I know land is the biggest obstacle to having your own track. I 've got a few acres, I had a motcross track on part of it, but I'm out of that now and back into BMX. I had the neighbor bring over his Bobcat today and we started the "track" It's really not much. I can't take up a bunch of the horses pasture. I settled for about 20 feet wide and the length of the field, about 350'. It's one straight, no turns. But the start hill is pretty big. About 6+. First is a table top jump about 4' high and 10' long. Then to a step up about 5 feet high and 15 to 20 feet. Then a single that will become a double soon then a rythem section. Then the end. And I suppose you could ride it in reverse. My 10yo son and I plan on racing again next year. A crash stopped me 2 years ago. So this will be our chance to get some practice. I realize that turns are a big part of racing, and we'll be missing that. But I think what were building is going to be quite helpful and darn fun. I'll put a couple pics of the progress when i get them. Right now the dirt is located and shaped. But not compacted or groomed. I'm undecided on how to finish it. I may rent a roller to pack the dirt on the flats. But it's suppose to rain this weekend so I'll be out working it in the rain.
I'd like this thread to be a discussion of your own tracks or a place you made jumps yourself. And with plenty of pics in the under 100kb range, cause I'm still dail uppin.
Oh, i got my first flat coming a bit short on a double the other day. Tweaked the rim, but I didn't crash thankfully. I was able to get the rim pretty darn straight myself too. Not sure how much the bike shop charges to fix rims. But I'm thinking that better spoke nipples would have helped in my efforts.
mude
08-27-05, 11:43 AM
thats a huge stepup...or maybe im a wuss...........
SpeedSterz
08-27-05, 11:55 AM
Well, where i live..i'm sorta lucky, theres a nearby track in the sort of an S shape with a starting hill and full of step ups and table tops, great fun and also the council just went and built a skate park nearby, woohoo!
Only problem is they went and put height restrictor bars on the vertical ramps, sigh...:(
Anyway i was round the dirt jumps the other day and i tryed a no footer on a step up, went fine..so decided to try it with no hands....Big Mistake! the bike jumped from the first hill staight into the 'step' causing me to fly over the handle bars...and ow not a pretty sight :( So i think i'll have to recover a bit before going round there again.
But i've looked at the image given on you're post and i think you should remove the rhytem sectin, there no fun and they cause you're bike to dramtically lose speed. i think you should add another sort of...backwards step up. they are real fun!...Honestly ;)
Oh and you got a 6'high starting hill leading to a 10'long table top, and then the step up. I think it may work better if you start of, go up the step up and then down that onto the table top.
mude
08-28-05, 03:09 PM
i think you should add another sort of...backwards step up. they are real fun!...
step down?....
Darin
09-01-05, 06:28 AM
Actaully, the "step up" didn't turn out like I wanted. For lack of firt, it's not quite as high as I wanted. So it's not much of a step up. But it's all comming toegether though.
hypersnazz
09-01-05, 08:18 AM
Run outta dirt, build a gap. :D
Darin
11-11-05, 03:20 PM
My "track" is taking shape. The better I get, the more I want to change things around. I have the neighbor with a Bobcat somming over tomarrow to do some major work on it. Up till now, I't been a straigt track. But we will be building a big banked turn and bringing the track back around twoward the start. It's about 350 feet long, so it will be doubled. I'm open to ideas, but will need them by morning. Nothing dangerous. I did put a couple very small doubles that my boy is working on. But we have to remover a small jump thats about 25 feet before them. I'll have the bobcat for about an hour. I'm thinking of somthing like a table top, maby 12 to 15 feet, with a double on the top. So the first landing would be about 7 or 8 feet of you aren't going to fast, or you could crank and hit the down hill. I'll post some pics when its done. Any idea would have to take in to account that my daughter, that is JUST beginning BMX will be on the track. I don't want her to have to go around anything.
racersk66
11-11-05, 03:32 PM
I like th ryhme section i ha e sorte built one on my trails but they have been alll worn donw from the summer so either this weekend or next srping I'm gunna go fix them.
hffmanRythmRydr
11-11-05, 03:58 PM
A couple of my friends and i started a track 2 days ago in some local woods and we've been testing the jumps in our first rythem and then after is a berm leading to rollers and a jump that goes thru a y shaped tree or u could hit a down hill transfer that leads to a 6 foot high by 15 gap and thats it......theres also another trail inbetween that that goes all down hill jumpin over the doubles already build so you'll be flyin over the people jumpin the first trail....its pretty fun buy we've already had the cops drive by so its a work in progress.....u guys got any tips on keepin it a secret?? or getting it approved by the township??
Darin
11-11-05, 04:02 PM
u guys got any tips on keepin it a secret?? or getting it approved by the township??
Yeah, by land, and build it there like I did. :)
If you have any idea for my track. Get your MS Paint programs going and doodle something, or sketch it and scan it and post it by tomarrow morning.
Thanks.
racersk66
11-11-05, 04:04 PM
A couple of my friends and i started a track 2 days ago.....its pretty fun buy we've already had the cops drive by so its a work in progress.....u guys got any tips on keepin it a secret?? or getting it approved by the township??
just dont tell anyone about your trail itll stay a secret for a while.
Brian
11-11-05, 04:21 PM
Darin, have you looked to your local track for pointers? Or look at some of the photos of my local track. You really need some good berms in there. And the rhythm section is really important if you want to enhance your racing skills. That's where all the crashes happen on our track. You need to be good at that to be competitive. Also, your track needs to flow. Spacing between jumps, flats and berms is really important, and that may take time to work out. Get some photos for us of the work in progress.
hffmanRythmRydr
11-11-05, 11:14 PM
theres a rough idea sort of but yea...umm after that u could maybe make a jump and then put the landing ramp a lil off to the side of the way u spin so u can learn how to transfer in the air because that can come in handy when someone crashes under you or ur making a pass so yea umm i hope that'll help
Brian
11-11-05, 11:53 PM
theres a rough idea sort of but yea...umm after that u could maybe make a jump and then put the landing ramp a lil off to the side of the way u spin so u can learn how to transfer in the air because that can come in handy when someone crashes under you or ur making a pass so yea umm i hope that'll help
You need to do your best when it comes to spelling and grammar. That means spelling everything out please. This is not AOL.
Thank you.
Expatriate,
Forum Moderator.
racersk66
11-12-05, 06:05 AM
You need to do your best when it comes to spelling and grammar. That means spelling everything out please. This is not AOL.
Thank you.
Expatriate,
Forum Moderator.
I've started to go along wih you in your grammer thing, so how am I doing. You must remeber my first couple forums.
queensrider86
11-12-05, 07:46 AM
theres a rough idea sort of but yea...umm after that u could maybe make a jump and then put the landing ramp a lil off to the side of the way u spin so u can learn how to transfer in the air because that can come in handy when someone crashes under you or ur making a pass so yea umm i hope that'll help
stupidest thing i've ever seen
racersk66
11-12-05, 07:53 AM
stupidest thing i've ever seen
And why would you say that.
queensrider86
11-12-05, 07:59 AM
starting hills are for *****es anyway, but with that speed from the hill, there is no possible way he is gonna hit that double. he will land in the gap between the jump and landing of the second double, assuming that he knows how to ride, and seeing how steep that jump is for a little gap. I shouldn't assume things anyway, this kid probably doesn't know what he's doing
hffmanRythmRydr
11-12-05, 11:10 AM
dude its not that steep!!! and i drew it up in 1minute because i had to get off the computer and he said he had a starting hill so i put one in eneways and he said he has an 11 year old son so u gotta take that into consideration........its not like im gonna give out pro plans in 1 minute for somone i dont even kno about skillz wise
Darin
11-12-05, 11:11 AM
Ok, here's what I got. It's narrow, one rider at a time, just for practicing the basics of track riding. Today I got the berm built and the piles for the 2nd straight placed. But I'm undecided what to do with them. I may wait till spring. But the berm is functional. You can pedal through it.
All pics under 100kb
hffmanRythmRydr
11-12-05, 11:11 AM
oh and i kno the section i drew isnt good at all but he said he wanted an idea
hffmanRythmRydr
11-12-05, 11:14 AM
thats a pretty cool track Darin
Darin
11-12-05, 11:16 AM
I appreciate any ideas. Thanks.
In the pics. The jump marked as "1st jump" was more of a jump. We just knoked it down today. I"m also undecided what to do with it. But for now, I like rolling it and setting up for the step up jump. Which is quite fun. After that, there are a couple small doubles for my son to learn on. Nothing on the track is super steep. But I'm conmfortable with the shapes. The landing will stretch out as I get better.
Darin
11-12-05, 11:39 AM
*hmmm* The seperate landing off to the side is starting to sound good.......
smurfy
11-12-05, 01:21 PM
So when you're racin' BMX do you have to move the horses to another part of the pasture of do they stay out of the way on thier own?
I live in the city so I'm kind of ignorant! :o
Brian
11-12-05, 04:46 PM
Darin, have you seen Stumpy's little side by side track?
Darin
11-12-05, 06:37 PM
Darin, have you seen Stumpy's little side by side track?
Nope, can't say that I have.
The horses are pretty cool with the bikes. One is a little skiddish, but he doesn't freak. The other one you can ride right next to. That's unusal for horses. He's very cool. They never get in the way. Usualy when I'm on the track, my 12yo daughter is on her horse anyway.
queensrider86
11-12-05, 06:42 PM
yeah daytons a big city, right, the closest store is only a mile away
Darin
11-13-05, 03:09 PM
I just got back from the REAL track. It was the last race today. I can see that I need to make stuff BIGGER. And alot smoother. The "doubles" that guys are manualling through are pretty big. Maybe 18 to 24" high and 8 to 10 feet apart. Some guys jump them. There is no "lip" like you see in some jumps. Everthing on the track is pretty rolling. The track is such that you can actually coast the whole thing. Sometimes in practice, guys will have a coasting race. Very cool how they pick up speed rolling the doubles. I need one HUGE jump, and a nice big rolling double. I think that will be enough to get our chops together on. Back to the shovel.
Today, a guy lost his chain just before the first jump, he went down hard sliding UP the jump and taking out a girl next to him that went down VERY hard. It was a sickining thud. A real reality check.
Darin
11-14-05, 04:45 PM
Update on my "track".
Had the bobcat overtoday. Bigger is better and more is more. So I now have a BIG jump, and a bigger double. I figure that's about it for moving dirt, so tommarow I have a roller comming to smooth everything up and get the dirt PACKED like concrete. I'll post a few pics tomarrow night. Aslo, instead of 2 straights, I am going to have the 1st staight run backwards after the turn. Less work, less dirt, and less aggrivation.
Later.
Brian
11-14-05, 04:48 PM
We have a coasting race every meet - the 2nd to last race. You can pedal to the first jump, but you have to coast from there.
KinetikBiker
11-14-05, 06:50 PM
coasting race You can pedal to the first jump, but you have to coast from there.
this is fun...when i went to the track for the first time..i raced some freinds who actually race..by coasting...and..its pretty tireing to pump each and every transition and roller.......and yeah...those tripples are pretty big..and scary to jump
Darin
11-15-05, 07:58 PM
Well, my track is nearing completion. I'm holding off on the compactor/roller till spring. But the "big" jump and the following double is built. I still got to get some pics. The weather was funky today. Wet, but not rainy. It sprinkled last night, so the dirt was perfect to work with today. I've been using my lawn tracktor to pack down the dirt, just driving back and forth tons of times. It's not as tight as I want so the roller is still needed. Anothert funny thing is, The double I made is about 12 feet from take off to landing, but seems so much easier than the tall jump that is also 12 feet. Comming off the tall jump into the double carries alot of speed, so it's easy to get the distance without the height. Now all I need is a couple friends to ride with me. I think I'll get a local ABA list and call people in my class.