Back to the Current JAR News.

Serious Bush Whackn' Mower
December 2006 - Courtesy of a Delaware Trail Spinners Founders Grant, a serious bush whackin' mower was donated to the Jersey Action Riders. This mower is going to be a big help with our current trail maintenance projects. (Thats a picture of Chris Aterburn maintaining a trail with it.) Much thanks and respect to the Trail Spinners for making Fair Hill and Middle Run very cool places to ride. And for enabling other clubs' trail projects.

Subaru-IMBA Trail Building School
September 2006 - The Subaru-IMBA Trail Care Crew visit to Wharton State Forest in September was a success. The morning trail building class was very informative and entertaining. And the afternoon work session resulted in a trailhead that is fun and swoopy. Much thanks to everyone that came out. Pictures from that day are online now at WhartonTrails.JerseyActionRiders.org. And once again thanks to all who volunteered, you guys are the best!

2nd Annual Wissahickon Valley Poker Run
September 2006 - The 2nd Annual Wissahickon Poker Run was fantastic. Beautiful weather and an impressive turn out from the mountain bike community.This event is a mountain bike community event to give back to the Wissahickon and to further promote our advocacy efforts to preserve our access to the wonderful trails in this unique park.
We recognize the Friends of the Wissahickon' s significant efforts in rebuilding the trails and their realization that the mountain bike community is an important statkeholder and resource for the park. Hence, the Poker Run helped raise awareness and funding for the FOW trails program and the hiring of Trail Solutions (IMBA's professional trail consulting program).
Kudos to REI again for their lead support in this import event. Their bike mechanics were certainly kept busy all day during the event. Wissahickon has a tendency of shaking parts loose.
John Tannock, fellow JAR member and professional photographer, was on hand and took many photos of the event which are now on PokerRun.JerseyactionRiders.org. (Thanks, John!)

Volunteer Patrollers at the 24 Hours of Allamuchy
August 2006 - Thanks to all who participated as volunteer patrollers in support of the 24 Hours of Allamuchy this past weekend.
Despite less than stellar weather conditions, the race went well and our patrol volunteers braved the weather as did the racers. Their volunteerism helped promote the National Mountain Bike Patrol program, as well as supported fellow mountain bikers. Good karma!
Kudos to:
Sean Toohey, Voorhees, NJ; David Haberstroh, Lafayette Hill, PA; Gary Rossi, Landing, NJ; Don Dykstra, North Brunswick, NJ; Gregg Thompson, Brooklyn, NY; David Wismer, Trenton, NJ; Gerry Crowe, Lansdale, PA; Scott Sherlock, Newton Square, PA; Christine Varnai, Newton Square, PA; Greg Murray, Morristown, NJ; Andreas Eisenberger, Belvinere, NJ; Dan Matthews, Madison, NJ; Ken Vincent, Neshwn Station, NJ
The partnership with the National Ski Patrol NJ Region in support of the event for the second year proved to be a winning combination. Thanks to Steve Devine and the entire NJ Regional patrol.
Special thanks to Bob and Karen Workman for setting up a great course and making the last minute changes to the course due to the weather as a safety precaution. Hope to see you next year!

Congratulations (and thanks) Jay!
from the IMBA Singletrack News, April 2006 issue...
FOX IMBA HEROES PROGRAM HONORS NEW JERSEY'S JAY JONES
In 2006, five superstars of dirt will be selected by IMBA staff for the FOX/IMBA Heroes program. All FOX/IMBA Heroes will receive a new FOX Racing Shox fork of their choice, and an assortment of gear and clothing, courtesy of FOX. The first honoree is New Jersey's Jay Jones. A hero to mountain bikers in the Garden State, Jay Jones has tirelessly worked to ensure New Jersey riders have great places to turn the cranks. Jay served as part of the Jersey-Off Road Biking Association (JORBA) leadership during its recent reformation, led the local IMBA-affiliated club, Jersey Action Riders (JAR) since 1997, co- founded the Delaware Valley Mountain Bike Patrol in 2000, and has served as an IMBA representative for southern New Jersey since 2000. On top of all this, Jay has spent thousands of hours supporting mountain biking and protecting trail access in the Wissahickon Valley Park in Philadelphia.

National Public Lands Day Event - Thank You!
September 2005 - The September 24th event was awesome. Great turnout - over 30 people. In one day we have nearly completed marking and grooming about 10 milesof trail.
REI and Wharton were extremely pleased with the event. The Philadelphia Inquirer sent a reporter and a photographer and they plan to publish and very detailed article, complete with maps of the trails, photos of us working and riding, in about two weeks.

National Trails Day at the Wissahickon A Success
June 2005 - Thanks to all the cyclists that came out to participate in the National Trails Day event on June 4 in the Wissahickon hosted by REI and supported by JAR, the Friends Of the Wissahickon, the Fairmount Park Commision and others. We had quite a sizable crowd despite the cloudy weather. Good work was done on the trails that cross Mt. Airy.
Thanks again. Your mountain biking presence at these volunteer eventsgoes very far to show our park partners that we are a valuable, conscientious and caring.

Wissahickon Valley Poker Run
April 2005 - We want to personally thank everyone who helped make the 1st Annual Wissahickon Poker Run an amazing success. Moreover, each of you who has participated in trail maintenance, participated in the patrol or in a group ride in the park, can take pride in the fact that our advocacy efforts appear to be making a difference. There are so many people to thank for making this event a success that it will take several weeks to appropriately thank each one.

As most of us know, just a few years ago, the park was poised to ban bikes. We now have the Fairmount Park Commission and the Friends of the Wissahickon as partners in the first ever mass mountain bike event. Although the event is only a day behind us, the response from the Fairmount Park Commission and the Friends of the Wissahickon is that they have never seen a better run or more successful event in the park.
There is still much to be done, but the Jersey Action Riders, the Delaware Valley Mountain Bike Patrol, the crew from REI, the FPC ES&D, the Friends of the Wissahickon and all the others that helped can be proud of a job well done. Thank you all.
Check http://pokerrun.jerseyactionriders.org for event pictures!