Mountain Bikes and MEW October 30th
By Albert B. Kelly
These days, I wish exercised more than I do. But even though I don’t get out as much as I’d like, that won’t stop me from encouraging anyone and everyone who can ride a mountain bike to come out on Sunday, October 30th, from 1pm to 3pm to try out the trails known as MEW which stands for Mary Elmer Woods.
Over the course of the last year, we have been working with Jeff Vannoy of Dirt Brothers Trail Design as well as Dave Barrickman, coach of the Cumberland County Conquerors and Jonathan Lewis with NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) to ready certain portions of the trail system to accommodate riders. October 30th is “try it out day” and the NJ MTB league has committed to bringing bikes (and helmets) down for those youth who do not have a bike so they can “try it out” on the new trails from 1-3 pm that day.
The NJ MTB League (MTB stands for Mountain Bike), is slowly getting established throughout New Jersey and we are hoping that some of the trails in City Park can become a destination for young riders and maybe even some not-so-young riders. MEW might also be sanctioned for races. The day will have coaches on hand to lead riders on a portion of the trail and the trail system has been divided into “Upper MEW” or upper Mary Elmer Woods and “Lower MEW” or lower Mary Elmer Woods.
If you’re interested in seeing what a hard ride through these trails looks like, take a few minutes to watch Jeff Vannoy cycle through the MEW (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JZpG-HFAqU ) as I did not too long ago when a friend sent me a YouTube video titled “New Trail System In South Jersey (MEW Trails - Bridgeton, NJ)”.
Just watching the video made me out of breath, but credit to Jeff Vannoy who handles the bike like a pro. Watching Jeff’s ride made me realize why mountain biking is a younger person’s sport, though I imagine there might be a few older riders who take exception to that prospect.
But as Jeff, Dave, and Jonathan have emphasized time and again, their hope is to promote biking and also enjoyment of the trails, both objectives can accomplish several other things as well. The first is to raise community awareness of mountain biking as a sport, whether competitively or for exercise. Community involvement holds out the prospect of bringing people together and in a diverse community such as Bridgeton, people don’t easily come together so it’s good to provide opportunities, whether through Unity Day or biking the trails.
Another objective is to promote City Park and the trails as a destination for riders overall. The NJ MTB League looks for hidden gems where they can let loose and do what they do best and portions of our trails have proven to be just that, hidden gems.
A final objective of NICA and the NJ MTB League is to grow the sport in our area. Unlike basketball or football that don’t need much in the way of promoting, mountain biking is something that is not really on people’s radar. With that in mind, events such as the “try it out day” help to make biking an option.
Some sports are very difficult to take up not only because of the skills involved, but also because of costs. Ice hockey comes to mind. Even if you are a good skater, between equipment and paying for ice time, it is not an inexpensive sport. Mountain biking is not cost-free as bikes can range from $100 on the low end to thousands depending on how far in you go.
But once you have a bike and helmet, it is a sport where you do not need other players or teams to enjoy the sport and you can ride at your pace and skill level. However, NICA in New Jersey does have teams and they are forming teams at different age levels. Currently, the focus is on grades 6 to grade 12.
Please help spread the word about the trails in Mary Elmer Woods and the October 30th event. Our young people desperately need outlets and opportunities for exercise and fresh air. You can learn more about NICA in New Jersey by visiting https://newjerseymtb.org/ and you can pre-register for the October 30th event at Cumberland MTB@gmail.com.