Sweet: Possum Town Pump Track


Hey Lee,
It all started with your write up in Dirt Rag Mag. Ordering your Pump Track Nation E-Book and then having 15 cubic yards of dirt dumped in the backyard. At 1st I was wondering about what I have gotten myself into. WOW, was it a lot of hard work. The town where we live is nick-named “Possum Town.” So that’s how I came up with the odd name “Possum Town Pump Track.”
Thanks
Derrick in Columbus, Mississippi




What a pretty little pump track. It’s based on a design in Welcome to Pump Track Nation.




Rocking some maintenance with the home made tamper. This looks better than my big, square tamper — you can bash into into a berm without messing up the perfect curves.


That, my friends, is a beautiful berm. Radius = 9 feet.


Pine straw protects the track from heavy rains. Smart.


Time to ride!

More photos here: http://iplaytoomuch.textamerica.com

12 replies
  1. moheinous says:

    How does the pinestraw work? I live in a wet area in NC and need to plan ahead for rain before i bulid.

  2. Derrick says:

    moheinous, I pile the straw onto the track, leaving no exposed dirt. In the last 24 hours, we recieved several inches of rain (heavy at times) and the track appears to only have suffered 2 minor washes on the low sections between the double rollers

  3. Derrick says:

    To ride, I rake the straw back behind the curves and to the outside of the rollers. The rest of the time it stays covered in straw, which helps to keep moisture in the dirt.

  4. A. Adams says:

    Derrick–

    Great looking track! I’m in a mtn bike club out here in Washington State & thinking that a pump track is just what we need. There’s a small skate park in town & my friend & I want to build the track next to the skate park. I’ll pass along your photos… hopefully it will inspire some of the kids here.

    Keep strong, have fun!

  5. Krien says:

    Straw! Genius idea! We get a lot of snow here in the shadow of the Alpes, France and as the pump track we’re going to build at work will be on asphalt I was worried about how to protect her over the winter!

  6. Derrick says:

    Update Feb 04:
    After a very wet fall and so far this winter. Thanks to the pinestraw, the track has survived from being washed away from the heavy downpours.
    I first thought maybe the pinestraw idea was a waiste of time.
    But after it being under cover since Thanksgiving, on 02/03 we raked the straw back to find the track in perfect condition and started pumping. It will be again be protected by the straw ASAP.
    The TextAmerica site has shut down, that I had my images posted on. I’m searching for a new home for my images. I’ll posted a new URL soon.

  7. Craig says:

    Hi
    Nice track. What is the size of the rectangular area surrounding this track? Thanks.
    Craig wharton

  8. Derrick Davis says:

    Craig, thanks for the compliment!
    It’s about 22’x50′
    18′ diameter curves with 1′ high rollers spaced 8.5′ apart.

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