On Sunday, June 22, JORBA – Trips for Kids took our group for another mountain biking trip at Allaire Park. Special thanks to Clint Lunde of Ski DUCK for making the introduction! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to be a part of our next trip. #thankstripsforkids #thankyouJORBA
Tag Archives: New Jersey
Shred Love Celebrates 5 Years of Service
Join us in celebrating our fifth year of service, as we couldn’t have done it without you! I’m extremely proud of the progress we’ve made as a group and as individuals. Collectively we’ve worked together to expose inner city and at-risk youth to snowboarding, developed the leadership skills of all of our participants, and tackled some of the roughest terrain on our snowboards and mountain bikes. Yet individually, we’ve all faced some of our greatest fears and overcame many obstacles. I’ve had the pleasure to share in many of the triumphs of the group; seeing a newbie link turns at the end of a lesson, watching our older students become group leaders, and listening to the group’s stories on the bus ride home is a reward in itself.
I started Shred Love to give back to my community and yet my community has given so much more to me in return. I’ve learned a lot within the last 5 years about community, relationships, problem solving and myself. There were many times I wanted to quit because of funding and managing the business side of Shred Love, in addition to balancing my family, my day job; my life in general. Through each hurdle you, our supporters, created a way for Shred Love to not only continue, but to also grow.
May the next 5 years allow us to continue to grow and serve more deserving youth and create many more life long memories!
Cheers!
Liz
Shred Love 2014 Award Ceremony
2013-2014 Season Wrap-up
Ped(al) Lovin’ So Nice, Had to Do it Twice
Ped(al) Lovin’ So Nice, Had to Do it Twice
Big Momma Nature, she can be such a temperamental jokester when she wants to be, but she’s really a nice lady (hey, I may need a favor some day, better stay on her good side). Saturday came and so did the rain, along with the threat of thunder, lightening and tornadoes. As ominous clouds dimmed the day, I looked to the sky and screamed, “Really Mother Nature, really? You knoooooow we’ve been waiting all week for this and you go and pull a stunt like this! I mean REALLY?”. She laughed, parted the darken skies, and smiled sunshine. It was all was good. Let the fun begin!!!!
The Shred Love crew, traveling from points north and south of New Jersey, met up with the wonderful riders from Jersey Off Road Biker Association (JORBA) at Allaire Park in Farmingdale, NJ. Rick, Mike, Frank, “the Other Joe” along with Lucy and Juliann took the Shred Love crew on another spectacular mountain biking adventure.
Preparation is always key for any challenge in life and mountain biking is no exception. Prior to hitting the trails, JOBRA fitted each Shred Love participant with a helmet, water bottle and most importantly a bike. These were no Wal-Mart specials, oh no, these were certified trail tamers: Trek, Giant, Fox, and Cannondale. Frank from JOBRA, ran the team through a series of cone drills to help us get use to taking sharp turns, as well as a lesson in gear management. Once he felt we were ready (and after he got a few more wheelies in), we hit the trail!
The returning Shred Love “vets”, Armani Rae, Jackie, Liz, Savion and of course yours truly, were joined (but not to be out done) by Shred Love Snowboard Alum, Tyson, Wyheem, Jennifer, Jaden, Kayla, and Trey. Also joining the team were new Shred Love teamsters Assemblyman Charles Mainor and his son CJ.
This time around, the terrain was different from the previous trip, but no less challenging. Whereas both parks had their fair share of uphill and downhill climbs, tree limbs, and muddy puddles, Allaire added a new element: sand. The sand, in addition to puddles of water and mud, added an unsuspecting degree difficulty on various turns.
Kayla and Trey, the youngest of the crew, held their own handling the up and down hill climbs, muddy puddles and deep sand. Jaden, being the natural born leader that he is, assisted “the Other Joe” in guiding the team through the rough twisting terrain. Armani Rae and Jackie kept the crew informed of upcoming obstacles along the trail with shouts of: “Lots of Water”, “Muddy Puddles” “Big Limb” “Right Turn”. And even with all of those announcements, we still ended up covered with mud. Charles showed his super human strength by single handedly (with the help of Rick, Wyheem, Mel and Joe) moving a large tree that had fallen across the trail. Way to go Charles!!!!
Reminiscent of going off trail in snowboarding, Rick led Wyheem (an experienced rider) for quick off-trail hits. Not be shown up, Charles followed right on their heels or is that tires. First time rider CJ gave it his all, if he fell, he jumped right back up and got going. By the second time out, he was hard to keep up with.
Tyson, the charming teddy bear of Shred Love, ended up getting a personalized trail tour by Frank and Juliann. They rode with him on trails that challenged his skill set. Like always, he conquered the mission.
Now in the woods, if you’re real quiet, I mean like a whisper, you may hear the strangest thing like, “CHEESEBURGER” and then it echoes throughout the woods. Mike explained that it’s the term used when a team of riders stop to take a break or wait for someone who may have fallen behind. When the team is ready to ride, someone shouts out “Cheeseburger” again to let the leader know to “get moving’.
After a much needed lunch (great sandwiches, but no cheeseburgers) to replenish our energy supply, we hit the trail again. This time around, the JORBA crew set out to really test our mantle. This time some of the trails went from sharp sandy turns straight into rocky tree limb climbs, only to be followed by twisting downhill turns. WHAT A RUSH!!!! However, all too soon, Mother Nature woke from her nap and gave us all just enough time to get home safely before she exploded the sky.
Shred Love would like to thank JORBA, the Trips for Kids program and Clint of Ski Duck for such an incredible opportunity. We had a BLAST. Can’t wait to do it again…. Can you say, Cheeseburger!!!!! ~ Old Man Winter
The Day Shred Love Transformed into Ped(al) Love
Sunday, August 12, 2012 – The day Shred Love transformed into Ped Love, pedal love that is.
Put me on a snow covered mountain with my Never Summer snowboard and I’ll meet you at the bottom. I may even do a few butters and ollies along the way, however, put me on a mountain on a summer day, atop of a mountain bike, and let’s just say the outcome is not so assured.
Last Sunday a group of participants from Shred Love set out to conquer a new and different type of mountain experience, one that didn’t require snow. Shred Love met up with the Jersey Off Road Bicycle Association (JORBA) in Tourne County Park in Booton, NJ, for an exciting lesson in mountain biking. JORBA designed and regularly maintains the trails that we rode that day.
Armed with bikes, helmets, and mountain biking safety rules from JORBA, away we went to conquer our first trail. The White Trail was challenging with all of its bumps, tree roots, stumps, rocks, trekking through mud, over bridges, uphill climbs and downhill cruises. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!
After a hearty lunch, we broke into groups: those who wanted to master the White Trail and those that want a bigger challenge, the Purple Trail. To put this in perspective, if this were snowboarding; the purple trail would be equivalent to a hard blue trail.
I was part of the latter group which consisted of Isaiah, Liz, Edward and I with JOBRA experts Slow Joe and Rick guiding and coaching us along. We began the ride climbing a steep hill before venturing into the woods for an additional uphill climb. This is where the fun began! Downhill runs over bumps and rocks, 90 degree turns, tough climbs, and navigating nature’s natural obstacle course.
The White Trail team, led by teen volunteer Armani Rae, consisted of Jackie, Savion and Shred Love new comer Genesis, with the JOBRA crew of Frank, Michael and Jim, keeping the team motivated. The field report from the White Trail Squad is that all the things that had seemed challenging during the first run, turned out to be a piece of cake during the second time around. The second time, the team was able to take in the beautiful scenery of lily pads, frogs, birds, along the lake.
In the end, we came, we saw, we conquered!
Special thanks to Rick, Frank, Michael, Jim, and Slow Joe of JORBA, Trips for Kids, Clint of SkiDuck, Omenel, and parents! Can’t wait to do it again on September 8th at Allaire State Park!!! If you would like to attend, contact us at info@shredlove.org/wordpress.
Please note participants must be at least 12 years old and can ride a bike to participate.
signed,
Old Man Winter
P.S. Check out our Facebook page for more pictures.
January Rewind – Tubbs’ Romp to Stomp
Missed us? I bet you did. Blame it on the old faulty laptop and not the warm temps Mother Nature has blessed us with, because it hasn’t stopped us. On January 21st, Shred Love participated in its first snowshoe event. It was also the first snowfall this winter, dumping about 5 inches in New Jersey. We made our way to Mountain Creek, to take part in Tubbs’ Romp to Stomp to help fight breast cancer.
The Snowshoe Trail - 3
Factor in the snow falling and Creek’s powerful snow guns, the walk felt more like an action pack trek through Alaska. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.
Savion & Tyson
Volunteers Jerrie & Armani Rae
See the looks on their faces? LOL, it just hit them how much further we had to go to the finish line and that we should have brought our boards along with us to ride some of the fresh powder.
The Finish Line
At the finish line, winners were announced and everyone took a moment to remember those who lost the battle against breast cancer, as well survivors.
Even though Shred Love is a youth-based organization, we felt it was important to support this cause as it affects so many. Going in, we knew we wouldn’t be able to wipe out breast cancer completely, instead we raised money and awareness for the cause, with the hopes of contributing in the progress in finding a cure. Please consider joining us next year, January 2013.
Shred Love - For the Cure
Learn to Ride 2012
January is Learn to Ski/Snowboard Month, the perfect start to our Learn to Ride 2012 program! Once again, Windham Mountain will host our 3rd annual Learn to Ride program. Windham Mountain has graciously donated lift tickets, lessons from professional instructors, and rental equipment for our group on Sundays, 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, and 2/26. The program is open to youth ages 7-18 years old. All participants must commit to attend all four days to get the full value of the program. Lunch is $7 per day and includes 2 slices of pizza and a soft drink.
We depart W33rd St (b/w Broadway and Ave C) Bayonne, NJ at 6am sharp and return at 7pm. Parents will receive a text message once we are approximately 30 minutes away from Bayonne. On our last day, 2/26, we will have a party and award each participant with a certificate and trophy. Parents/guardians are welcomed to attend our last day, however please note, food and transportation will not be provided for adults. Don’t worry if you can’t make it, we will post a ton of pictures here and on our Facebook page.
(To complete the application, enter the youth’s name and date of birth in the Participant Application section. Once in the form, select “Shred Love” as the youth agency and use “1634” for the session ID.)
First time for everything
After visiting Camp Linwood in August, Jerrie, Armani Rae and I were excited to plan a trip for our group to visit. We had set a date in October with the hopes of giving our group something active yet fun to do for Halloween. Everything was set, we were going to Camp Linwood on Saturday, October 29, for some zipline fun, rock wall climbing, low rope team building challenges, and smores by the fire pit. Then Mother Nature happened – it snowed! Camp Linwood got close to 14 inches of snow. Yeah, as a snowboarder, we should be jumping for joy, but its October! That marked the first time a Shred Love event had to be rescheduled.
Take two: Saturday, November 5th offered us the perfect conditions to take advantage of everything Camp Linwood had to offer – ziplines, rock wall climbing, low rope team building, smores, laughs, cheers of trumphet, and great people.
Yeah, your eyes are deceiving you, he ziplined upside down! Be sure to check out our Youtube channel to see the rest of the videos. Don’t forget to subscribe!
The biggest challenge was the rock wall climbing. Ask anyone, this wasn’t as easy as it looked.
Well some did the rock wall climbing, others enjoyed the playground. And believe it or not, there several kids there that had never seen a tire swing.
We finished the end of the day off with low rope team building challenges and smores. You can find the rest of the videos and pictures on our Facebook page. And if you haven’t already, add us as a friend.
We’re currently lining up some interesting events for the upcoming season. In addition to our Learn to Ride program at Windham Mountain, we’re going snowshoeing as a part of the 17th Annual Winter Trails, joining the fight against breast cancer, and having a Family Day at Hidden Valley Club. Here’s to another great year with Shred Love! Join our newsletter and take part in some of the fun we have lined up.
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