Rippin' and Packin'

Well, it is flowing. The whole day was spent riding in the pump track and doing a bit of final dialing. The photo above is of one of the kids helping pack things in. Below is fresh tracks on the yet to be full packed berms, then the very bottom is, well, this is the fun stuff.

The Rythm of the build

Well, we are into the home stretch, I should be riding this beast by the end of the day. Above and below is a photo of how these things really get done. It is all about hard work. One of the best things about digging is it requires repetition and a zen like efficiency. Below Rob, the lot owner, gives a berm his touch.



The results are sculpted packed lines ready for tire packing and final rake downs. How many options can you count coming out of this berm?



The day ended with this great sunset in the background over the lake. Great Day!

Making it with the machine

Here is the typical start to many a pump track. Beautiful piles of soft pliable soil. The process from here still has many options to go both the right and the wrong way. Below is what I have done with it on this particular lot. Just because it was done this way here does not mean it is necessarily what you should do for a pump track you are building. These things are an art and each one should be a creative extension based on a number of factors.



Then after the dirt is placed the detailing and "finish carpentry" begin. I always start with the clean up of the piles first, it feels like it closes a chapter and allows you to concentrate on the big goal in front of you...the digging, the packing and the repeating.

Florida flowbuilding...

Outside of Ocala and Orlando is a buddy who has a pumptrack in the backyard. He has spent the last couple months trying to build a flowy wonderful escape in his backyard, but alas it wasn't working so "who ya gonna call?" PUMPTRACKERS!!

We spent the first day simply tweaking what looked close and will spend tomorrow in the machine dropping new dirt and tweaking the "upper" two-thirds of the track.Hopefully we will be riding it by Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.

Back to work...

Well, the west was a great trip, I will give a nice little wrap up some time in the next couple weeks. But, for now it is time to get back to work. We are in Tallahassee to look over a project that the city wants completed on an urban trail system in the heart of the city. The pre-bid conference was yesterday and now it is time to do some creative writing...remember that class in school? We also head to a private pumptrack tomorrow to crank out some great backyard lovin' for a friend. I will try and update that one daily if I can, should be a cool little build. So for now, I guess we are back to work. But, how seriously can you really take Florida when people are driving around like this!

Oh my.

Been a busy weekend. So, we left Salt Lake bound for Boulder to check out the shovel turning ceremony at Valmont and now find ourselves in Fayetteville, AR via Eureka Springs. It has been one of those cross country weeks with a Denver bike ride along Buffalo Creek along the way. This is a cross country excursion that will end in Tallahassee on Friday. The above photos are my best attempt at capturing the drama and politics that are Boulder, the rest is off record and a joy by the moment. Until I can get my thoughts a bit more organized, here is to tomorrow.

Salt Lake is fine by me.

Salt Lake's "trails". The above picture is not me. Click on the link to read a really good article about some dirt jumps in Salt Lake. I was lucky enough to get to see these trails today and it is impressive. Big, totally non progression friendly, and BIG. The jumps are gorgeous and were too wet to ride, but really cool. They even have a water fall built at the roll-in to give you a zen vibe before your run.

SO how did the presentation go? Killed it! in a purple tie and all. We are leaving out tomorrow to headed to Florida, so may be a bit away from the interwebby for a bit. Sorry for the fragmented post, but it is time to get some food.

Are you READY!!!!!

We are stoved up in a hotel in Grand Junction, CO waiting to get our truck back out of the shop. While here with good access to the interwebby, I have been getting my head straight for doing possibly the most important presentation to date. I will be presenting at the NRPA Congress about Dirt Jump Parks, then attending a few really cool presentations as well. After Salt Lake we have to B-Line it to Florida to do a private pumptrack build and check out a few other projects. Look for an update Tuesday afternoon after the presentation, and shoot as many good vibes my way that day as possible.

Penitente Canyon, CO

We are settled in to Southern Colorado for a ten day workation of climbing, mountain biking, emails and preparing for the Winter build season. Here are a few photos from camp, hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate and I can get some of the shots across the San Luis Valley over to the Great Sand Dunes.