[Closed] Southampton - SPORTS CENTRE BIKE ZONE IS GO!

Im in Wales all weekend, else I'd be there 🙁

Great news that things are moving ahead on the ground

I've got a broken collarbone at the moment, so won't be able to do much spadework 🙁 May wander up to see whats going on and offer words of encouragement though

I'll let some friends from the Uni club know too, some of them might be up for helping out although I'm not sure how many will be around in the middle of the Easter break.

excellent !

I may be able to get down at least one day

(please define tooled up so I know what to bring - I assume you don't mean shootahs 😉 )

Everybody welcome. If all you can do is make tea and look a stuff then still please come and bring your family and mates.

This is our chance to show the Sport Centre bods that we want something and we are willing to help create it. All the stuff that gets built up in Lordswood gets flattened. We thought Wonderland was okay and it was killed. We thought Utopia was safe, it got killed.

What we build in the Sports Centre is sanctioned and protected. Lets make it good.

Great news. Will try and be there at least one day. Well done.

I'll be there Fri definately and possibly Sat. I have a fair few digging tools, want a wheelbarrow as well? Can sling one in the Disco.

I've got a barrow, pick axe and spade. Should be able to help for at least some of the time (noise machine dependant :D).

Whereabouts in the Sports Centre is this going? How long will the track be?

Posted on the Newforce forum for support 🙂

As you go up the tarmac climb towards lordswood/coxford road its on the flatter grass on the left at the top.

Its great that it is going ahead and I don't want to be a downer but it looks quite small. Are the markings the inside diameter or OD? Looks a little smaller than the pumptrack that used to be in utopia.

Absolutely brilliant news, thought this had been forgotten about. I'm in wales too that weekend, but will be happy to come along and help out at future digs.

So - is it all going to be done by volunteers? There was mention of Rowan (and others) getting involved.

Wibble89 - Member
As you go up the tarmac climb towards lordswood/coxford road its on the flatter grass on the left at the top

Will try to be there! 😆

It is a small pump track. The dimensions were taken from Pump Track Nation.

Remember that this is only one part of the bigger bike skills area.

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If we get enough people turning up we can build more. I wanted to judge support first.

Tools = shovels, spades, pick axes, wheel barrows.

Also if it stays hot like this bring water to drink.

if it stays hot like this bring CIDER to drink.

FIFY 😉

ummm, just a thought..... anyone got a mini digger??

Might save a few hours!

That sounds great (the bike Zone, but a digger would be good to!) remember WCA showing me some new tracks in Lordswood back in October and saying about this. Glad to hear it is now to get started.

Was going be busy doing some thing else but now busy doing this in stead. Should be able to help both days. Will have a look tomorrow if get chance, see if i can find some grass with spay paint on.

If anyone has a mini digger going spare that weekend then bring it along.

If the weather holds I might persuade the wife to prep some food for a BBQ and beer/cider session in the evening.

awesome news!

If someone has a petrol rotorvator that would also help break the surface quickly.

I'm at a wedding in yorkshire all that weekend which i'm already pretty sulky about and then you announce this! I can't come to this dig but will happily help at any later one.

Well done WCA!

Why don't you set up a PayPal account so people can donate for tool hire? I'm not around but happy to chuck a fiver in the pot towards a rotavator...

Good idea DT78. I am currently paying for everything out of my own pocket, I may as well share the pain.

Any idea how to do this? I guess you lot just need my email address and then you gift me the money. I will keep track of the money we get and use it towards the project. Anything left over gets drunk by the team.

Sound like a plan?

nclarksouthampton AT gmail DOT com

Put some kind of message in the gift payment so I put the mnoney in the correct pot.

Cheers
Nick

Looks like about £200 for a digger for the weekend. Start donating or asking around if anyone has one we can borrow.

Nick, talk to Barn @ the hub, he might be able to arrange a cheaper hire from the place next door. I think though to hire a digger you might need someone qualified to drive them!

I can get a driver.

The money has started to arrive! Thanks.

The more we get, the quicker the build goes ahead!

Bloody good idea about donating - mods, any chance of making this a sticky for a while?

Just been over to correct my deliberate mistake on the measurements :-()

It is now a little bigger, shame the guys who okayed it won't be back in time to see the increased size 😉

Good idea on the money - will send some over now

Thought it felt small this morning!

About 50% bigger. Just been over on my little jump bike and it feels about the right size now.

Blue marks the inside of the track and blue/yellow the outside (I ran out of blue)

Yellow bits between the edges show the bumps going up, down or flat.
Let's hope for some rain between now and then, the ground is like concrete at the moment!

PS Thanks for the donations so far. Not quite a digger yet but an amazing start. If we don't get the digger for this weekend we can roll over to when we put the bigger trails in. What ever happens the money will be spent on the bike area.

Just donated a tenner. If anyone else is reading the thread, but doesn't know Nick, he is a perfectly trustworthy sort and you know your money will go towards the trail building.

I also run the Big Bike Bash in a similar trusting manner. i bank rolled that for the first two years.

thank reminds me, have i mentioned the Big Bike Bash is happening again this year and tickets are on sales here : http://www.bigbikebash.co.uk/tickets *

*sorry, force of habit 😉

Over 25% of the way to the £200 in one day!!!!!

You guys amaze me. It is why I try never to let you down.

I am working on fitting the paddling pool into the back of the pickup so we can have access to water. The ground is a bit dry at the moment.

If we get a digger in I reckon we can get the small children's circuit (push a long and pedal free bikes), The first Childrens trail (Easy swoops with a few small bumps as well as the pump track.

Thanks to all you who are making my mad ideas possible. I know I have talked to a load of you over time but remember this has taken me a year so far and I haven't cut turf.

Without knowing you lot would support me I would have given up long ago.

Not sure I can make the dig. But have donated a tenner.

See you next Thurs.

+£10; sorry I can't be there, up in Scotland!!

Jealous of whoever gets to drive the digger, looks like awesome fun!!

Keep those donations coming. We are approaching the point where I can afford to pay the difference. well, about £75 short but we still have a week to go.

This should get us the pump track and a few extra bits done.

Thanks all. Just need to do the shovel work now.

Great work on getting that sanctioned. Just started riding in that area again. Can't make the digging but will try and something in the digger pot when i'm on a proper pc not a teeny phone.

Just donated. Will try and pop over!

New size looks awesome, much better proportioned! I should be able to make the Friday dig session hopefully with a spade, unfortunately the trusty mattock is back home.

Spread the news to people you ride with this weekend please.

There is a donations pot in The Hub in Shirley and they guys behind the counter should be able to give more info too.

Did about 10 loops on my way home. Much better size now. Can see it being a good challenge with rollers and berms.

£5 donated, doubt i can get down there to help so hope this goes towards getting some tools you need.

If we can keep this up we will get a digger. i have asked the guys at the hub to have a word with the hire shop next door to get a good rate.

I think if we get one we will be able to do more than just the pump track. I reckon the Kids Loop and the Childrens Trail are easy and will please the moaning middle class so they are next on the plan. After that it is the big tracks.

These are going to be like the Workmans and the Dual Track next to it. They more major undertakings so maybe the next build weekend.

I am stuck in London all week again so it will be difficult to organise but here's hoping!

Heading up the woods in a couple of hours on the jump bike. If you have any questions and see a fat bloke on a kids bike then it may well be me. Stop me and ask away!

I had a little look at the site yrsterday, if you can get a digger you'll easily get the pump track cut in a day, attempted to get out of my family easter plans to come help. Flat no from the wife.

Sent you £10 by paypal as can't make it as labour, but not sure if it'll arrive before dig day (PP says 5-7 days)

All the best for the digging, look forward to seeing the finished product.

Looks like a few Newforce chaps will be there at some point to add some muscle too!

😆

Good lads

More donations and help on Friday welcome
Thanks

Gnarr! Can't get a digger!

We have £105 donated. I originally had a 'rough estimate' of £160 so was going to stump up the difference.

I have been phoning around trying to book something and they all say that because of the Bank Holiday I need to rent for the week. The only person who has one available at the moment wants £276 for Thursday afternoon until Tuesday.

Either you guys are going to be very generous before the end of the day or we are using pick axes and wheel barrows.

All money raised so far will go towards the rental costs for the next phase development. I will try to get Active Nation (the charity running the sports centre) to give us an account or something we can put our funds into rather than using my paypal account.

If anyone does want their money back just let me know and I will return it, no issues.

one of [url= http://www.hss.com/g/62516/Power-Digger-Petrol.html ]these [/url]would be better than nothing!

Could be worth a punt...

It could at least be used to break the surface for the trails.

I will try and get one of those. Good thinking.

up you go!

Good stuff.

I'm no longer in Soton, but have sent a tenner your way.

Cheers noteeth.

There is now a rotorvator in the back of my truck ready for 10:30 tomorrow morning.

I am just going down to make sure the tyre logos are lined up properly on it.

Well it id D-Day*, let's hope some of you turn up or I could be getting blisters today!

See you there.

*d-day = Dig Day

WCA - you still need donations? I'm unlikely to live in Soton again but will probably ride there as my folks live down there and somewhere to get the stupid habits out of my dad's riding will be good. I'll also get him to donate too (he'd help with digging but had a hand op a couple of weeks back).

All money welcome. Any that is not spent on this phase will be spent on the next.

Thankfully I am not too much out of pocket so far but we had to drop from a digger to a rotovater when the digger price jumped from £170 to £296 because the bloke realised it was a bank holiday weekend. I am not rich enough to bank roll the whole thing so these donations are vital to keep it going. Stupid things like Hazard Tape cost £12 from Screwfix. Money just keeps draining away.

At least we have enthusiastic labourers!

Have fun today will see you there tomorrow.

Just finishing my coffee then it's off to work to pick up some digging tools (will have spares!) and I'll be on my way up.

Not sure I will make it a long to help but have stuck a donation in your paypal pot Nick. good luck, at least the weather is good for now!

Great days digging!

We have the pump track rideable but needs building up and making the berms thicker and the bumps wider. Lots of digging and barrow work tomorrow.

We have the pedal free childs oval complete. also makes a great drift track for mountain bikes.

The first childrens long track has been scraped but the rotovator ran out of fuel. That is a big task for tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone who helped today.
Thanks to everyone who has donated money from here.
Thanks to everyone who is coming tomorrow.

PS £45 donated from people walking past which is good. Not a single negative comment which is even better.

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciderinsport/6905042854/ ]photo[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ciderinsport/ ]ciderinsport[/url], on Flickr

Good days work!

After last night, today killed me! Well worth it!

Wow, you guys got loads done even without the mini digger.

Great to hear passers by donating too.

When is the next dig weekend planned, I'll try to make sure I am about to help

just looked up this thread to see what was going on and to make a grovelling apology 😳 - my wife's going to have to be on-call all weekend due to a colleague being ill, and for that reason I'm out. Will be sending some cash though.

great work, BTW

No apologies needed mate, cash is fine 😉

More seriously, we are digging again and possibly for most of the weekend. The aim is to complete the little childs oval (done), the pump track (in progress), the childs long track (just about started)

We will then be pausing for a few weeks to let the shit storm of questions / protests / support that will happen when people see something new.

You will hear about the next dig day. Plan for about a months time.

good job, wonder if they will include this on the next CX race 😉

I'm back in Southampton for Sunday. Will keep an eye on this thread to see if you're still going then.

We will be there pete - might be finished so you can enjoy the riding!

May I just as Mrs world class accident thank you all for your support today Nick was blown away by all of you who turned up to support this venture and to thank all of you who have pledged to arrive tomorrow. He is appalled that i am on here doing this but well . I just want to thank you it has been amazing x

Mrs WCA - welcome!

He himself was in fine form as usual!

After a protracted negotiation it does appear I will be turning up at some point on Sunday with a seasoned test pilot!

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciderinsport/6634108791/ ]Lake_Jump_(157)[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/ciderinsport/ ]ciderinsport[/url], on Flickr

Yes, Miss Mini Ciderinsport has agreed to wave her usual appearance fee for this great event!

Bit sore this morning! Will be over from Portsmouth again today though, some more digging should loosen the muscles up nicely. Will be there at middayish, as I have to walk the dog first so he won't mind sitting & watching.

I feel like a cross between Ground Force and The Big Build off the telly.

We started with nothing but a hill and a few volunteers. Just 2 days later we have a decent pump track, a fun swoopy trail and and a drift oval.

Thanks to all the guys who helped and all those who donated. We actually have about £50 in the kitty for the next build.

Please can everyone come and ride the trails.

Please can everyone who has small children bring them to ride too. we need to show children and families using these trails too.

Thanks again to everyone, without you it wouldn't happen!

Are you still building Sunday?

Any pics of how it finished?

i am heading over shortly. Mainly riding today but there will be a few spades lying around.

This is from Friday afternoon so only 1 days digging.

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Official photographer over there today at 11.

Have fun today was looking and riding great when I left yesterday will post up some pics in a bit and ill send you a link nic. Keep at it a brilliant thing for the area. 🙂

the man himself WCA showing the kids how it is done 😉

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here is a couple more shots and a link to the album, it was good to see a nice mix of people helping, stopping to ask what was going on, donating money, riding.

here is a link to some more pics
http://s895.photobucket.com/albums/ac160/richen987/southampton%20bike%20track/

some younger riders
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some older riders
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some even older riders.....(caution some awesome may be leaking out)
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