Essex County

Is the main issue the building of features or the riding of bikes? It only takes a few bad apples to ruin it for the whole bunch.

I lived out west for quite a few years and a lot of the parks used the odd and even day rule, odd days are for hiking only, even days are hiking and biking. Would something like this take hold or is it a losing battle? The erosion bit is complete bullshit and we all know that. Why so much hate for mountain bikers in Essex county?
 
I believe a lot of this is caused by the new influx of riders that do not practice etiquette, wear helmets or are just rude to the walkers and hikers. The regulars that have been riding there for years maintain the trails and obstacles and are respectful to all who use the trails. I have started to see many of the little bridges and ramps starting to disappear and some jump landing areas destroyed. This is dangerous for the regulars who ride everyday because it can change overnight.
 
Riders may pass through gently but the fall line trails and jenky jumps scar the land rapidly eroding what little soil we have in this area. We can blame snooty walkers, machine politicians and teenagers but I think it’s up to us to build relationships among riders as naive as that may sound.
 
I'm running for town council in the town where Joe D lives. One of my grandest plans is utilizing a piece of land the town acquired a year or two ago that's been sitting vacant for a pump track/flow trail system ala High Bridge. There's a couple trails back there now but they're an absolute swamp after any rain fall.

It's not a huge property but Joe D lives about .2 miles away. Could be a fun experiment.

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He lives on Schweinberg Dr btw.
 
cassinonorth said:
I'm running for town council in the town where Joe D lives. One of my grandest plans is utilizing a piece of land the town acquired a year or two ago that's been sitting vacant for a pump track/flow trail system ala High Bridge. There's a couple trails back there now but they're an absolute swamp after any rain fall.

It's not a huge property but Joe D lives about .2 miles away. Could be a fun experiment.

He lives on Schweinberg Dr btw.
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Good luck! That council (among many others) has made some interesting news over the years.
 
Andypowerful said:
I believe a lot of this is caused by the new influx of riders that do not practice etiquette, wear helmets or are just rude to the walkers and hikers. The regulars that have been riding there for years maintain the trails and obstacles and are respectful to all who use the trails. I have started to see many of the little bridges and ramps starting to disappear and some jump landing areas destroyed. This is dangerous for the regulars who ride everyday because it can change overnight.
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Which park are you talking about here ? I live in Essex County and have only ridden Mills like twice, Have stayed away so far this year.
 
kidzach said:
Which park are you talking about here ? I live in Essex County and have only ridden Mills like twice, Have stayed away so far this year.
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Probably mills as brookdale is pretty much little bmx kids the whole time making 2 inch jumps. I did make a jump in mills with some friends but we need to move it.
 
NCHLS.mrz said:
Probably mills as brookdale is pretty much little bmx kids the whole time making 2 inch jumps. I did make a jump in mills with some friends but we need to move it.
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I live on the other side of the Parkway from Brookdale. Way too many eyes there for sure. Signs everywhere telling you not to ride on tar trails. So not worth it . I get less /zero flack riding through all Nutley parks if I want to get on my bike from home.
 
kidzach said:
I live on the other side of the Parkway from Brookdale. Way too many eyes there for sure. Signs everywhere telling you not to ride on tar trails. So not worth it . I get less /zero flack riding through all Nutley parks if I want to get on my bike from home.
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Off of the West Essex Trail in Cedar Grove there are a network of single track trails with some nicely maintained obstacles and jumps. The end of WET is Hilltop Reservation in Verona. This has some nice trails as well and so far it doesn't seem to be as much as a problem as the Mills. Maybe less people complaining there.
 
One thing I find strange is the riders who ride these trails exclusively. I talk to a lot of guys who ride consistently but have never been to any of the other parks in the state.
Even though I live near all these trails, the trails I prefer happen to be legal, so it won’t affect me much. But I feel for the kids that live near these parks, they should be able to be kids and ride their bikes in the woods.
 
Jmann said:
One thing I find strange is the riders who ride these trails exclusively. I talk to a lot of guys who ride consistently but have never been to any of the other parks in the state.
Even though I live near all these trails, the trails I prefer happen to be legal, so it won’t affect me much. But I feel for the kids that live near these parks, they should be able to be kids and ride their bikes in the woods.
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I get the convenience factor but the difference in legal tm and this under the cloak of darkness version is night and day. They're backyard trails. They're pretty janky. If I want to do a quick hour ride before work they're great. If I'm getting in a car, I have like 6-7 good options within a half hour drive which is nice.
 
bmtroublemaker said:
Is the main issue the building of features or the riding of bikes? It only takes a few bad apples to ruin it for the whole bunch.

I lived out west for quite a few years and a lot of the parks used the odd and even day rule, odd days are for hiking only, even days are hiking and biking. Would something like this take hold or is it a losing battle? The erosion bit is complete bullshit and we all know that. Why so much hate for mountain bikers in Essex county?
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The main issue, which is that Essex Co has a stupid, out-of-date, draconian laws concerning bicycles. Bicycle are banned from literally anything that is not a "paved vehicular road", or a path designated for that purpose (I'm not aware of any paths in Essex specifically designated as bike paths). This means that there is no legitimate, legal place to ride anywhere in any Essex Co property where you don't have to deal with angry, distracted drivers. Crazy.

Because bikes are not allowed on trails, legitimate trail planning & maintenance isn't possible and the outcome of everybody taking matters into their own hands is predictable.

Why so much hate? No idea. Goes back to the early 90's. They tried to make South Mountain open to bikes only on certain days but ended with the blanket ban in or around 1995.

As far as I know the only way to get the laws changed is to vote new people into office...Freeholders and especially the clown at the top.

Jmann said:
hing I find strange is the riders who ride these trails exclusively. I talk to a lot of guys who ride consistently but have never been to any of the other parks in the state.
Even though I live near all these trails, the trails I prefer h
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The terrain in Essex is good enough to have "destination" trails if only they could be built/managed/maintained in a sustainable way. A lot of folks don't have the extra time to drive someplace to ride. And, IMHO, they shouldn't have to.
 
i lived in Verona 15 years ago and loved to pop into Eagle Rock for an hour or so... it was fun and close. Road my first mountain bike in '94 for years in SoMo... Essex County really is sad. I get that places like eagle rock and SoMo are in very densely populated areas, but I believe that if some trails were built and designated MTB or multi use, people would be pretty respectful (maybe not, but we'll never know until Joe D is gone at best. ).
 
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