My Backyard Pump Track
So a little over 3 years ago when I decided to move from Utah to Georgia and marry my hot wife I made a few stipulations. When we bought a house I wanted a garage/workshop, a man-cave of some sort, ridiculous central air conditioning (it’s hot as bawls here in Georgia and I sweat like a monkey) and most importantly? Space to build a pump track.
To this day my wife makes fun of me for it and has dared me to actually follow through with it. It’s the joke at dinner parties and everyone thinks I’m a child (true) for wanting one. When this happens, I will never leave my house. Ever. And this WILL happen. So, this is Part 1 in who-the-hell-knows-how-many parts series going through my adventures as I finally put this thing together.
We bought this house in April and it sits on about 1 acre. Pretty stoked to have so much space (except when I have to mow the damn lawn) but most of it is in the front of the house. However, the backyard is SOOOOOOO perfect for a pump track it feels like it was destiny. Seriously, when we saw the house all I cared about was how incredibly perfect the backyard was.
The space I’m building this thing on is about 150 feet long by 38 feet wide, is pretty level and has some cool trees to work into the pump track. My goal for this thing is to make it look kinda classy with some serious landscaping once I’m done shoveling dirt and shaping it. Luckily I have a client who is a landscape architect and we have arranged a trade so I will be getting as much dirt as I want, a Bobcat and a bunch of dudes shoveling with me. This is what will truly make this project doable. With a baby girl on the way in January, there’s probably no way I’d get this shit done without access to a landscaping company.
It’s pretty evident I can’t draw for shit.
I tried to sketch out some alt lines but I think once I get the main figure 8 built I can focus on alt lines, doubles, berms, etc.
Our target date to break ground is sometime next month but I’ve been doing research for months on how I want this to look. I feel a bit overwhelmed but tonight I plan on purchasing the book Welcome To Pump Track Nation which is written by the authority on pump tracks, Lee McCormack.
In an effort to NOT overwhelm myself I’m trying to keep it simple. With all the space and trees to build around, I have so many options and lines. This weekend I began to sketch out some simple designs and concluded that I have the perfect lines to build a long figure 8 and then build alt lines afterwards with the remaining space. I’m super excited to get this thing going and will be posting regularly as I build the pump track of my dreams. Stay tuned!
