Pump Track Nation: stokes and bummers

Lots of movement this week on the pump track/bike park front:

Stoke 1
The Lyons Bike Park is a huge success. We’re planning Phase 2 for this spring. Anticipated sweetness includes:

– Permanent dirt takeoffs to replace the portable wooden ones. The community is ready for bigger jumps. Cool!

– Slalom course. I flagged it out last year, but we ran out of dirt and time.

– Improved pump track. The outside will be cleaned up, and the inside will be made more turny.

– Sitting areas and a shade structure.

I’m rocking the Lyons Bike Park as a volunteer. Stay tuned for work days.

And: I’m working with the town to offer skills clinics though the department of parks and recreation. They’ll be very accessible, very affordable, very pro.

Stoke 2
Alex in Longmont, owner of three acres, said yes to Phase 1: a start hill, pump track and intermediate dirt jump line. This is going to be very cool.

Bummer
I’ve been working to help convince a municipality near Boulder to build a bike park. I’ve done meetings, tours, presentations, the whole shebang. The city approved the idea then engaged their engineer, who hired a big landscape architecture firm, who hired a prominent local MTB trail designer (not me).

At some point the landscape architect wasn’t happy with the MTB designer, so he fired him and decided to do it on his own. From the very beginning, the city parks committee told the landscape architect to call me. It’s now a week before a major county funding meeting, and the plans are not dialed. So the architect called and asked for my help (for free).

He, of course, is being paid.

This is a tough balance: I want to help, but I can’t give away all my kung fu (and, besides, I’m busy!). I want to see this project succeed, so I invested almost two days analyzing the working design, revisiting the project requirements, giving input and — of course — encouraging the landscape architect to hire me to dial in the design. In my judgment, the design didn’t flow, it wasn’t safe and it didn’t appeal to the target audience. Those are big issues, and I know how to help.

In the end, the landscape architect took my ideas and decided not to hire me. I suppose that’s business, but it’s a bummer.

Waiting to hear …
Back on the positive tip, I sent a proposal to improve the Bike Skills Park at Ketam Mountain Bike Park in Pulau Ubin, Singapore.

The space is big enough for a pump track, dirt jumps and more. The park looks fun and the ridership looks enthusiastic. I really hope this works out.

Onward!

Know more. Have more fun!

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