Yesterday I participated in the most stressful pump track user conflict I’ve seen.
At the local bike park parents were on their phones and yacking with each other while their kids rode the main track unsupervised. I’m all for sharing the track, but it’s tricky when kids are riding in all directions or stopping on the riding line to play in the dirt.
A dad was trying to cajole his young daughter to drop in. She wasn’t having it.
After several minutes it was clear the girl wasn’t dropping in. An experienced rider called out “dropping in!” and rolled into the track. She did not interfere with the little girl at all, but the girl — already stressed — dropped her bike, fell and began to cry.
When the rider emerged from the track the dad rushed over and started yelling at her. The rider, understandably stressed, yelled back.
I instinctively went over to calm the situation. When I tried to explain how pump track etiquette works — this is a busy day with lots of adults and kids, we trade laps and share the track, and there’s a kids’ track right there — one of the dads puffed up from behind a little fence and yelled at me,
“Get your namaste ass out of here!”
Wow, what a line. Was it my sandals, or the pony tail, or that I was trying to create peaceful understanding? I thought out loud “you said that to the wrong person” and walked around the fence to face him directly.
“Good one,” I said. “I’m happy to discuss this some more, but fact is unsupervised kids on this track with all these adults create a safety issue for everyone. If you never, ever want your child to get run into by an adult rider, use the kids track that’s right there.”
Bro disappeared as bullies do, peace returned, and everyone learned something, but dang that’s not a good vibe.
When I was a kid the bigger kids at the BMX jumps and skate parks laid down the law. The systems were “self correcting,” to put it mildly, and etiquette was well known.
These parents clearly didn’t grow up in BMX or skate parks. They simply don’t know how these places operate. And their children don’t roam with other kids, so they don’t learn from their peers.
I’ve been thinking I need to make a friendly little card that I can tape to the trail signs and hand to new parents.
Here’s my draft:
— — —
Welcome to the bike park
We want everyone to have fun and be safe. Please follow these guidelines:
Riders take turns riding the track. Ride one lap and clear the track so the next person can go.
Don’t stop on the track.
Ride the same direction as other riders.
Before you enter the track, make sure no one is coming.
If the park has a kids’ track, young kids should ride it.
Young kids should be directly supervised while sharing a track with older riders.
A pump track is not a playground. Bikes move fast. Watch out for each other.
Most important, have fun!
— — —
What do y’all think?
Lee
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The light in me honors the light in you, bro.
Oof! This is a tough one. Pump tracks “look” so safe compared to skateparks that I think parents, who have never ridden a pt, probably never seen one until it appeared in their neighborhood, just have absolutely no idea that it isn’t just a wavy sidewalk. Because they don’t ride the track, they have no idea how constrained a rider’s vision is despite how much situational awareness we attempt (pulling Gs and paying attention to all the wee ones is mostly incompatible!). The track’s “wide” (until you try riding one), we don’t look like we’re moving that fast so avoiding the kiddo should be easy, right?
That said. As for your signs. I commend the effort. Something is better than nothing, but as I keep relearning - people today, rarely read signs (or the email you sent them, or the text messages, newsletter, etc) or follow rules when they do!