Hey Lee,

After purchasing and building a slight variation of your Sweet Little Pump Track design using guidance from the Welcome to Pump Track Nation v2 ebook, now comes the time for maintenance.

I worked with our town to modify some existing dirt into a sweet little pump track. The dirt was free and of a mostly clay quality. We finished it up about 6-8 weeks ago and after some good monsoonal moisture it was riding really fast and smooth, so much fun!

Now that we have dried up a bit, the track seems to be struggling. What was once fast rolling hard pack has turned a little dusty and cracks are starting to show. I was wondering if you could advise me on some upkeep and maintenance. Keep in mind, this was done with preexisting dirt on a tight budget. Any maintenance is likely to be volunteer based and costs will probably come out of my pocket.

Thanks for all you do. Let me know if you have any questions or need some more information.

Colby B.

Hi Colby!

Thanks for reaching out. This is a common situation with home made and volunteer-built tracks. Here’s some advice based on building and riding hundreds of pump tracks.

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Lee,

I purchased “Welcome to Pump Track Nation v2” a few months back and have designed my pump track to the point of painting it on the ground in my yard and prep’ing to dig. I’m at the point now of trying to find materials. I’m in SE Idaho where we have a lot of very fine silt/volcanic ash-based soil, which is great for potatoes, but bad for pump tracks.

I am finding that clay is very hard to come by. No local suppliers have any clay at all. I had a supplier that was supposed to bring me 40 yards of 80/20 baseball clay today but when he showed up it was 100% crushed red cinder (course sand), so I had to refuse the delivery.

I even called the local BMX track to see what they’re racing on and they told me the local dirt and if I found any clay in the area to let them know. They’re going to seal their track next year.

So I’m kind of at a loss as to what to do at this point and would like some advice from someone who’s built a few tracks. I don’t want to abandon my plans for the track, especially since I’ve promised one to my kids, but I also don’t want to waste my time and money on something that just won’t work in this area.

What guidance do you have if I have to use the local high silt content soil in my track? Am I going to have to use SoilTac or something similar?

Thanks

Jared S.

Hi Jared,

Thanks for reaching out. If you follow the design guidelines in Welcome to Pump Track Nation v2 and execute the plan with the right material, the track will ride well.

Emphasis on the right material.

Clay holds your track together. UCI spec for the top coating of a BMX track is 80% clay, 20% sand. The tracks and jumps you see with perfectly sculpted shapes are often “clay loam” with 60% clay and low silt content.

Silt makes the dirt very hard to pack. While the coarse angularity of sand creates mechanical locking, and clay’s negative charge binds with water, the smooth roundness of silt makes it structurally weak.

Oh man I just remembered this one city build. The manager promised the dirt met my spec. Back then I was fresh and trusting. I flew out there, placed the dirt, shaped it, then tried to pack it. No dice. The wet material shifted and sheared like mush, then it dried into powder. Turns out the dirt supplier tried to pull a fast one. I went out to the yard PISSED! and got us some proper dirt.

The best advice I have for building a pump track with silt-based dirt is don’t do it. Building a track in your yard takes significant space and time. It’s a shame when the track is rendered unrideable by poor planning, bad design, shoddy execution or, saddest of all, the wrong material.

The Pump Track Nation Code of Ethics requires me to say that. Now here are some viable options:

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Check out this section of Tapeworm Trail at Geisinger Stewardship Forest in Danville, PA.

OK let’s hit it!

Would you have let go of the brakes? :)

Lee

4 days of driving delivered me from ColoRADo to the Washington, DC area — and my 4th riding spot.

South Germantown Bike Park, Boyds, MD

My back, ass and legs were like, “Bro are we still driving? Sheesh.”

Yes, I told them, but today’s the last day.

Rally the Titan through increasingly hilly OH, WV, PA, and MD. Pull up to South Germantown Bike Park, step onto al dente limbs and, wow that hurts. Set up both bikes — a Mistress trail bike and my pump bike. Walk the park to loosen up and decide which bike to ride.

My increasingly delicate legs prefer the pump bike, but the Mistress has a drivetrain, and sometimes you have to pedal I guess.

The pump track looked good … some nice linked corners, a long straight and a juicy 180 … integrated into some other pump lines and small jumps. That track gave my belly a tingle. It just felt … familiar … like I could feel myself flowing through it — or it through me?

The rest of the park looked great! A couple start hills served a variety of lines, from beginner roller-tables to an advanced but mathematically sound jump lines. A pre-made pump track and some skills features make this small park very complete.

OMG this is brilliant. Collecting rain water for trail maintenance.

Pump pump puuuump pump pump puuuump … round and round … lost in the rhythm … deep in meditation. Pump tracks are the shrine of the Ballistic Buddhist.

I decided to rock the pump bike. I’m to the point where, if I can’t get a jump with pure pump, that jump’s not for me. Call it a “raging gracefully” safety filter, especially when I’m alone on the road. As I put on my riding shoes someone called out.

“Hey are you Lee from Lee Likes Bikes?”

“Yes sir!” It says so on my truck in the Iron Maiden font. I’m all in, bruh.

“I’m Todd Bauer. I emailed you in 2010 about a pump track, and you made the design for our first track!”

“Oh my gosh that’s Pumptopia!!” I exclaimed.

“Yes!” Todd said. That track that gave me the tingles is the first public build of the PumpTopia pump track (get the plans for $20). Once that track was in place, Todd and his volunteer team worked to expand the park.

Todd’s the kind of person who makes the MTB world go round.

I’m proud of the role I played in building this and other bike parks. And stoked to ride some sweet jumps.

Cue the voiceover for the TV show Bike Fu:

“He builds pump parks and channels fluid self acceptance … and yet … he always flies low and straight.”

Have fun out there,

Lee

The perfect pump track design

PumpTopia has been built hundreds of times all over the world for a reason: It contains all of the funnest pump track elements in an efficient space.

• Fast main straight. Add camels/stepups/stepdowns for extra BMX flavor.

• Big, steep 180 berm. You’re gonna love this! Can you hit 3Gs?

• Complex, flowy series of linked turns. This is just like shredding a sweet singletrack, but in your city park or back yard.

• Crossover and jump options.

Track footprint: Approximately 55 x 85 feet. This includes the backs of berms.

Price: $20 for a password protected PDF

Build your own PumpTopia »

I’ve designed hundreds of pump tracks for various uses, from Sea Otter pro races to tiny back yards. My favorite pump track design is Pumptopia. You can buy the plans for $20 here.

Pumptopia has everything a track needs: A fast straight into a blistering 180 berm then a series of technical connected turns. Most important, if you follow the plans the track can be executed well by a first time pump track builder. Many try to make their tracks too big and complex. Pumptopia is just right.

Here’s an overhead view of the first one I built, in Superior CO. I since made the turns wider.

Here’s a build for the SoCal High School Mountain Bike League.

Here’s a build in Oak Creek, CO - down the highway from Steamboat Springs where I teach MTB instruction at Colorado Mountain College.

Our friend Umberto wrote:

Hi Lee - Hope all is well.

I’m finally getting on with the Pumptopia project. I have another question for you….

I personally have a slight preference for right turns instead of left turns. I also note the main straight line is probably the fastest section of Pumptopia (correct me if I’m wrong). Putting the two things together, I would like the 180 degrees berm to be a right turn when approached from the main (faster) straight.

So in essence can my Pumptopia track be the mirror image of the one you have on your plans? Im guessing that would accomplish my objective, or am I missing something? Did I explain myself? Will that work or not a good idea for some reason? As my track will be on a slight slope, that will also mean that when you hit the 180 degrees berm from the main straight, you are on a very gentle downhill too.

Best

U

Hey Umberto!

YES!

Flip the track so the 180 is a right turn.

Putting the 180 on a downhill be make it even faster. Working your way uphill through the linked turns will make you great at cornering — and it’ll build you an iron core.

Measure twice and have fun!

Lee

Pumptopia Pump Track Plan

Pumptopia has been built hundreds of times all over the world for a reason: It contains all of the funnest pump track elements in an efficient space.

• Fast main straight. Add camels/stepups/stepdowns for extra BMX flavor.

• Big, steep 180 berm. You’re gonna love this! Can you hit 3Gs?

• Complex, flowy series of linked turns. This is just like shredding a sweet singletrack, but in your city park or back yard.

• Crossover and jump options.

Track footprint: Approximately 55 x 85 feet. This includes the backs of berms.

Price: $20 for a password protected PDF

Build your own Pumptopia.