Watchung News 12/9/2016

KenS

KenS

JORBA: Director
JORBA.ORG
Great news for your Friday evening! We just received word from Union County officials that the plan for a new MTB trail at the Watchung Reservation has been approved and is moving forward!

This new plan features approximately 14 miles of bike-only trails, most of it brand new and designed/built by riders, for riders. The trails will be built/maintained according to IMBA standards and overseen by both County Parks and JORBA volunteers. This trail plan incorporates much of the MTB community feedback received at the October 20 meeting, including multiple parking/access points and terrain for all ability levels.

Please note, riding in the Watchung Reservation will not be legalized until the new trail is complete. Further information about the start and logistics for trail construction will be available in the next few weeks. We will circulate this info and other updates to the JORBA/Union County e-mail database, the JORBA social media outlets, and right here on mtbnj.com, where NJ goes for MTB info.

Thanks to every one of you for your passion and involvement in making this happen!

Thank you in particular to @Shorepoints and @stilluf for all you have done to advocate for MTB access in Union!
 
So many people to thank for gaining this victory! This was a collective effort by everyone who attended a freeholder meeting, wrote letters or e-mails to freeholders and newspapers, signed petitions, showed up at the Trailside meeting, etc. Definitely a group effort that got this done! Look forward to meeting, building, and riding with all of you!
 
Great great great job guys. This is awesome news. Thank God we the NJ MTB community has peeps who have the patience to deal with bureaucracy.
 
Great news!!! Thanks to everyone involved for making this possible.
 
Thank you for all the hard work, persistence, and focus this has required over a long period of time.

MTB only.... sounds like the insurance company is involved!!!
i kinda feel bad a new section of the park will be open to the exclusion of non-bikers. maybe we can run a couple of beginners clinics,
to introduce the area.

lots of ideas and excitement!

well done.
 
Great News! Many thanks for those that made this happen. Post up when trail work help is needed.
 
Awesome! Thanks to all involved on this effort. Pretty excited to read this!
 
This is great but not in the sense that it perpetuates separatism. We need multi- use that's the real answer and this does not get there. It actually is counterproductive to the ultimate goal. Kinda like BET and Al Sharpton perpetuate racism. /rant

See you on da trails ( but not til they're done, wink wink)
 
Good work everyone! It's been a long time coming.

I am sad no shared trails but its one way of getting a bit of access and sidestepping all those folks who don't want to share with us. Hey... Maybe the non-riders will want in on the trails after they see us having fun on them and then we get shared access that way! could be.
And 14 mi. is more than a bit, too. Props to JORBA every union county resident should be a member! (Mr. Seebeck, use this for PR please!)

That said ... as long as the "register your bike with your town" and "let random cops tinker with/'inspect' your bike" ordinances are on the books, most of us will either not be able to ride (cause most towns do not enforce registration haven't for years and probably only a handful offer) or not want to (I don't want a cop with no mech skillz messing with my brakes the same way the cop wouldn't want me field stripping his pistol and then giving it back to him to use). So even when trails are built/open this has to be fixed. They should have repealed these ordinances years ago and could have done it before the Oct. trailside meeting as a sign of good faith. No idea why they didn't except that as non-cyclists they probably don't realize that these provisions are as archaic as segregated drinking fountains and just as offensive.

That said.... progress! Awesome glorious progress.

If they can take care of repealing those two deadwood ordinances when they "officially" allow mountainbike access, we are good!

I will see you on the (opened) trail when it happens

Ride on!

-Lonerider
 
w_b said:
We need multi- use that's the real answer and this does not get there. It actually is counterproductive to the ultimate goal.

See you on da trails ( but not til they're done, wink wink)
Click to expand...
What we need is mountain bikes to be permitted on trails at Watchung, the fact that the county is willing to build 14 miles of trails for the sole purpose of mountain biking is more then gracious. Lets accept this gesture thankfully and stay off the trails until they are built.
 
pooriggy said:
What we need is mountain bikes to be permitted on trails at Watchung, the fact that the county is willing to build 14 miles of trails for the sole purpose of mountain biking is more then gracious. Lets accept this gesture thankfully and stay off the trails until they are built.
Click to expand...

This.

Additionally, the "right" way to create MTB opportunities is to work within the rules and timelines set forth by the land manager. In this case, the other stakeholders were very much against multi-use, and the land manager found a solution. Kudos to them.

Now it is up to our community to deliver on all of the things that we have been promising them. Responsible trail use, volunteerism, etc etc.
 
pooriggy said:
What we need is mountain bikes to be permitted on trails at Watchung, the fact that the county is willing to build 14 miles of trails for the sole purpose of mountain biking is more then gracious. Lets accept this gesture thankfully and stay off the trails until they are built.
Click to expand...

Agree; but if you're gonna quote, quote verbatim. Don't edit out my point to make yours.
 
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