Tag: <span>how to pump</span>

Published July 30, 2012 by

Learn to pump at a pump park. Singletrack flow trails will never be the same

Back in April, I blogged about the opening of the pump and jump park in Eagan, adjacent to the skate park at the Lexington-Diffley Athletic Fields (Google map here).

The idea of a pump track is to ride it around and around without pedaling. As I wrote back then, on my first stint, I was able to eventually get around the beginner track on my 29er hardtail. Hard work but fun, once I got the hang it.

When I rode Lebanon Hills a few days later, I noticed that I was able to transfer my newly acquired and modest pumping skills to the rollers there. I was pleased.  I did a couple of more sessions on the beginner pump track before I went to Cuyuna Lakes MBT Festival in June.  I was ecstatic.  I could not believe how much more fun it was to ride Cuyuna’s roller-infested flow trails.  Every little rise and dip in the trail became an opportunity to accelerate without pedaling.

Chance Glasford at the Lexington pump parkIn late June, I took some photos of Chance Glasford as he zipped around the intermediate and advanced Lexington pump tracks on a 24 inch BMX bike.

(Chance is a MORC member, author of the Self-Sponsored Cycling blog, and the leader of the construction of Eagan’s pump and jump park.)

Chance Glasford at the Lexington pump park Chance Glasford at the Lexington pump park Chance Glasford at the Lexington pump park Chance Glasford at the Lexington pump park
Chance could get going so fast that he could manual over two rollers at a time and fly over the table-top jump (right photo above) on the advanced pump track.

I haven’t figured out how to pump the berm to keep my speed up. Chance is doing this in the left photo above where you can see he’s coming out of the berm with enough speed to manual over the two rollers that follow it.

Lebanon Hills: rollers, jumps, berms  Lebanon Hills: 21 rollers
Earlier this month I put my new pump skills to the test on the 21 rollers at Lebanon Hills (left side of the open field on the beginners loop).  After a couple of runs of flying down them without braking, I decided to try to manual over a couple of the rollers.  I picked a couple of spots where the rollers were closer together, scrubbed off some of my speed, and voila!  Too fun.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to completely pump my way around the intermediate track at Lexington, as my 29’er is not the best pump park bike.  The big wheels are a lot to pump.  I might get a 24-inch BMX or trials bike. But in the meantime, I can see how regular stints at the pump track will improve my riding.

loose sand and gravel on the Lexington pump track sweeping the loose sand and gravel on the Lexington pump track
Another surprise: pump tracks need to be swept regularly (loose sand and pebbles accumulate) and then watered down. Chance showed me how to do the maintenance of the beginner’s track last Friday eve.

There are many ‘how to pump’ videos out there, but so far, I like these two:

1. Lee McCormack and Chris Powell coaching high schoolers:

httpv://youtu.be/7Vl80yZ0O-g

2. ZEPTechniques:

httpv://youtu.be/B7AjsUhsD2U

Learning to ride Trail work

Chance Glasford Eagan pump & jump park how to pump

Published April 21, 2012 by

A revamped pump and jump park opens in Eagan

The City of Eagan has had a BMX bike park for a few years, adjacent to the skate park at the Lexington-Diffley Athletic Fields (Google map here). It’s undergoing a complete revamping and currently has two pump tracks, beginner and intermediate levels, with a third advanced level pump track opening in May. Also planned: three levels of jumps.

Chance GlasfordChance Glasford, MORC member and author of the Self-Sponsored Cycling blog (RSS feed now aggregated on my right sidebar), has been the leader of the effort to revamp the park. I met Chance at last month’s High School MTB Kickoff and expect to see him this weekend at the Leaders’ Summit.

Chance Glasford and Griff Wigley(Update 4/22, 6pm: I’ve added the photo on the left of me and Chance taken earlier today at the Leaders’ Summit.)

Chance has cited an article in Elevation Outdoor Magazine titled The Park’s The Place , because “it pretty much says it all about why we, the riders in the metro, need bike parks, why I pushed for it and why we are working so hard to get this completed to make the bike park a reality and an enjoyable place to ride, train and improve as riders!”  An excerpt:

Lory-2_FIXEnter the latest trend in mountain biking: bike parks. Designed and built especially for bikes, these facilities offer everything from jaw-dropping stunts to beginner-level trails. While an in-town setting doesn’t provide the escape of a long ride in the mountains, bike parks are highly accessible and a great way to improve cycling fitness and skill levels…

“It’s been exciting to see the explosion in popularity,” says Lee McCormack, who teaches mountain bike skills clinics at Valmont. “The parks really have a broad appeal. Dads and moms, older and younger siblings can all find elements that challenge them, while staying in close proximity to each other.”

And, says McCormack, when you do get out for that remote singletrack journey, the practice you’ve logged in the park will pay off. “I’m riding better than ever on trails—smoother, faster and more controlled—because of all the time I spend honing my technique in a park context,” says McCormack.

DSC08847 DSC08863 DSC08850
I visited the Eagan bike park last night. Trevor ? (white shirt) lives nearby and has been working on the park with Chance. He was there with his friend Nate and gave me a few quick lessons on his new BMX bike.  Saaaweeeet!  I was able to get around the beginner level pump track without pedaling on my 29er hardtail. It helped to lock out my front suspension.  The intermediate loop (they’re connected) is a hoot and definitely  tougher.  Trevor can fly around it and it was inspiring to watch him. Here are a few more photos:

DSC08855 DSC08861 DSC08857

 

DSC08853 DSC08858 DSC08867

It’s no surprise that Tim Wegner has had a hand in this. He wrote last fall in the MORC forum:

A few months ago Chance contacted me and asked if I thought we could renovate the Lexington Park. I told him I would assist with city type things and help him get approval for the work he wanted to do. This discussion went on for a while focusing around not only a dirt jump area but also building a pump track.

Chance and I met with the city of Eagan yesterday afternoon and have gotten approval to move forward with the plan Chance has put together. We are using some design plans from Lee McCormick as well as local input. The city of Eagan is going to begin to destruct half of the jumps this fall yet, move the dirt into piles with construction to begin next spring or earlier if this dry weather holds. Eagan is totally on board with the plan and are excited to see someone take hold of this project.

The big build day was last Friday.  Chance wrote about it in a blog post titled, On the 8th day God gave us pump and we rode!

I just want to thank everyone that showed up to help build! We had a great turn out despite the on and off rain all day. I believe we had 12 people that showed up. I want to give a huge shout out to Tim Wegner and Mike Mullany for bringing their machinery and operating it all day long for us! We moved a ton of dirt and made a lot of awesome track!

I want to thank QBP for allowing so many of their employees to come out and help build. I want to think Josh Abrahamson for bringing a grill and sausages. I want to thank Clay Haglund for driving all the way up from Mankato to help out and donating a push broom to the cause! Shout out to Adam Buck for sending the beautiful Red Bull ladies our way for a nice mid afternoon pick-me-up! I also want to thank Thor and Nick for all their attention to detail and really making the two completed tracks super dialed in!

Over all it was a huge success. We dialed the beginner pump track, completed the second pump tack, which is a replica of the Whistler Crankworx ’10 and got the 3rd pump track, a replica of sea otter ’09 roughed in!

Here’s one of a dozen fabulous photos by Scott Haraldson from that build day:

lpp23

You can follow the Lexington Street Bike Park on Facebook.

Trails

Chance Glasford Eagan pump & jump park how to pump Tim Wegner