North Jersey Beginner Trails

J

JTK37

Member
Live in Oakland work in Morristown. Haven't really ridden in 10yrs and was never any good or well conditioned so I'd consider myself almost a complete beginner.

Trails by me on Skyline Drive(Ramapo State Park) tend to be a little beyond my ability level, too Rocky and too steep(as I said, out of shape). I'm riding an older 5" travel bike and don't mind a decent descent but I'm looking for something a little more flowy. I'm up for a challenge here and there but I want to be able to progress up to the bigger obstacles.

any trail suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
Reggie

Reggie

Formerly ReggieHammond
Team MTBNJ Halter's
A bit of a drive, but I think KSVP would be an ideal place to try out. Trails are easier with flow and pretty easy to navigate.
 
mustclime

mustclime

Active Member
Define “beginner.”.... for the most part, north Jerzy is not for what I define beginner friendly but what is a beginner? Are you fit but with out skills? Try the Ringwood fire roads or or Sterling forest from the care takers house ..... are you not fit and you have no skills? My advice is do some road rides and get fit. You want easy and flowie.... south Jerzy, north Jerzy is a giant pile of rocks with a little dirt piled on it.....
 
shrpshtr325

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
tourne has a good mix of terrains to get some practice on, but it does get crowded with hikers on weekends :/
 
J

JTK37

Member
mustclime said:
Define “beginner.”.... for the most part, north Jerzy is not for what I define beginner friendly but what is a beginner? Are you fit but with out skills? Try the Ringwood fire roads or or Sterling forest from the care takers house ..... are you not fit and you have no skills? My advice is do some road rides and get fit. You want easy and flowie.... south Jerzy, north Jerzy is a giant pile of rocks with a little dirt piled on it.....
Click to expand...

At this point I'd say not fit and lacking skills/practice. I've been hitting the road to work on fitness. Don't mind riding alone to go at my own pace and practice things/obstacles I want to tackle.

Sounds like IMP and Tourne are the best bets for now. May hit PAtriots Path after work too
 
Paul H

Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
JTK37 said:
At this point I'd say not fit and lacking skills/practice. I've been hitting the road to work on fitness. Don't mind riding alone to go at my own pace and practice things/obstacles I want to tackle.

Sounds like IMP and Tourne are the best bets for now. May hit PAtriots Path after work too
Click to expand...
If I may make a suggestion... I wouldn't stick with the easier parks if your goal is to improve.
Go to HM... go to Ramapo... I am sure there are easier sections you can currently ride on and then there will be harder sections for you to challenge yourself with whenever you feel the need. HM has been kicking my ass for the better part of 4 years but I keep going back and with each ride, its gets more fun. Sure I had my share of frustrations and set backs but I think it was all worth it and I am a better.... ish rider for it.
 
echappy

echappy

Active Member
Off The Road Again

Off The Road Again

Well-Known Member
Willing to drive? As @ReggieHammond said, KVSP is nice single track and good transition back to mtb. LewMo is good too, but fair share of climbing. Since you live in Oakland, Stewarts State Forrest in NY is not too far. I'd wait a bit before hitting Ramapo or High Mtn, might get a little too discouraging, imo, but, I like the way @C8N is thinking...
 
N

nj_sybarite

New Member
I concur with the patriot's path recommendation. Most sections are relatively flat, some are even paved. As you approach Lewis Morris, it gets a bit challenging but once you pass that and get into Mendham it gets easier once again. Great way to build endurance and confidence, after which point you can move to Lewis Morris for more skill building and join the weekly group ride after work on Wednesday's at LM.
 
Oz Von Toco

Oz Von Toco

Active Member
I did my first ride ever at lewis morris and I'd say it's pretty much perfect for the beginner rider who wants to improve skills/fitness. Yes, there are climbs, but they really aren't awful unless your in fairly poor shape and either way they are extremely smooth and manageable. I think this is important to note because even dealing with small obstacles with a maxed heart rate will have a beginner off the bike and frustrated. The descents have some good flow and some tight switchback which will improve bike handling without entering "omg I'm gonna get hurt" territory. Patriots path makes a great warm up/cool down. When I first started I would do a loop of "real" single track at lm for 4-6 miles and then do patriots path for another 5-15 miles after to help get my base fitness up, it helped a lot.

Not really north NJ but 6 mile run is fantastic for beginners and worth hitting up if you have some time one day, nice little flowy roller coaster of place with only about 500 feet of elevation change over a 13 mile loop (vs roughly 100ft/mile at lm).

KVSP I've been too once, and thought it was great, although I don't think I would suggest that place to someone very new as the basic loop is roughly 6 miles long, can get somewhat technical, and there are a fair amount of bears in there (I saw 3 the only time I was there) - this place would be good place to come in a couple months when you are feeling more confident

No one mentioned Nassau trails which I think would also be nice - trail layout is a little confusing IMO but it's a small park so even if you get lost it wont be for long. flowy kinda like 6 mile, a touch more climbing, and with some rocks. Would definitely recommend as well.

Basically just keep at it, March 2017 I'd never mountain biked in my life, and quick loop around lewis morris with a guy twice my age whooped my ass. Now I'm completing 10-15 mile rides several times a week over much challenging terrain enjoying it, and even did the race at lewis morris for fun. ( although I still routinely get my ass kicked by guys twice my age!). Hope this helps!
 
68nova200

68nova200

Well-Known Member
My first ride ever on a real mountain bike was at wildcat ridge, mainly because I didn't know any better and its my backyard. It will piss you off at first... but if you can ride there everything else seems easy.
 
johnnyrides

johnnyrides

Active Member
Just ride and have fun. Anywhere that makes sense for you without putting yourself so far out of your way that you won't go or it keeps you from the many other important things in life. If you get into any craziness you can't handle or avoid, just get off the bike and walk it.......and theres no shame in that, ever. Then one day you'll go back and handle it with a big smile on your face. Slowly but surely push your limits. Been riding 3 years as a 50+ guy and there's a hill at Hartshorne I can't make (and may never.....its a challenge to even walk) but I keep trying like a bear is chasing me and I progress a few more feet each time.
 
A Potted Plant

A Potted Plant

Honorary Sod
First does your bike work right? Shift into gear hold gear and does it stop? Regardless of how old it is if it isn't working right you won't enjoy it. Sure its nice to have the latest and greatest but it isn't all that important. I broke my daily and had to hope on a 18ish year old giant with 80mm of travel on the few rides I was on I had personal best while riding alone where I could push my self. What ever you are riding on just needs to work, as long as it doesn't take away from your experience you will enjoy it and keep putting your self out on the trail getting better.

Don't be afraid to get out their and make a fool of your self, we're all fools and everyone started from the same place just at different points of life. I'm 26 and one of my favorite people to ride with is @Mtbdog who is a little more then twice my age. He leaves me in the dust every time we ride, at one point he got so far ahead the a biker coming the other way said, "your dad made a left", lol. Don't be afraid to join people on rides, I've gotten so much better thanks to chasing @Mtbdog and other people on this forum.

Trails are trails you go up hill down hill and you've got to deal with obstacles, don't worry about the difficulty level of the park you'll adjust. Pick a park close to you or along the way so you will actually ride. LM is great, Tourne is great, and neither is really out of your way. When you start the joy factor is low so convenience needs to be high to get out there. You'll find trails that you can do work on and others that will have you cursing the person that built it(looking at the people that built blue at the tourne), get out there.
 
extremedave

extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Maybe sniff out an easier local loop to work on and get more seat time? Instead of driving an hour and riding once a week I think you'll gain more by riding local a few times a week. Plus you'll know your local stuff better once you progress. @arangov3 makes a great point about the bike working correctly, nothing will discourage you more than poor performance.

Also, find something challenging to you but not scary each ride and keep trying it. Nothing boosts confidence like success. Some of the most skilled riders I know will try something new 5-6 times until they clear it. There's tons of good tutorial videos on YouTube to peruse also.
Remember to relax and have fun!
 
rojasj

rojasj

Active Member
JTK37 said:
Live in Oakland work in Morristown. Haven't really ridden in 10yrs and was never any good or well conditioned so I'd consider myself almost a complete beginner.

Trails by me on Skyline Drive(Ramapo State Park) tend to be a little beyond my ability level, too Rocky and too steep(as I said, out of shape). I'm riding an older 5" travel bike and don't mind a decent descent but I'm looking for something a little more flowy. I'm up for a challenge here and there but I want to be able to progress up to the bigger obstacles.

any trail suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
@JTK37 Give Ramapo State Forest right off Skyline drive a try. You can loop around the lake which is not very difficut and does have some small climbs. There are also a few trails that you can start to work through that provide some climbs without too much rockiness. The worse thing is if you park at the top parking lot you may just have to walk your bike up via Rye Cliff Road at worse.

You can also try parking in the lower parking lot at the bottem of Skyline Drive but I'm not sure what the trails in that area whoch lead to the lake are rideable.

I tend to stick to easier trails as well becuase A) I'm the main income earner in our household and getting hurt badly so as not being able to go to work would suck. B) I'm just not that into the rocky stuff.
 
J

JTK37

Member
Update:

The bike is in excellent condition. Only had about 75 mikes on it back in the day. Shifts and brakes fully adjusted. Still working on dialing in the sag and rebound but it’s in the ballpark.

Put 15 miles on this week, 10 on road and 5 off. Onroad I’ve done fine as I’ve been on relatively level ground, average just a hair over 10mph on the two 5mi rides.

Went off road for the first time today. Just hit Ramapo and went around the lake from the upper lot. I knocked out the loop in 50minutes. But that was sticking to the road all the way down, going around the lake and cough cough walking it back out up the hill. Got down and around without stopping, but the climb out was painful. Body felt fine, just so out of breathe by that point that the walk out was killer, nauseous is the best way to describe it. But I love the trip down-though anything over 20mph was scary, and the trip around was pretty comfortable.

Looking forward to getting back out and working on the physical conditioning. I’m much more worried about that at this point than the “skills”, I can learn and practice that, the fitness not so much
 
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