Rutgers Eco Ride Yesterday

Madness

New Member
I took a ride over to the eco yesterday to get some mileage in the dirt, since I haven't been there in a little while. I have said it before and I will say it again, we really need to do a trail day there to clean up some of the sections and really mark off the trails. That place is so much fun to ride and offers a bit more of a challenge then Six Mile but not as much as Chimney Rock. It is the perfect trail system for people that don't want to go to crazy but want a little more then six mile. I want to put together a trail day there for one Sat. in June to just clean up everything and maybe mark the actual trails so my dumb ass "that has been riding there for years" will stop getting lost and ending up in deep in the sticker bushes following trails that lead nowhere near the trail head when it is getting dark.
I know some of you said you would be down to help out before when I posted about doing one, and we were talking about needing permission to build some new features, but I think we can just do a clean up without going crazy and I think we won't have to get any real clearence. I can imagine that we will def need clearence if we wanted to build new stuff and cut new trails, but I think we will be ok if we just clean the existing trails up.

Anybody down to help out let me know and if we can get enough people together we can pick a date that is good for everybody that wants to help.
 

KenS

JORBA: Director
JORBA.ORG
Have you made any effort at all to contact the land manager of the preserve?
 

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
i can fire off an email - i have the info... just never got around to it, but i dont want to step on toes or end up throwing a bunch of emails from a bunch of people to one person...

so if no one else has emailed/attempted contact, i'll do it.
 

tonyride

Don't piss off the red guy
Where is that place? I will be willing to help but mostly I'm looking for new places around that area for my wife to ride. She's still new to mountain biking so I want to start her off easy.
 

Madness

New Member
I shot off an email to who I thought was the property manager at Rutgers since I think they are the ones that manage the property but never got any response. So any help would be greatly appreciated. I would really like to get this together sooner then later so we will all have another great set of trails to ride this summer and beyond.
 

Madness

New Member
i can fire off an email - i have the info... just never got around to it, but i dont want to step on toes or end up throwing a bunch of emails from a bunch of people to one person...

so if no one else has emailed/attempted contact, i'll do it.



That would be awesome since I might have sent the email to the wrong place. It was kinda a "To Whome It May Concern" email to who I thought was the right person, and it might not have been the right place to send it to.
 

FFT

Gay & Stuffy
Have you made any effort at all to contact the land manager of the preserve?


I did, and got a response, but not a real clear one. It seems like a hot potato issue in the office that is responsible for the land mngmt. I got a few CC forwarded from within their office about how to handle the request. If I was to shoot from the hip, I would say go renegade. I spent 3 yrs there while working on my undergrad and there are no real rules in them there woods. If you dress up like a gay male(or Ken), you will be totally under the radar. All of the stories of that place are true -except the ones about FFT!!
 
Last edited:

Madness

New Member
I am down with going renegade since I am not the only one that hasn't figured out what the deal is in doing it official. Cause it seems like by the time we get the actual ok it will be snowing at this rate. Besides I think the work that was done previously was rouge style anyway. We are doing them a favor by trying to do some much needed up keep in there anyway. I might be wrong in think that but that is just the way I feel. Since nobody else is going to do it why shouldn't we. It's only going to benefit everybody not just us. Even the creepy guys would appreciate it............lol
 

FFT

Gay & Stuffy
Copy of email fro the office responsible:

I just got this from Arnold Henderson:

b. The Highland Park Native Plant Reserve on River Road. The official bike trail is actually the sidewalk, so it's not a case of clearing trail, but there is a need to clear out invasive or obstructive plants alongside such as tree of heaven and poison ivy in places where they threaten bikers and passersby. CAROL: WOULD THIS BE YOURS TO HANDLE OR DELEGATE?


If you would like to take a look at the part of the NPR along the sidewalk, let me know. I am not aware of anything threatening bikers, pedestrians, or even small dogs along there, but cleanup is always appreciated.

Carol Avelsgaard


The sidewalk? WTF - OK so can I wash your cars after I pick up the trash on the sidewalk!! I am not giving advice, just relaying a message. FT:cool:
 
F

FallGirl1430

Guest
Hates Ticks

Ok OK,
I'm in!
I have rode there with Tommy quite a few times and once I jumped this log and fell over and got impaled by a branch. Tommy looked at my thigh and said " Holy @#$%, you are going to the hospital! 8 stitches and I was good as new :D
I think it's a good place to ride with someone. Everytime I ride there alone I always see like these guys or guy standing off to the side of the trails and they kinda have the "deer in the headlights" look as I wiz past them, makes me feel real uneasy and creepy. I usually bolt back to my car and leave in a huff and the bad part is that I only live like 6 miles from there.
So I would help (depends ofcourse what you consider what the word "help" means, being I hate ticks and most crawly things) let me know what day works,

The bug hater ... :)
 

Madness

New Member
I just got this from Arnold Henderson:

b. The Highland Park Native Plant Reserve on River Road. The official bike trail is actually the sidewalk, so it's not a case of clearing trail, but there is a need to clear out invasive or obstructive plants alongside such as tree of heaven and poison ivy in places where they threaten bikers and passersby. CAROL: WOULD THIS BE YOURS TO HANDLE OR DELEGATE?


If you would like to take a look at the part of the NPR along the sidewalk, let me know. I am not aware of anything threatening bikers, pedestrians, or even small dogs along there, but cleanup is always appreciated.

Carol Avelsgaard


The sidewalk? WTF - OK so can I wash your cars after I pick up the trash on the sidewalk!! I am not giving advice, just relaying a message. FT:cool:


Is there even a sidewalk anywhere around there? Oh yeah it's in the park, Johnson Park across the street. What a bunch of Effin Jackasses, this is all the more reason we just need to do this renegade style.....
 

FFT

Gay & Stuffy
What a bunch of Effin Jackasses, this is all the more reason we just need to do this renegade style.....

Well, I dont really think that's the best approach, this is an open forum and it's not a good idea to bash to badly. I think ias just a group that doesnt understand the sort of cycling we talk about. Anyway, good luck, I wish I could help but it is chair lift season.
 

Madness

New Member
You are right, I wasn't trying to cause any termoil by that comment. I just think that we all could benifit from doing a little cleaning in there, and it just seems like we are getting the run around for no reason. It's not like we are asking to rebuild stone henge in the woods, just clean up a trail system that nobody seems to care about:mad:. I will send another email today and see what kind of response I get this time if any.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
You sound impatient, which I understand. But sending emails every day isn't going to make people notice you faster. This is University property so it's going to be a world of red tape to get anything done. If you get a positive response within a month I would be surprised. These things take time.

On going rogue, what can I say? I'm a moderator here and we can't promote that. You might get away with it, you might not. Either way you don't really want to draw attention to yourself on this issue. I used to ride back there when I was in college and the reality is that you could probably sacrifice a goat in there every night with a 40 foot bonfire and nobody would care. But you know how big, red tape laden organizations can act with surprising swiftness and harsh consequences when some minor incident annoys the wrong person. Just keep that all in mind.
 

tonyride

Don't piss off the red guy
I would help with the clean up if I knew where it is. I live right in Piscataway so I would be in my best interest to have a place to close to me to ride.
 

FFT

Gay & Stuffy
Either way you don't really want to draw attention to yourself on this issue.

IDK, if walking with your pants around you ankles isnt a big deal - then a shovel and rake shouldnt be either. It's not actually Rutgers that oversees the park, it's Highland Park Environmental Comm. : http://www.leoraw.com/hpenv/biod/rep.htm
. I emailed them to kinda get a feel for what the proper channels are to do work to the trails and as you can see their response was off que.

Nonetheless, if it's an overgrown, littered trail system that has been infiltated by the McGrevey cabinet, I dont see why anyone would care if you "volunteered" your time.

Tonyride: the place is worth a look, Its got that nice hardpack raritan river bed material.
 

Madness

New Member
I would help with the clean up if I knew where it is. I live right in Piscataway so I would be in my best interest to have a place to close to me to ride.

There are a few different ways to get to the trails. The easiest way to tell u is to park in the tennis court lot of Johnson Park and ride up to the entrance of The Castle on river road. When you get to the top of the hill the trail head is right in front of you. Or you can find the other trail head over by the RAC on whatever that road is (I think it's C st. but I am not sure). If you park in the dorm lot and cross the street towards the woods, there is a section that is kinda roped off, you will see some sign posts with string running from one to the other. The other enterance is right there.
 

tonyride

Don't piss off the red guy
There are a few different ways to get to the trails. The easiest way to tell u is to park in the tennis court lot of Johnson Park and ride up to the entrance of The Castle on river road. When you get to the top of the hill the trail head is right in front of you. Or you can find the other trail head over by the RAC on whatever that road is (I think it's C st. but I am not sure). If you park in the dorm lot and cross the street towards the woods, there is a section that is kinda roped off, you will see some sign posts with string running from one to the other. The other enterance is right there.
OK, I know where those places are. I remember driving up to the Castle at night when we were in highschool. I thought that was private property.
 
Top Bottom