Hi, new guy here, Montclair area, looking for riding friends

Ian87

Member
Hi,

I'm new here, glad to have found this site, and pretty excited about getting on my new bike. I have a new Niner AIR 9 2-Star NX Eagle, 29er, arriving soon. It's replacing my Cannondale F500 which I only used for city rides.

This seems like a really nice crew here and I'm looking forward to meeting some of you. I'm a very quiet, chill guy, Iraq veteran, 50 (although I don't look or act like it), married, go to the gym, and spent a whole lot of time backpacking and horseback riding in the Rocky Mountains when I was younger.

I'm hoping to link up with some easy going folks for pleasure riding and a little technical learning / riding too.


Ian
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Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Welcome Ian!

nice ride upgrade. Hopefully we can start some formal meetups soon.

where have you been riding?
 

Soundguy

#SenditGuy
Team MTBNJ Halter's
That F500 brings back memories. That was my pride and joy when I was a kid. Bikes have changed a bit since then, lol.
 

Ian87

Member
That F500 brings back memories. That was my pride and joy when I was a kid. Bikes have changed a bit since then, lol.

As you can see the in the pic, The F500 has been babied an is in near mint condition. I put good miles on it but always took care of it and stored it indoors, etc. I've listed it for sale, hoping to offset the cost of my new bike. It has been great though, bought it new when I was in the city. Parting from it will be tough.
 

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Welcome!! And no reason your spouse can't get into mountain biking too!! ?

P.S. thank you for your service!
 

rottin'

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Welcome @Ian87 Lots of good people on here (with the occasional a-hole) and great places to ride in NJ. Also thanks for your service---I have much family that have worn our flag overseas as well.
 

Jmann

Never gonna let you down.
Hi, I’m pretty close to you and ride through Montclair a lot. You might want to start with the west Essex rail trail. Its mostly gravel but has some singletrack trails that run parallel to it in spots. There’s a lot of riders in your area, which I’m sure you’ll notice once you get out there.
 

Ian87

Member
Hi, I’m pretty close to you and ride through Montclair a lot. You might want to start with the west Essex rail trail. Its mostly gravel but has some singletrack trails that run parallel to it in spots. There’s a lot of riders in your area, which I’m sure you’ll notice once you get out there.
Hi, West Essex is actually one trail I'm familiar with; the weekend before last, we walked it... About 3miles and back, maybe just shy of six altogether. Really nice and shady, great for a walk.
 

Delish

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Welcome. Just left Montclair area but you're close to a lot of stuff. Get on Strava and seek out the MilltopERs group. Tons of folks riding in the area regularly. You probably know this but Essex Co. hates MTBs.
 

taylor185

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Welcome. Just left Montclair area but you're close to a lot of stuff. Get on Strava and seek out the MilltopERs group. Tons of folks riding in the area regularly. You probably know this but Essex Co. hates MTBs.
why do you have to copy me? :)
 

bergsnj

Well-Known Member
You probably know this but Essex Co. hates MTBs.

Hopefully this crazy influx of new riders will make the county reconsider their laws and make riding in parks legal. Its either that or they are going to crack down hard on mountain bikers in county parks as they have done from time to time. I'm friendly with an Essex sheriff, you don't want to get caught if they have orders to stop mountain bikers. It only takes a couple complaints from hikers to stir shit up.
 

skully

Active Member
Welcome !!!!!!!and thank you for your service!!!!!!...this form is a great source of info and will really help you out moving forward!!!some really great people on here !!!!good luck and see you on the trails
 

Jmann

Never gonna let you down.
Hopefully this crazy influx of new riders will make the county reconsider their laws and make riding in parks legal. Its either that or they are going to crack down hard on mountain bikers in county parks as they have done from time to time. I'm friendly with an Essex sheriff, you don't want to get caught if they have orders to stop mountain bikers. It only takes a couple complaints from hikers to stir shit up.
The Essex county anti-mtb is obviously dumb, but for me I don’t find many of the trails in Essex to be that interesting or desirable. If they legalized them I don’t think I would change my habits much. I suppose with better trail maintenance that could change.
The vibe I’ve gotten in the parks is that very few care. Most people fall into a category of breaking the rules in some way, whether it’s walking a dog off leash, doing drugs/drinking or littering. The only thing that bothers me is littering.
 

Cassinonorth

Well-Known Member
The Essex county anti-mtb is obviously dumb, but for me I don’t find many of the trails in Essex to be that interesting or desirable. If they legalized them I don’t think I would change my habits much. I suppose with better trail maintenance that could change.
The vibe I’ve gotten in the parks is that very few care. Most people fall into a category of breaking the rules in some way, whether it’s walking a dog off leash, doing drugs/drinking or littering. The only thing that bothers me is littering.

If they legalized it all it would be a pretty damn awesome ride to go Eagle Rock -> Hilltop -> Mills. Plenty of variety in that ~20 mile ride. South Mountain on it's own would be awesome too. I'm actually running for town council in my small town in Essex County...we have a nice little vacant lot that would make a sweet trail system too....not too far from where Joe D lives either.

Could be interesting.
 
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kidzach

Well-Known Member
If they legalized it all it would be a pretty damn awesome ride to go Eagle Rock -> Hilltop -> Mills. Plenty of variety in that ~20 mile ride. South Mountain on it's own would be awesome too. I'm actually running for town council in my small town in Essex County...we have a nice little vacant lot that would make a sweet trail system too....not too far from where Joe D lives either.

Could be interesting.
fight the good fight. Joe must go !
 
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