N+1: I can't make up my mind

Jmann

Never gonna let you down.
a) Much better than skiing which is 2 hours to decent (and waiting on huge lines once you're there), 5 hours to really good, plane ticket to excellent.
Great, now my subconscious is going to use that skiing analogy against me "hey, look at those skiers, they spend tons of money on clothes skis and car racks and only go twice a year, therefore= you deserve another bike.

In all seriousness all decent riding spots are 40-60 minutes away from me. I usually get out once a week on dirt, road as much as I can. I used to drive an hour and a half to ringwood from Brooklyn to do night rides during the week. It was annoying (and expensive with tolls) but not much I could do. If I don't get into the woods often I start to lose it.
 

mattybfat

The Opinion Police
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Buy the bike or do what jdog says go demo. Then put 10 destinations you want ride this year 2 of which should be Raystown and number 10 should be kingdom trails. Then get back to us.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
i heard philadelphia is like a real city, only smaller. :D
 

The Squirrel

Well-Known Member
Are there less than decent riding places within riding distance from your house?
None that I know of. there's the boy scout camp in Alpine, which I'd bet is at least 20 miles. But from what I understand is sort of trespassing to ride there. Looking at singletracks, there is Mills, Hilltop, and High Mountain, but they're hardly riding distance.

What I get now is that most people just travel for dirt. I'm going to have to carve out the drive time to get me some.
 

mattybfat

The Opinion Police
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Wait isn't Ringwood like 20 minutes tops. Plus you got the sprain another 20 minutes. Just going by your home park. Pretty sure Alpine is pretty safe and we now know the guy who oversees BSA north jersey chapters who is super mtb friendly.
 

The Squirrel

Well-Known Member
Wait isn't Ringwood like 20 minutes tops. Plus you got the sprain another 20 minutes. Just going by your home park. Pretty sure Alpine is pretty safe and we now know the guy who oversees BSA north jersey chapters who is super mtb friendly.

Ringwood is 50 minutes (~36 miles), Sprain is around 40 minutes (~25 miles). I'm in Jersey City, just west of Hoboken on the cliff.

Liberty State Park, which is the closest park, is only good for doing laps on the road bike or (flat) CX practice.
 

mattybfat

The Opinion Police
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Ringwood is 50 minutes (~36 miles), Sprain is around 40 minutes (~25 miles). I'm in Jersey City, just west of Hoboken on the cliff.

Liberty State Park, which is the closest park, is only good for doing laps on the road bike or (flat) CX practice.
Ok thought you were in the upper cliffs
 

pkovo

Well-Known Member
I avg 2-3 rides a week in the woods. I have decent trails within 5 min ride from my doorstep so no travel for those. I try to venture out for a group ride on the weekend to different trails, all usually within about an hour. I'm lucky if I make 1-2 of those group rides per month.

If I didn't have local trails I can sneak to quickly and easily, I would be riding the road more, or just not riding much, since I find the road less enjoyable.
 

olegbabich

Well-Known Member
I always ride from home to the trails. I'm lucky to have many trails within 4-8 miles from my house.

I take bike in the car for Downhill and when visiting family in NY (Blue Mountain Peekskill and further up the Hudson Valley).

I strongly support N+1 philosophy.
 

pkovo

Well-Known Member
Thinking about this more, and I think you owe it to yourself to have some type of working mountain bike. You're looking to buy used anyway, so if you later find you aren't using it enough to justify keeping it, the majority of the depreciation will have already occurred so you won't lose as much reselling it.. Buy something cheap. I did that for a road bike. I barely use it, but don't regret getting it one bit, and don't regret buying yesterdays technology at a deep discount either.

I lived in Hoboken for a while, and worked in Jersey City. I found as long as I timed it right, it was pretty easy to shoot in and out of town. Didnt have to deal with a bridge or tunnel. I don't think your driving times are too bad either. You have a lot of options within an hour, and I bet Chimney Rock is more like a half hour without traffic.

I say DO IT...DO IT
 

The Squirrel

Well-Known Member
Yeah, getting out of this area can be a real drag. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes just to get to a highway that will take me somewhere. Well, I am going to dive in. Hopefully, the bike is still available. More to come...
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
buy the bike, sell a child.

i'm super time-cruched pretty much ALL THE TIME so i take what i can get which means riding the trails that are like 5/10 minutes from whichever location i am currently at. so that means either Dickerson Mine or the Tourne. Wildcat is almost the exact same distance as the Tourne, but that's a big time investment from a loop perspective and needs planning out. i can steal and hour and change (at least right now) kinda when i want.
 

The Kalmyk

Well-Known Member
Yeah, getting out of this area can be a real drag. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes just to get to a highway that will take me somewhere. Well, I am going to dive in. Hopefully, the bike is still available. More to come...


Imagine if there were military check points because of a civil war.That would be a drag.


I’m willing to bet you will aite with your decision.
 
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