A pump track is a purpose-built track for

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

. It has a circuit of rollers, banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders "pumping"—generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling or pushing. It was originally designed for the

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...

and

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...

scene, and now, due to concrete and/or asphalt constructions, is also used for

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

, and accessible to

wheelchairs A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditions ...

. Pump tracks are relatively simple to use and cheap to construct, and cater to a wide variety of rider skill levels.

History

Skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, Freestyle scootering, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairw ...

s experienced a huge boom in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, most of them were designed to be used by experienced or professional riders, and thus resulted in some injurie

Many communities looked for a more accessible solution. The first new era pump track in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was built in 2004 at The Fix Bike Shop in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, by professional downhill bicyclist Steve Wentz.

Track design

Most pump tracks link a series of rollers to steeply bermed corners that bring the riders back around. They used to be built mostly out of dirt; recently companies have started to use concrete or asphalt. Paved pump tracks also have the advantage that they can be ridden by skateboarders, in-line skaters, and foot-powered scooters.https://www.youtube.com
Leavenworth Pump Track (in Washington). The size can vary fro
50 m
to ove
8000 m
File:BMX tracks Parque La Carolina in Quito. Ecuador.jpg

Bikes

Since momentum, or speed, is gained by the rider pumping, such as on the down-slope of each roller, the best bikes to use have no suspension, which would absorb useful energy. Bikes usually have a rigid frame, such as BMX bike, BMX-style bikes, which most efficiently convert the rider's motions into forward thrust. Some bikes have been designed which are custom built for a pump track, with features such as an offset crank, which stabilizes the pedals, and lowers the rider's

center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the barycenter or balance point) is the unique point at any given time where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. For ...

.https://www.pinkbike.com
Specialized Stumppumper Concept Bike - The Ultimate Pump Track Weapon. Red Bull Pump Track World Championship

World Championship

In 2018, Velosolutions teamed up with

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

and organized a pump track world championship. 67 riders from BMX and MTB raced at a world final in Arkansas. David Graf and Christa von Niederhäusern, both from Switzerland, were crowned the first Red Bull Pump Track World Champions. The series continued in 2019, with 25 international stops. At the same time as the 2009 UCI World Mountain Bike Championships in Canberra, Australia an unsanctioned Pump Track World Championships was held, possibly the first ever.

External links

Notes and references