road and being told what to do by people that don't know Hartshorne/Huber and don't know modern trail building techniques I gave up.

On the flip side, I did a TM in Stowe, VT this summer. Their system is dialed. The TM was at 6pm until dark during a weekday. 15+ riders (and 3 dogs) showed up and what was going to be worked on was already planned. Completely opposite from a Hartshorne TM. We banged out a ton of great work in the 2 hours and I walked out feeling stoked even though I haven't even had a chance to ride the trail we worked on.

Thank goodness for modern trail bikes. Not that I ride at Hartshorne/Huber much but with my 27.5 Breezer the crappy sections of trails there aren't too bad.
 

Tim

aka sptimmy43
I rode Huber today. Surprisingly, for as much as I have ridden Hartshorne this year, this was my first real ride at Huber Woods. Overall it was a nice change of pace. Huber is not nearly as punishing as Hartshorne. Perfect spot for an easy day. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few sections with good flow that are pretty fun. There are a few soft spots but overall conditions are dry. Watch out for the large chest height tree down on Many Log Run.
 

Matt_

I Get Jokes
Had a nice chat with Tracy and some of the other park people about mountain biking and the state of the park. She is very receptive to ideas. If people want changes, show up, send her an email, call or go visit in person. Ranting here accomplishes diddly.

I'll add to this that when I took the training at Clayton, Tracy was extremely positive and approachable about mtb community support to the MCPS trails.

Maybe I'm new and niave, but I'm hopefully that some positive communication with the right people will open the door. Change takes time and perseverance.
 

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