I hate sand!

Minotaur

New Member
I rode in Allaire State Park Sunday. I ran into a guy, well not literally ran into, though it was close, who said he was liking trail riding more and road riding less. I'm beginning to think the same way. Too many crazies on the road, but the equestrians, runners and hikers on the trails are all courteous.

I was not prepared for the "wildness" of the trails; wild to me anyway. There were uphills that I walked, though I took most of them, downhills that I looked at with trepidation and thought to myself "well, you can't be a wuss all your life" and took them. There were root steps, logs, tree branches, gravel, hard packed dirt, and the ubiquitous sand.

I rode about 1 hour 47 mins. and about 8 miles. The problem is, I got lost! I was riding the "blue" trail, and realized "oh crap, I have to find my way out". I didn't come out of the trails the way I went in... God only knows how I got out and back out onto the road. Of course as Murphy's Law would have it, I turned the wrong way on Herbertsville Road and went too far in the opposite direction of where I was parked on Hospital Road. So I turned around and rode back to where my truck was, cursing and swearing all the way. :eek:

I stopped at the camping office and got a trail map. The employee looked at me and said "south trails?" I said yeah; maybe the fact that I was drenched and hobbling tipped him off? He handed me a map that said "South Trails" and said I'd never get lost again.

Good ride. :)
 

Frank

Sasquatch
Sorry it sucked

The sand got really bad within the last month because of heavy rains in early august. Our TM crew will be out again on sunday morning to try and fix some of the bad areas. Hopefully we will also be able to cut some new trail around some of the worst areas. Here is a link to the map section of this forum with another map that might help you navigate through the park a little easier. Sadly we have not gotten to the point where we can name trails"officially".
http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47

pm me sometime and I'll show you a good loop there.
 

Minotaur

New Member
I saw those maps... they are great.

Don't get me wrong, the title of my post was mainly tongue-in-cheek. If you are telling me the trails need work now, I'd love to see them when they are done. :D You guys are doing a great job.
 
H

harry0805

Guest
So how can I avoid the sand?

Hey guys, I plan to visit Allair for the first time on Sunday and I'd like to avoid the sand. From what I hear it's a great park and I should try to go w/ someone who knows the trails but that's not an option for me... :(

I'm looking at the new map posted on this thread and I see trails orange, white, blue, pink, and unmarked. Can anyone tell me what's my best bet according to this map or what I should avoid?

Just to give you some background on my experience (not much) I've been to Six Mile (twice), Mercer County Park (5 x's), Sourlands (once), and Clayton(twice). So I'm a newb looking to explore. :rofl:

Any help is greatly appreciated... :D
 

Frank

Sasquatch
The rain from last night (more tonight) should tighten everything up nicely. Just explore and have fun. You will probably meet a bunch of folks at the parking lot, so try to hook up with them. It's a great park with great people.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
If you want to avoid the sand, head north. Anywhere north and including 6 mile should do you well.
 

ChrisG

Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
There's no "avoiding" the sand at Allaire. As Frank notes, all the rain (we are getting hammered along the coast as I type this) will firm things up quite a bit, so head out and have a blast. There's tons of groovy singletrack in there and lots of good folks on bikes.
 
H

harry0805

Guest
There's no "avoiding" the sand at Allaire. As Frank notes, all the rain (we are getting hammered along the coast as I type this) will firm things up quite a bit, so head out and have a blast. There's tons of groovy singletrack in there and lots of good folks on bikes.


Thanks guys for all the info!
looking forward to tomorrow.
 
H

harry0805

Guest
I hit Allaire with some friends yesterday and it was a blast... I have some war wounds to prove it too... :getsome:

There was sand in some places but it wasn't too bad. I'll definitely hit this place again...
 

Frank

Sasquatch
Awesome

I was rather surprised too. The HEAVY rain on friday flushed a lot of sand into some areas. It will improve in time.
 

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