New Jersey Trail Lover's Coalition

[slingblade_uhhuh]

Hi Rob,

Just to clarify... the designated mountain bike loop at Wharton does not owe its history or existance to dirt bikers. Some of us might use the dirt bike trails on occasion, but for the most part they are too sandy.

And I offer up no ill will to dirt bikers, and have no interest in going against dirtbikers. (Having been a member of the Meteor MC during the 1970s when Mike Borreli was president and continuing to ride enduros till the mid 90's when my knees gave out.)

Yes, Wharton Forest is a shared use forest. And yes, currently volunteering to be the JORBA park contact for WSF, I'm well aware of the good volunteer work done by the Meteor, SJER and other groups (as relayed from Rob, Gil and Terry).

 

[jdog]

I ride dirt bikes and I ride mountain bikes and I pay taxes. [/QUOTE]

Me too!

 

[don]

Hallelujah Brother!

All of these activities have the potential to do damage to environmentally sensitive areas if done irresponsibly...
OR they can be done in an environmentally friendly way if the trails are designed to accommodate them. That's not to say that that ALL trails should be open to ALL uses, but NONE of these uses should be forbidden altogether.

Not all mountain bikers should be judged by the actions of rude, irresponsible dimwit bikers. Likewise with all other activities: the activity as a whole should not be judged by the actions of the reckless few. If individuals are breaking the laws, punish those individuals, not the entire user group.

Some day, I hope to live in a place where I can legally enjoy the surrounding woods using any vehicle I choose: feet, mtn bike, motorcycle, quad, truck, horseback, snowmobile, snowboard, x/c skis, pogo stick...

And if you ever have the opportunity to try any of these activities, I highly recommend it...they can all be a BLAST!

Great post - responding a little late but just came across this thread. I agree and need to add - you can't talk sh1t on an activity unless you have tried it. I've tried all those vehicles you mentioned (save for just a very little amount of time on a moto in college) and they can all be fun. For me pedal bikes are the #1 mode but truck and snowboard are up there too.

If you ridden the trails in Allegheny or Wharton for example you can thank enduro riders for that (dirt bike riders), enduro riders legally created those trails years ago and in some cases are still maintaining those trails so you can enjoy them as well.

The Sandy Lane Enduro just celebrated its 74th running. Yep, 74 years of ridding dirt bikes in the woods.

My dirt bike club fills up three 30 foot dumpsters of trash we take out of the forest each year on our clean-up day. How much trash do hikers take out of the woods or any other group for that matter? Not as nearly as much, not even close and I know that for a fact.

Mountain bikes are already banned from Watchung and South Mountain reservations in Union county. Still think your sport is safe?

Are you sure you’re choosing the right side by going against dirt bikes? Dirt bikes were first on the hit list, mountain bikes are next. They already figured this out on the West Coast. We need to unite to save access to our trails.

I ride dirt bikes and I ride mountain bikes and I pay taxes. These are state forests that are there for everyone's recreation. A shared trail system is needed as well as three ORV parks promised to us by the state already. The state has been collecting federal ORV funds for years and raids those funds year after year but no one wants to talk about fraud, it's the guy on the quad everyone's angry at, bullshit.

For the amount of people that NJ has, I am really surprised there is not even one ORV park save for the 3 you mentioned. I haven't been in a while but will drive the roads down in the Pine Barrens in my Rover, but more than likely make a multi-hour trip to PA or MA. When I do come across a moto in the woods - I'll give them a thumbs up and usually vice-versa

BTW, very rad you guys do so much cleaning with your club - thanks!

There certainly isn't enough space in this state anymore for all these activities to co-exist harmoniously... So being bias I say the four wheel activity can take a hike

Not enough space? I know NJ is a very populated but there is not one place to have a multi-use ORV park? I'll have to look at it's size but Rausch Creek did not seem that huge last time I went. Do you think another housing complex or strip mall would be a better use of space? Seems like NJ has no problem with adding them. Guys I know in my area said growing up they could ride dirt bikes crossing towns, now - it's filled in with "Pepper Green Estates" and some crappy strip malls.

And why the hate on 4WD's? I've attached a couple of pics from a NJ Land Rover Club and their clean-up day in Ringwood. Looks like they carted out some junk with those hideous four wheel drives that should take a hike. Well at least more junk than I could pack out on my back or on a bike trailer.

Maybe I'm thinking too out of the box but a 4WD trail that intersected a hiking/mtb trails could be beneficial in many parks. IDK, but I'm not too stoked to walk a mile or 2 with gear to get to a zone that needs TM, all the while thinking my Landie could get me there in no time and bring my stuff in and out. Or if I crashed badly deep in the woods - having a 4WD come in on those intersecting trails and get me out would be kinda nice and maybe a bunch quicker.

And a person that can drive off-road properly will leave hardly a trace. In the Land Rover world there is a mantra - "fast as necessary, slow as possible" I've wheeled a spot in VT and then crossed the same trail later on my bike (seperate trails that overlaped just a little) and only saw my tire tracks in the mud, just a little wider than that my bike tire track.

 

[FFT]

Being the local devils advocate i will paint the picture everyone has for off-road recreation.

4x4 - Mostly jeeps, w snorkles, on 44's, with a winch, to pull the other moron out of a 5' sink hole thats filled with garbage and beer bottles from the last group of morons that got stuck there. Its a jeep thing, you wouldnt understand.

Quads/moto - The farmer tan red-neck with a mullet roaring
down the trail at 60mph w/ no helmet and a 15y.o. girl whose so high on pills that she wont crap for a week dangling off the back.

MTB - Full face pack of nazi's ripping down pristine single track on a $4k bike designed for something completely different, passing within inches of some gym freak of a house wife with a $63K diamond ring, a north face vest and a papillon.

If you've never seen these people in NJ, you live in a bubble or your training is too early in the morning when the 'hack' is still in bed. Now, Im gonna take a long shot here and say that for the most part we are out numbered by the sterotypical trail users. The 'elite' 4x4 club, endoro club, and community of responsible cyclists are only a small portion of the gene pool.

Not to rain on anyones parade, but our opposition is of our own kind. And i have made several attempts to 'educate' the hack on proper trail use, it is as much fun as bobbing for apples in the hospital road crap house.

 

[NikkyE]

Being the local devils advocate i will paint the picture everyone has for off-road recreation.

4x4 - Mostly jeeps, w snorkles, on 44's, with a winch, to pull the other moron out of a 5' sink hole thats filled with garbage and beer bottles from the last group of morons that got stuck there. Its a jeep thing, you wouldnt understand.

Quads/moto - The farmer tan red-neck with a mullet roaring
down the trail at 60mph w/ no helmet and a 15y.o. girl whose so high on pills that she wont crap for a week dangling off the back.

MTB - Full face pack of nazi's ripping down pristine single track on a $4k bike designed for something completely different, passing within inches of some gym freak of a house wife with a $63K diamond ring, a north face vest and a papillon.

If you've never seen these people in NJ, you live in a bubble or your training is too early in the morning when the 'hack' is still in bed. Now, Im gonna take a long shot here and say that for the most part we are out numbered by the sterotypical trail users. The 'elite' 4x4 club, endoro club, and community of responsible cyclists are only a small portion of the gene pool.

Not to rain on anyones parade, but our opposition is of our own kind. And i have made several attempts to 'educate' the hack on proper trail use, it is as much fun as bobbing for apples in the hospital road crap house.

You said a mouthful

 

[slingblade_uhhuh]

Received word from the Wharton Forest staff that four dirt bikes were seen tearing up the Batsto BICYCLE trail. And that several hours of repair work is needed.

The dirt bike tracks go past several NO DIRT BIKES signs.

Its lame and stupid stunts like this that will cause the DEP to look at the use of dirt bikes in WSF.

 

[Frank]

Sad news brutha, post up when we can rally a huge crew for ya.