Greetings Fellow Mountain Bikers!

The Tarheel Trailblazers would like to invite each and every mountain biker to attend the grand opening of our newest mountain bike trail at Jetton Park (19000 Jetton Road), this Saturday, April 5th at 10:00 AM…This is going to be a huge celebration with many local politicians, county commissioners and various Park and Rec officials from Char/Meck, Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and other local municipalities…

Not only are we dedicating the beginner friendly trail, but we are also introducing off road cycling to the adaptive sports (disabled) community, as we dedicate two off-road hand cycles…The hand cycles were custom built by One-Off Titanium, just outside of Boston, Mass…We were fortunate to have received funding ($10K) for the hand cycles through Transamerica Reinsurance Co.

A large turn-out by the mountain bike community would go a long way toward opening doors for more land access in the future…We encourage you to attend (wearing your Trailblazers colors, of course!) and be a part of history as the Trailblazers dedicate the first specific built, adaptive sports trail in the world!

Tom Mathews
Past President
Tarheel Trailblazers
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

It looks like the weather may hold. 

Regardless, mountain bikers of all ilks, please come out to the Jetton celebration Saturday morning at 10:00 Lets really show 'em our numbers. Bring your bike for a ride at Jetton and then head to Fischer Farm, Lake Norman State Park or Huntersville (for you H'ville workers). You can even easily head east to Poplar or Sherman. Heck, if it rains, we still get to heckle Tom!! 

Wear your Trailblazers jersey (bring an extra for a friend) or other riding jersey!

We really want your support for this one. 

Thanks.

Jim Grover
President, Tarheel Trailblazers

Quote:



Naw too many roots 

Gramps

Looks like they are going to start road construction on Catawba Avenue this weekend...If you're planning on attending the Jetton celebration, keep this in mind...

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Expect slowdowns on West Catawba
Widening project on street to close lanes during weekends
ERICA BESHEARS
[email protected]

Plan for delays this weekend: There will be lane closings on West Catawba Avenue, where widening work has started in earnest.

Drivers can expect closings and delays for the next several weekends, weather permitting, as crews grade and pave extra shoulder on the north side of the road, said Ron Graham, resident engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation.

When Rea Contracting is done with that step, the existing lanes can shift to the north and provide room for barriers to be installed. Crews can safely work behind the barriers during the day without stopping traffic, Graham said. The construction barrels that are up now only provide a safe-enough barrier at night and on weekends when there's less traffic.

The $14 million project to transform the congested three-lane road into four lanes with a median is supposed to be finished in about a year. It will go from the Exit 28 ramps (west side) to just beyond the Jetton Road intersection. The current project doesn't include remaking Exit 28 or widening the road from Jetton to N.C. 73.

The widening has been planned, discussed and anticipated for years. Cornelius agreed to pay to bury the utilities and secured right-of-way donations from local businesses and property owners. It also worked with the state on access to businesses. Utility burial started in 2005.

Doug Barrick, project manager for Cornelius, is the town's liaison to the project and has worked with DOT to minimize driver inconvenience. He said the town paid for signs that point drivers to an alternate route, Jetton Road Extension.

"We're working with the state now to get some of those large message-board signs so we can advertise those (closings)," he said.

Barrick said residents can also e-mail him with questions or to be notified of closings.

Lane closings are limited to nighttime and the weekends. The contract also specifies that work may not be possible on Friday nights in the summer, when interstate traffic tends to backs up over the lake, Graham said.

Alternate routes

The West Catawba widening project has been designed to minimize impact on drivers. However, there'll be some inconvenience at night and on weekends. Here are some ways around the mess:

• Jetton Road Extension/Sefton Park Drive: It's one road with two names, and it parallels West Catawba on the south, from Liverpool Parkway to Jetton Road. It's especially helpful because most of the shopping centers on the south side of West Catawba have rear access to this road.

• Knox Road: This long, straight diagonal road connects the north side of West Catawba (near Goodwill) to Torrence Chapel Road near Shops on the Green and provides rear access to the Southlake shopping center. It's a lifesaver for folks who want to avoid the messy West Catawba/Torrence Chapel intersection.

• Westmoreland Road: If you want to give the construction a wide berth, try Westmoreland Road to get from east to west in Cornelius. It connects U.S. 21 to West Catawba well south of the construction zone. Bonus: Westmoreland crosses the interstate without an interchange, so drivers can zip over I-77 without stopping at any stoplights.

• Exit 25. If you know traffic is going to be bad, and your destination is on the far side of West Catawba (say, Nantz Road or so), consider the back way from Exit 25. Head west on N.C. 73, then turn right on West Catawba. Just remember, Exit 25 has its own problems.

Looking forward to it.....rain or shine....I'm not trying that hand trike again until I get a chest chamois, and lather the man nipples with butt butter though.....amazing piece of equipment.

Nice turnout considering the weather, lots of 'Blazer and Diva wear. Even a few folks who these bikes were designed for, and the one guy that tried it out seemed pretty happy. 

Best part of the day, when the Mayor asked everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, seeing the look on Tom Mathews' face when he realized he was sharing the podium with a bunch of Repulicans. I swear I heard him break into O' Canada.

Any press coverage?  Sorry I couldn't be there.  I had class.  No I don't think that I have any class, but I had Part 2 of a class at CPCC on how to tile floors and those interesting homeowner things.  I had already paid for it, so I didn't want to skip out.

B

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Jetton Trail Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday. Despite the rain, we had a good turnout. 

Our event speakers were County Commissioner Dan Ramirez, Cornelius Mayor and Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Commissioner Jeff Tarte, Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Commissioner & Chairman Scott McClure, Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Director Jim Garges, Tarheel Trailblazer Past President Tom Mathews, and Transamerica Reinsurance Senior Vice President Jim McArdle. 

A lot of really nice things were said about the Trailblazers by all of the speakers. As an organization, we are becoming well known throughout the political structure of Mecklenburg County and the various town and city municipalities that we work with. This visibilty of our accomplishments will only increase as Mecklenburg Park and Recreation completes its planning process and continues to trumpet the need for land acquisition and the citizens' priority request for biking and hiking trails. We are realy well poised to be able to add our voice to this effort by P&R and to help ensure that existing and new mountain bike trails will be a reality in our community.

While publicity for the club was an important part of the day, we don't want to lose sight of the primary purpose of the celebration which was to get the word out to the surrounding community that the Jetton Trail and the hand cycles are available for use by all physically challenged athletes who want to participate. I must admit I am disapointed that the event didn't get more coverage by the Charlotte News & Observer. However, we have made good progress in getting the word out in the adaptive sports community and to several local supportive organizations that are interested in using the hand cycles at Jetton. We need to continue to (1) seek publicity through local and regional publications and other avenues to be sure to get the word out and (2) be available to help those organizations and individuals actually get on the bikes and get instruction and support so they can experience the thrill of getting into the woods and riding.

I encourage anyone who has an interest in helping to ensure we meet these goals to contact Mark Sullivan or Tom Mathews or me. We have a few initiatives underway and some additional ideas to both publicize the trikes and to get folks directly introduced to the bikes, but we could really use your help. Think about the first time you had that wonderful feeling of both accomplishment and wonder of being able to ride a bike in the woods. I guarantee you can more than duplicate that feeling by helping some others  - who may have never considered the possibility - to experience the same thing.

Many thanks again to everyone who has been involved in building the Jetton Trail,  working to get the hand cycles, and promoting and attending the Grand Opening. It has been a grand begining thanks to you all.

Jim G.

Thanks to everyone that attended the celebration....The rain didn't dampen any spirits and it was kinda cool, b/c the room that we utilized for the speeches was the same room where we gave our initial presentation almost 2 years ago to the day.

A few photos from the celebration...

A nice crowd...

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Our colors were proudly on display...

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Cutting the ribbon, er, chain...

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Familiarizing the community with the hand cycles...

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Mark demonstrates the red flyer for Tracey...

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Jeff and Tom discuss the intricacies of the hand cycles with Paul...

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Paul off and flying!

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

The end....Or hopefully, just the beginning...

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Quote:

You might as well add me to that file as well. 

Das Bedania !

BTW Those pictures rocked, Tom!  Nice job.

I found the article that was in The Lake Norman Times.

"Jetton Park, Tarheel Trailblazers give handicapped mountain bikers a place to ride
By Dru Willis, LAKE NORMAN TIMES

Beginning mountain bike and adaptive sports enthusiasts now have a trail to travel near Lake Norman now that Jetton II is open in Cornelius' Jetton Park.

"It's a little flowey," Tom Matthews of the Tarheel Trailblazers said of the trail. "It doesn't have a lot of elevation change on it but it's a real fun trail."
*
The Trailblazers designed the trail after Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation officials approached them to build a trail on 19 acres at the Jetton Park site.

While the group prefers to work with lots the size of 200 acres or more - which can house a 12-13 mile trail — they figured, "sometime to get you have got to give" Matthews said.

The club has also applied for a grant through the North Carolina Department of Land and Natural Resources to help them build a three-mile beginner-adaptive trail in the Southwest District Park, which they hope to complete by late fall.

It was Cornelius resident Tim Caldwell who had the idea to adapt the 1.1-mile trail in Cornelius into one that could be used by regular mountain bikers but also disabled adaptive sports enthusiasts who use a hand-cycle or "trike."

Caldwell, who is now attending college in Texas and is confined to a wheelchair, wanted to be able to ride his hand cycle on the trail.

"I think its great. It's a trail that is not only going to accommodate the people that would normally use it but is a trail that accommodates them as well, so it's doing more things for them, which I think is great for them," said Stephanie Frisbee, manager of the Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation Department's North District.

Finding a manufacturer of off-road wheelchair hand cycles and the money to purchase them was the difficult part until Transamerica Reinsurance made a $10,000 donation to purchase two hand cycles at $5,000 apiece, Matthews said.

"These are amazing pieces of equipment," he added. "They are very interesting. They really are."

The two trikes are available at The Cycle Path bike shop in Cornelius (located at 20900 N. Main St.) for free rental by anyone with a valid drivers license and credit card.

Matthews said several people had taken the trikes out for a test run recently and found them to be punishing.

"We as able-bodied individuals can actually (get) leverage by using our legs and stuff, but physically challenged folks cannot, its harder for them," he said.

Some have even tipped over and fallen down, just as you would on a normal bike, which is just part of the off-road experience, Matthews said.

"You fall down, you go boom. You ride up a mountain and more than likely you are going to tip over," he explained. "But these guys, especially the younger guys, they still want to feel that jolt."

There are young, amputated veterans of war coming back to the area, people who have been in a wheelchair for years and everything in between and the course will allow them to go past where the asphalt ends, encouraging others to join them, Matthews hopes.

"Now we are going to actually going to be able to get them back into the woods, back into nature and the serenity of it all," he said. "That is one of the things we are trying to provide to these guys.""