I'm building a pump track

Time to buy another spade and get digging! Planning to copy Lee’s (ex) pump track from Pump Track Nation.

Hells yeah, get it done… I built a pump track at Christmas and still haven’t had sufficient dry weather to properly bed it in 🙁 Every day it tantalizes me through the window, like a cream-cake full of AIDS

My day will come!!

It’s not as easy as you might think to make it ‘work/ride’ properly, you’ll spend much more time tweaking it than the actual initial building, unless you’ve done it before.

A couple of things on MBA’s website:

Home Pump Track 1

Home Pump Track 2

Paced out the area earlier this evening. Tomorrow evening, big wooden pegs, string and hammer time – measure twice, dig once? (Mallet technically but ‘Hammer Time’ sounds better.) 😉

Parachute pants for the pump track?

The laydeez are all wearing lycra!

If you need a hand Alex – let me know. I love building stuff 🙂

We put one into Southampton Bike Park. Great fun and improve you bike skills.

We did one from Pump Track Nation, can’t remember he name but basically an almond shape with a short cut across the middle. Only small but good fun. Built on a slight slope so challenging to get round without pedalling initially.

From the Pumptrack race last weekend 🙂

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Gravity Project Pumptrack[/url] by scottgolfgti[/url], on Flickr

If you have not built owt like it before you will defo need to ride it as you go as its amazing what looks rideable isn’t. Hero corners are initially frustrating but great once mastered. The bumps don’t need to be that big initially but as speed and skill increases amendments will be required to keep speeds up.

I think I have almost as much fun digging mine as riding it.

Don’t forget drainage

The initial plan is to copy this design (all the measurements inc. height of rollers and berm radii and angles are in Pump Track Nation):

I’ll be starting with the three outside berms, then adding the rollers in between and then the crossover section. VH, I know you’ve done this before and you’re local, so if you want to provide consultancy expertise, test-riding, etc, that would be great. Ash, once I know what I’m doing with it you’re welcome to assist with spadework!

Unless it is covered then your biggest problem in the UK will be drainage.

Hence why most trail centres use angular gravel with sand, it’s easy to compact and drains quickly. Downside is cost, it will be expensive as it is used for road base etc.

In the US and hot countries, using fill from people’s pools etc is usually good as it will predominantly be a clay which when at optimum moisture can be compacted very well then when it drys will be like rock, a little dusty but no biggy. Not much chance of doing this in the UK as it will turn into a clag fest!

it will turn into a clag fest!

given where I suspect this is being built it’ll start as a clag fest and go downhill from there 😉

Drainage shouldn’t be a problem, it’s quite a unique location – there’s already a few thousand tons of that angular gravel / sand stuff there.

It’s on the roof of your unit, isn’t it 🙂

It’s not far from there, it’s pretty obvious on aerial photos! 😉

*wanders off to google earth*

If its local to Brighton I’m happy to help dig once my back is fixed.

Cheers mark

Is it on the beach? 😉

Is it on the beach?

In Brighton it would have to be the only cobbled pump track in the uk.

That’s the one we built in Southampton Bike Park. We slightly changed the line through the middle but it works really well.

Ours is not under cover and we built it on the Easter weekend last year. I got sunburn on the Friday and Saturday and then it rained for the rest of the year.

The track survived and was rideable quite quickly after rain even though it is made of clay. It is a bit claggy now but should dry out if we ever get a few dry days.

Make sure you have a big borrow pit to get the dirt from, it uses a lot.

That’s the one we built in Southampton Bike Park. We slightly changed the line through the middle but it works really well.

Ours is not under cover and we built it on the Easter weekend last year. I got sunburn on the Friday and Saturday and then it rained for the rest of the year.
I Have ridden yours WCA, its fun. Still got a stick on my frame too 😉 I think in right in saying its on made up ground so bit of building mineral in there too, that mush help the drainage etc…

The location in question is a derelict one of these.[/url] It’s been getting small dirtjumps built on it for a long time and digs easily down to about a foot deep – I’m not sure what happens deeper down…

oooh a MUGA. should be ok. I cant imagine there is much surfacing to be saved if ita slready been dug up a bit.

overall construction is normally about 450mm thk on these. gravel over a granular sub base. you might hit a seperator geotextile when you get to the base. or hardcore.

if you dont import stuff you might not have enough for berms. alternatively dig a borrow pit in the middle of the berms. Serves as a drain hole too. I had to use bricks and any blocks for the base of my berms despite having to dig half of the track about 2ft into the ground to get it level ish.

Your one up there is at least a weeks work without muchos assistance. decent berms are a necessity. you can be more shabby with the rollers.

If you arnt willing to spend days and days digging start with a smaller loop (for an inital pump track riding fix) and keep you keen than expand at your leisure. You’ll probably get somthing more interesting than the above as a result too.

Sounds like a perfect site to work with~ the material should be mint, with minimal drainage and compaction required.

Here’s one I did a while back~ evolved hugely since, with a height gain of about 8ft (all pumpable), then declined hugely due to lack of use… sculpted from fantastic gritty substance that is also choc full of toxins (old lead mine). Main problem is erosion when is rains due to the slope.

have you started digging yet? my back is fixed – ish.

happy to help.