in Middleton Bike Park

The crazy winter was hard on the pump track but it's working. We still need to make the west or left side of it better.

We've been able to make the east inside work and I think Tom H and I are the only ones who even try to use the west side. With increased popularity we need to get it more usable and I got some good ideas here.

Use of wood: 28 and 40 seconds in.

Answer to difficult flow and use of space on west side: 32 and 57 seconds in - again 2:28.

That jump in to circle might work off of the center platform or jump already there. Wall at north end?

Please post your own ideas and willingness to chip in for some better dirt.



I've also been thinking of ways to ride parallel like this video but there's not a lot of space.

yeah I definitely think we should do something with the pump track.

It would be a huge amount of work, but I think the track would benefit greatly from making the rollers a little bigger and more spaced out.  It feels like most of the time my front tire is started up the next roller before my back tire makes it to the crest of the one before.  The rollers at the top of the jump line (between the last berm and the first jump) seem to be a much better size and spacing to me.  Those (or to the more extreme end, the pumptrack at Ray's) let you use your whole body weight to ride up one side then down the other.  On our pumptrack I feel like I have to keep my body more or less at the same level and just pivot my bike back and forth underneath me generating most of my speed with my arms.

I agree that they could be better spaced and bigger but if you want to get the full potential out of the rollers what you just described is what you have to do lol. That is, keeping your body relatively level and moving your legs and arms independently. No matter how you make the rollers at a certain speed that is necessary to continue to gain speed.

Therefore, I don't think we should be striving to space them out to the degree of only focusing on one side of the roller at a time. And remember the spacing was decided on by a professional pump track builder. But making them bigger and slightly more spaced would be beneficial in my opinion.

Finally, remember  that little kids come with their little bikes and can often times hardly make it over the bumps as it is so we can't make them too big.

The main issue that I think William is talking about, however, is the inside lines. They don't get used mainly because they are too cramped and hard for most people to ride well.

Less peaked is more important than giving them much more space. We can and should fix up both.

The city put the fence up a few feet farther than the original stakes so we can move the north corner berms farther north by digging them in and putting dirt behind them. Fixing peaks is just regular maintenance. In this case we'd fix the peaks in a way to move things and accommodate the larger diameter.

The hardest part from where I sit is knowing volunteers will show when we start because we can't leave a junk show.

I'd like to see a little fund raising so we can get a specific mix of dirt with more clay content.

Thank you.

WJL

how much money would we need to raise to get the good dirt?

how much money would we need to raise to get the good dirt?

I have quotes for approx $450 and $770 for 9 and 17 yard loads of custom blended clay mix delivered to the site. Approx $350 for 1/2 day of whatever combo skid steer, mini ex and operator needed.

We have a lot of silt and sand in our dirt and the upping the clay content is probably what we need.

check out the vid on Sick mick doing a pump track

Tom and I think we have a good plan for the pump track.  It's gonna be a ton of work and like William said we can't really leave it unfinished.  It will pretty much require skid steer.  We can move and re shape a lot of the the existing middle stuff so we prob won't need to much more dirt for that.  The beginner jumps will need a lot of dirt though.

Tom and I think we have a good plan for the pump track.  It's gonna be a ton of work and like William said we can't really leave it unfinished.  It will pretty much require skid steer.  We can move and re shape a lot of the the existing middle stuff so we prob won't need to much more dirt for that.  The beginner jumps will need a lot of dirt though.

It could be very simple - gathering surprisingly little money.

It remains that Middleton, Budget Bicycle, Machinery Row Bicycles and myself are the ones who've opened up their check books for the place. We'd be there if others would step up.

I'm bringing $100 to our board meeting tonight. The PayPal link is lower right on home page (link below). Give any amount and make a note if you want it use for a particular CORP project or trail.

http://www.madcitydirt.com/

Thank you.

It would be a huge amount of work, but I think the track would benefit greatly from making the rollers a little bigger and more spaced out.  It feels like most of the time my front tire is started up the next roller before my back tire makes it to the crest of the one before.  The rollers at the top of the jump line (between the last berm and the first jump) seem to be a much better size and spacing to me.  Those (or to the more extreme end, the pumptrack at Ray's) let you use your whole body weight to ride up one side then down the other.  On our pumptrack I feel like I have to keep my body more or less at the same level and just pivot my bike back and forth underneath me generating most of my speed with my arms.

We've started. We have upward of 50% plus more space. Building the new area is first up and rebuild of inside next. We will have rolls and turns with more space and some that will remain tight. Some riders double and manual tight rollers and little kids like them.

I've ridden the pump track with 16 in through 29 in wheels and concede to some others that not everything should be easy so we'll have more space, more easy and more expert. The coolest way we hope to do that is a toilet bowl turn at one end and a length of S curves.

See about 00:18 and about 1:18 for the S curves that let you pump and double. This track has a toilet bowl turn that launches you and the tight rollers where riders double them.



Incorporation of skinny & wall:



I guess we're not the only ones who dig and ride on Tuesdays:



I hope to see more new and old faces and get this done soon.

link vids dead

What's the good word on stuff? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make it out on Tuesday nights lately  to keep up to date (good ol' work schedule).

So, where are we at with finishing the pump track or going forward on the beginner area? It seemed like we had a lot of activity right away, but I haven't heard anything in awhile. Are we just kinda stuck waiting on funding or the city or something else beyond our control?

Can we maybe get another work day organized to keep the ball rolling? It seemed like the Dirty for Dane thing brought out a lot of people and kids. I can only imagine that's the kind of thing the city would like to see happen.

What's the good word on stuff? Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make it out on Tuesday nights lately  to keep up to date (good ol' work schedule).

So, where are we at with finishing the pump track or going forward on the beginner area? It seemed like we had a lot of activity right away, but I haven't heard anything in awhile. Are we just kinda stuck waiting on funding or the city or something else beyond our control?

Can we maybe get another work day organized to keep the ball rolling? It seemed like the Dirty for Dane thing brought out a lot of people and kids. I can only imagine that's the kind of thing the city would like to see happen.

Hi,

Progress is no way stopped but we have more trails, the city has a lot more than the bike park. Then add time of year - busy for anybody with kids in school. I know I've seen same helpers we count on at bike park at the other work days I've been to and I expect that this weekend.

Expect yet more dirt and some machine aid after we see how the city's repairs hold up to the rain. Also after the paving work is done by the north entrance. It doesn't hurt to thank the city staff for all they do because the same small hand full of people take care of every public space in the whole city.

It looks like most area school districts are done between 8th and 12th so we'll pick it up soon enough. All that's needed for the pump track expansion should be in place by the first summer "Tuesday Dirt" night.

Thank you.

I think the faster the pump track is being built ( potential risen by the riders, given that they are pushing each other's limit as they should be  :P), the more important the jump-ability of the track is..That's just my 2 cents


cus i find that sometimes like in the second vid when they go a bit faster they start wheelie. not that wheelie isn't a useful skill, it's not as useful as going in air.. but that depends on how the track turns out to be.. it's defantly good to have both///coming out of a corner with a bit of wheelie is always fun skill to have.