Pump tracks: simple is good

Hi Lee

I thought I would get in touch and I hope you are doing ok in these difficult times.

I have been dreaming of a backyard pumptrack for a few years and with the coronavirus lockdown here in the UK I am trying to find the silver lining and so am planning a build!

I bought your great book Welcome to Pump Track Nation v2 and have taken to design package inkscape to try to plan out a track. I have a long but relatively narrow space which is on flat land and currently simple turf. I plan to bring in a mini digger but don’t have access to bring dirt in easily so will dig down to get the dirt and then put in drainage from the low points.

The design is attached and includes a simple oval with an s-bend berm in the middle and a mixture of simple rollers and a couple of bigger ones to try to give the chance for jumps – including in and out of the s-berm. The track will be used by myself (38 and a bmx/mtb rider since a teenager) and my two kids (11 and 5 yr olds).

It would be amazing to get any thoughts you have.

Thanks
Joel

Joel!

Thanks for reaching out.

The 36″ roller is going to be huge and tight in that space.

That crossover line will be hard to build well, and it’s only going to work in one direction. It would be rad to have a crossover going the other way too, but that wil be even harder, and it’ll limit what you can do with your straights (in terms of rhythm/jumps).

I suggest making a simple oval with excellent berms and sweet straights. That will be way easier to build well, and it’ll be plenty fun. Plus you can use the middle of the track for staging.

Lee

Here is Joel’s new design. Simple is great.