Road ride canceled!

Well, with the 19" of snow West Milford got, we're officially canceling the road ride today. 


Whoever angered the weather gods - please apologize!!! 

But wait - there's more!!

A few more last minute additions to the TTC weekend line-up - 

• Saturday, October 29 - 10 a.m., Gravity Vault on Rt. 17 North in Upper Saddle River. It might be snowing outside, but we can still go climbing inside! Check their website for prices, rental info, belaying info, etc. 
• Sunday, October 30 - TTC's own Jason will be leading a mountain bike ride at Waywayanda. Meet at 12:30 p.m. at the beach parking lot. He'll lead you on a good long ride, approximately 25 miles of singletrack, hitting a good portion of the BearScat 50 course, plus some other cool stuff! Plan on bring plenty of water and food with you. Got questions for Jason, or just want to let him know that you're psyched to join him? Drop him a line

OK - now we really have your weekend covered. Enjoy!

A cancellation and a new ride!

Unfortunately, due to the weather, we're going to cancel tomorrow's ride at 6 Mile - (aside - 3-6" of snow before Halloween - seriously?), but we'll definitely plan another trip there, so stay tuned. 

As for a different ride, our own BJ Kisch is planning a bit of an epic road ride on Sunday, October 30. Join him if you dare! He'll be leaving from the Walter Bergen School on Otterhole Road at 12 p.m. He's planning a mass start time trial (TT), with a catch - he'll explain more on Sunday! From there it'll be down to Pompton Plains, Montville, 4 Corners, Kinnelon and back. Looking to do about 50 miles at a moderate pace in total. Winner of TT will get a pat on the back and accusations of doping! If you want more info or to let BJ know that you will be attending, drop him a line. 

Road trip - 6 Mile Reservoir!

We're giving you a bit of advanced notice on this one, as it is a bit of a road trip - but totally worth it! 

Saturday, October 29, we're headed south with our mountain bikes to Six Mile Reservoir off of Route 27 in Somerset, NJ. A little more than 1 hour south of West Milford, Six Mile is a JORBA maintained area within the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, with lots of flowing, fast, well groomed trails. Not a ton of climbing, not as technical as our parks up north here - a great chance to check out a completely different type of riding! The Delaware and Raritan Canal Rail Trail is part of this park - great for the kiddies - bring them along too!

 

We'll meet at 9:30 a.m. at parking lot on Canal Road, just south of intersection with Blackwells Mill Rd in Franklin Twp. We’ll be riding by 10 and done approximately 1:00 p.m.  There is not tons of parking, so please car pool if you can. 

Rain will cancel - check our blog, Facebook or Twitter page for updates! 

More info? Trail maps are here , JORBA info here, Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park info here, Google map here. JORBA just did one of their group rides there this past weekend, and all who attended thought it was a super fun place to ride! If you can't make it this weekend, we'll definitely plan another trip over the next few months - it'll be a good winter destination ride! 

We have 2 winners!

Thank you to everyone who bought one of our JORBA pump track fund raising raffle tickets. We are truly grateful for your support! Thanks to your efforts, we raised over $1,600 for our soon-to-be-built pump track in West Milford. And now, for the important part - our raffle winners ... 


The Trek Marlin 29'er singlespeed was won by Sammy Sujack of Tenafly, and the Trek Revel 0 was won by Kathleen Sinnott of Fair Lawn. Congratulations, Sammy and Kathleen! 


Much thanks again to Giant, Trek, and Michael Hoek of Town Cycle for their support of our pump track fundraising efforts - we couldn't have done it without you! 


And for those of you following our progress of the pump track, keep an eye on the upper left hand corner of this blog - we'll link you to updates there. Once again - thank you for your generosity and support! 

Weekend Party Plans!

Hey everyone - 

Well, the weather promises to clear up for the weekend - we hope you'll be able to join us for some fun and games this weekend!

• Saturday, October 15 - come party with us! We're celebrating Town Cycle's 25th year in business! We'll have a series of rides from the shop (mountain bike at 1 p.m., cyclocross, 1:30 p.m., road ride 1:30 p.m.), and afterwards, the kids (big and small!) can ride Pump the Magic Dragon, we'll have a little food, a little toast to Mike, and draw the raffle winners for our pump track bike raffle. Come stop by, buy a raffle ticket, go for a ride, and congratulate Mike on 25 years - no small feat!
• Women's Demo Day - Saturday, October 15 - 9-3 p.m. at Waywayanda - if you haven't RSVP'd, it's not too late! Join us to try out the latest in Trek's Women Specific Designs bicycles, and get some tips and tricks on improving your mountain biking skills.
• Sunday, October 16 - join us for a truly epic mountain bike ride! We'll leave the shop at 9 a.m., make our way south to Kanouse Mtn Rd, go along Echo Lake, cross Rt. 23, then up Copperas Ridge, down across Green Pond and up Craigmere cliffs, then down to Cozy Lake, Paradise, Clinton Reservoir, to Buckabear Pond across Clinton, up on Bearfort Ridge then back to shop......epic! Expect it to be 5-6 hours, 40-50 miles. This is not a beginner ride! You will need full camel backs, multiple tubes, chain tools, air, pump, plenty of food, money, etc. - be prepared! The weather is going to be perfect, the leaves are starting to turn color - it's going to be an awesome ride! 

Hope to see you out there - have a great weekend, everyone!

Jungle Habitat information

As an FYI to anyone who was thinking of riding at Jungle Habitat over the next 2 weekends, there are 2 events taking place there. On Sunday, October 16, the New York Adventure Race Association is holding their Ramapo Rampage race there. On Saturday and Sunday, Oct 22 and 23, the previously rained out and re-scheduled Greenwood Lake Air and Car Show is taking place. 

Both weekends, you will have access to the park, but if you were looking for a nice quiet ride in the woods - you may want to find a different place to ride!

As an aside - before the Greenwood Lake Airshow got rained out in August, several TTC members had a chance to go, and thoroughly enjoyed it!!!

Three quick reminders for this week!

Three reminders:

• Thanks to everyone who stopped by last night at Town Cycle and bought raffle tickets to benefit the pump track - there were a bunch of you! We'll be there again Thursday night from 5-8 p.m., and Saturday from 12-5 p.m. Please stop by, say hi, and help us build a most awesome pump track in West Milford!
• Our Ladies Mountain Bike Demo and Clinic, sponsored by Trek, is still on for Saturday, October 15th at Waywayanda! We'd love to have you come out - and bring a friend! Anyone can come - you don't need to be a Team Town Cycle member. Just RSVP to let us know you are coming so we can have a good head count for lunch, etc.
• Town Cycle is celebrating 25 years in business this month, and Team Town Cycle is throwing a little party to say congratulations and thank you! Join us at Saturday, Oct. 15th, from 1-5 p.m., at Town Cycle. We've scheduled a little bit of fun for everyone, so stop by and say congratulations to Mike! 

Thanks everyone - hope to see you all around this weekend!

Tuesday reminders!

Two quick reminders for today - 

• It's Tuesday, and it's not raining, so finally - Spooky Tuesday ride at Jungle Habitat is on! We'll be wheels down at 6 p.m. - bring your lights and your courage as we chase after the ghosts in Jungle Habitat!
• If you're coming to West Milford to ride, make sure you stop by Town Cycle and pick up your raffle tickets! Don't forget -we're raffling two bikes to benefit the construction of the new pump track in town - and we need your help! We'll be at Town Cycle tonight from 5-8 p.m., Thursday night from 5-8 p.m., and Saturday from 12-5 p.m selling tickets - please stop by and buy one (or two - or three!) - every penny goes toward the pump track!

Thanks everyone - have a great day!!

Raffle to benefit West Milford Pump Track!

As many of you have heard or read in the paper, West Milford is getting a pump track! JORBA, who built an awesome pump track in Alexandria, in partnership with us at Team Town Cycle, has worked hard these last few months, and finally - it's time to start work!

The location of the pump track will be at Farrell Field in West Milford - right down the street from Jungle Habitat, and centrally located in town. We are taking over one of the soccer fields there (behind the recycling center), and after talking to people this weekend at the Autumn Lights Festival, and receiving tons of enthusiastic feedback ("Cool!" and "Awesome!" were the two words we heard most!), we are more excited than ever to get started! If all goes well, we hope to be breaking ground by the end of this month!

Of course, starting work means we need money. We've got a few ideas in the hopper for that, but as our starting salvo, we're raffling off two bikes - a 2011 Trek Marlin 29er Single Speed, and a Giant Revel 0. Tickets are only $5, and we'll be holding the drawing on October 15, 2011 at Town Cycle's 25th anniversary party this weekend! Every penny of the proceeds will be going directly to construction of the pump track. 

Of course, you want to buy some tickets! What - you already have a bike? OK, buy a ticket for a friend, neighbor, co-worker - anyone! We'll be selling tickets this week at Town Cycle (1468 Union Valley Road, West Milford, NJ) on Tuesday night October 11 from 5-8 p.m., Thursday night, October 13 from 5-8p.m., and on Saturday, October 15 from 12-5 p.m. Winner need NOT be present during the drawing to win! 

This is going to be great for so many different groups in our area. Local businesses will see a benefit as people from out of town come in to ride the pump track. Cycling will become even more a part of everyday life in our community. And most important - the kids (and their families!) are going to love it! They'll get out more, ride their bikes more, have a great time being active with their friends - and what could be better than that! 

Thanks as always for your support. Please email us with any questions about the pump track or the raffle -info@teamtowncycle.com . 

Celebrating 25 years!

Do you remember 1986? OK, OK, yes, some of you were still in diapers. But for the rest of us - do you remember? Ronald Reagan was President, , the space shuttle Challenger exploded, Mike Tyson was the heavyweight champion of the world, the Chernobyl accident sparked fear in us all, we were listening to The Bangles "Walk Like an Egyptian" , Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name", and "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco, Arnold Schwarzenagger married Maria Shriver, Haley's Comet returned, we went to the movies to see Top Gun, Crocodile Dundee and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and .... 

a young man named Michael Hoek opened a bicycle shop in West Milford called Town Cycle. Through many changes in both the world and in our little town, through good economies and bad, long snowy winters and rainy summers, Mike and his family have managed to grow and maintain a successful small business in a small town. That, as many people know firsthand, is no small feat! Mike has worked tirelessly to successfully provide a high quality shop with personal service. Without a doubt the cycling community in North Jersey is a better place because of the hard work, sweat and tears that Mike has put in over these last 25 years!


Many of us owe a debt of gratitude to Mike for many reasons - not the least of which is that so many of us met and became lifelong friends because of Town Cycle and our shared love of cycling. We have joyfully watched our families grow together along with Mike and his family. So we say to Mike, Anneke, Briana and Pieter - congratulations and thank you - for 25 years of friendship and success!


Now - 25 years in business calls for a party, right? We thought so too! So Saturday, October 15 - let's celebrate! Join Team Town Cycle as we throw a little shindig for Mike. Weather permitting, the festivities will start at 1 p.m. - at the shop, of course. We're going to host a series of rides right from the shop - 1 p.m. for a mountain bike ride, 1:30 p.m. for both a road ride or a cyclocross session. We'll ride for 1.5 to 2 hours, then back to the shop for a bit of a BBQ and snacks. Bring the kids by too - we'll have the famous Pump the Magic Dragon for them to try out, courtesy of our friend Art White. Also, we'll be selling raffle tickets for our JORBA West Milford pump track fundraiser - win a new Trek Marlin 29er SS or a Giant Revel 0! We'll wind up the festivities by pulling the winning ticket at 5 p.m., so don't miss out. 


Bring a friend, tell a friend - all are welcome. If you can't make it on the 15th, please stop by the shop when you have a chance and say congrats to Mike, won't you? And as always, email us at info@teamtowncycle.com with any questions. 

Ladies Mountain Bike Demo Day - October 15

Well, we told you to save the date - now it's time for the details!


Trek and Team Town Cycle are thrilled to be sponsoring a Ladies Mountain Bike Demo Day and Clinic on October 15, 2011. We'll meet at Waywayanda at 9:30 a.m., spending the morning talking bikes and skills, have a light lunch with general biking questions and a few bike maintenance tips, then off for a ride - wrapping up by 3:00 p.m.


Please bring your own mountain bike, as demo bikes will be first come, first served, and  there will not be enough demo bikes to go around. We will ride in a light rain, but anything heavier will cancel. We will be located in the boat launch parking lot, but please park in the main lot.


Everyone is welcome - you don't have to be from TTC to join us! Beginner to expert, we welcome everyone. We only ask for an RSVP so we can plan for lunch! Can only stay for part of the day? No problem, we're happy to have you for as long as you can stay! Want to bring a friend? Awesome - we love new people! Need a flyer - here you go!


Please RSVP to Heather  by Thursday, October 13 - heatherk@acdsecurity.com


Mid-October at Waywayanda promises to be perfect riding weather with beautiful leaf colors and a wonderful opportunity to try out some of the new Trek WSD bikes with a great bunch of women - we hope you can join us!

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day was awesome!

Well, the weather gods smiled upon us, and it didn't rain on our 3rd annual Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day ride at Jungle Habitat this past Saturday. Some people were scared away because of the gray skies, but we're a hardy bunch - a few clouds didn't bother us!

We had a great turnout, with everyone trying out and succeeding at new skills! From our ghetto "skinnies" in the parking lot to the slippery logs in the deer pen, everyone tried their hand at something new! 


Thanks again to everyone who came out. More pictures can be found here. Special thanks to Jeff Lenosky who came out to ride with us, to Native Eyewear, for providing us with great swag, Clif Bar for our snacks, Oury Grips for the awesome grips and stickers, the volunteers who did trail work in the a.m. to "pay" for our day, and Tom Hennigan for putting on the red shirt and keeping us safe.