The Importance of Having a Bicycling Community
With an abundance of public land in the Poconos we have the opportunity to expand our trail network considerably. I spend a lot of time mountain biking just over the border in Morris County, they have a great selection of areas to mountain bike. They obtain these areas through petitions and being organized. The trails are maintained by the riders themselves. One of the biggest objections the uninformed public has is that mountain biking is destructive. It can be by a small majority but the core of riders that do the most riding are very informed on riding techniques to prevent damage to trails. For instance, did you know that if you ride around a puddle it causes more damage than riding right through it?
New Jersey has a great website called MTBNJ.com, it provides the platform for every rider in NJ to communicate. You can log on and find when a group is riding, what the conditions are for a particular park, when a scheduled trail maintence session will be, etc.. This type of online network brings people together that have passion for a sport and who would otherwise never meet.
At our disposal now in the Poconos we have only a few options for bike trails. The McDade Trail in Shawnee offers a cinder path that is great for families and those looking to get a nice workout without anything technical. Glen Park in Stroudsburg is a large trail network of unmarked trails with a lot of fire roads and technical single track. It also is the only area you’ll find an opportunity for freeriding(cliffs,jumps,and man-made obstacles). Then there is Big Pocono State Park which ajoins State Game Lands #38, this is a large area but only contains a few singletrack trails. Only the trails in Big Pocono are mapped. A newer area to the Poconos is Mt. Nebo. Located near Shawnee, it is a small park with two official loops that total about 4 miles. Mt. Nebo is a great place to learn mt. biking and get some experience on steaper terrain.
As you can see we have 4 real opportunities within the greater Stroudsburg area. We could have so much more though! The Delaware Water Gap has thousands of acres of land but only the McDade trail. Other state game land as well sits idle for most of the year when hunting seasons are closed.
If you love riding and want to see the sport grow in our area we must get organized and be heard. Bikers have every right to use public land if their is a population that wants it. So let’s start a buzz, if your out riding stop and talk to every rider you see, take your kids to the McDade, post a bulletin at work to get a group ride going, etc., anything to get the ball rolling. This group is a great start and I hope everyone spreads the work about it!
American Hiking Society