Trails School - Pump Track Design and Construction
Pump Track Design and Construction
3 Day class (24hrs)
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (8am-5pm)
Fall 2024 Class Dates:
November 20-22
December 4-6
Location
Old Fort, North Carolina
Train and stay in beautiful Old Fort, NC. This is a destination training! Stay in town at an Airbnb or Bed and Breakfast or camp at one of our nearby campgrounds. Attend classes, complete trail training and play. Old Fort boasts world class trails for MTB, hiking and trail running as well as stocked trout waters for fishing. Enjoy our breweries, winery and great food. Shuttle the famous Heartbreak Ridge trail for a 12.4 mile downhill with 4,280 ft descent.
Bring your bikes! MTB, Dirt Jumper, BMX…
Description
Pump Tracks are popping up in towns all over the world and serve to bring communities together around biking. Much the same as skate parks were to the evolution of skateboarding, pump tracks are a place to meet up, get a workout, get in the flow and progress your skills. From the refined and paved tracks of the UCI World Pump Track Championships to the backyard dirt rollers and berms that you and your buddies built one summer, pump tracks run the gamut from tiny to XL and all maintain one thing in common: they can be ridden without pedaling.
This is your chance to join Peter Mills of Elevated Trail Design in Asheville, NC for 3 days of deep dive into pump track design and construction. You’ll be working on a Community Learning Pump Track for the Town of Old Fort, NC. Your classroom is 1,000 cubic yards of dirt along the Fonta Flora State Trail at the Old Fort Trailhead. You’ll learn about drainage and the geometry of rollers, berms, roller-doubles, alternate lines, transitions, interchanges and sweet jumps. You’ll learn the tools of the trade, from shovels and rakes to vibratory plate compactors and tampers.
Note: Peter will operate an excavator through part of the class. This will be a great chance to see how you can get a lot of heavy lifting and shaping done with a machine. However, this class is not a machine class and students will not be operating equipment. *See available classes for the next machine class. **Ask about machine independent study for gaining time on our school’s mini excavator CAT 301.7.
Throughout the class you’ll participate in discussions about design considerations and building while you help to build actual public track. This class will be held 3-4 times through Fall 2024 culminating with a final tune up in Spring 2025. These classes will result in a 15,000 sq ft public pump track and skills park which will be open and rideable from the end of class 1 and will evolve throughout the season.
About the Old Fort Community Learning Pump Track:
This pump track is a passion project of Jeremy Poore of McDowell Tech Trail School and Mountain Top Shuttles in Old Fort, NC. As a lifelong rider, Jeremy grew up with BMX tracks and wood kickers in the 80s and switched to mountain biking in the 90s. When the F3ST (Friends of the Fonta Flora State Trail) organization started construction on their town trailhead, a pump track was included in the design. A proposal and a few meetings with their Executive Director led to an agreement to fund and build the track through a series of classes hosted by McDowell Tech Trail School at McDowell Technical Community College).
When Peter learned of the project, he jumped in with both feet and requested to teach the whole series! Peter was also born to bikes and grew up riding everything Western North Carolina has to offer. His company Elevated Trail Design is a PTBA (Professional Trail Builders Association) member company and builds bike parks, trails, pump tracks, skills parts and anything bike related all around the country. Peter is stoked to be part of this project and we’re lucky to have him.
This project is a partnership between: F3ST, The Town of Old Fort, McDowell Tech Community College, Mountain Top Shuttles LLC and Elevated Trail Design.
Instructors: Peter Mills, Elevated Trail Design; Jeremy Poore, McDowell Tech Trail School
Day 1
8am – 5pm: Day 1 will consist of part classroom and part field work. Classroom work will include an overview of pump track design considerations and site planning. (approx. 2 hours) From there we’ll travel to the Fonta Flora Trailhead in Old Fort, NC. We'll evaluate the site, take measurements, make a plan and start construction.
Day 2 and 3
8am – 5pm: Days 2 and 3 will be held at the build site. We will focus on design and building as much track as we can complete over the next two days. You’ll become familiar with various hand tools and power equipment. You’ll be able to test ride and evaluate built track.
Tools and Equipment:
A variety of tools will be used in this course including: tape measure, measure wheel, pin flags, rake, shovel, mcloed, rogue hoe, tampers, plate compactors and more. Tools will be provided for the class.
Safety:
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for this class includes: gloves, eye protection, and sturdy boots/shoes. There is very little shade near the build site, so bring sunscreen, hat and consider long sleeves/pants if you burn easily.
Location:
Day 1: Morning is at McDowell Tech, Old Fort Campus
Days 2-3 will take place at the Fonta Flora State Trailhead in Old Fort about 1/2 mile from campus. Participants will need to bring sufficient water (3 liters minimum), lunch and snacks as well as clothing to deal with changing temperature and weather conditions. Instructors have current First Aid/CPR and first aid kits.
Choose your dates
- November 20, 2024 - November 22, 2024
- December 4, 2024 - December 6, 20246
Days and Times: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 8am – 5pm
Length of Class: 3 Day class (24 hrs)
Total Cost: $71.30 Tuition
Location: Oldfort Campus of McDowell Tech
Click the link below to register: