Initiators, politicians, and lots of riders came together in Neunkirchen (Austria) for the unofficial opening of the first ever pump track in Austria and enjoyed a golden autumn day – Lap after lap. Ridden on bikes, boards and scooters. As a highlight of the opening session also the Austrian BMX Racing National Team with their coach, Hannes Slavik, stopped by and were supported by his hometown BMX Club Vösendorf with some proper riding action.
"The Austrian Bike Community and especially all the kids need more places like this to shred and increase their skill level. I really hope that Neunkirchen is just the beginning and more projects will follow soon. It would be awesome for our sport if some big cities would realize the potential and the wide range of people that can be attracted by pump tracks. Me and all the kids are glad to have such an amazing new spot to ride. Thanks to Neunkirchen and Velosolutions," said Slavik.
Hour by hour the number of curious onlookers and riders that came by to let off steam on the 1.000m2 infrastructure increased. Among them also the Dallago Brothers (Marco & Luca) from Graz. Well known for their high speed runs on the Red Bull Crashed Ice-slope, both cut a good figure riding the waves and steep wall bends on their skates and claimed: "In Neunkirchen we found our new spot to train during summer and even if it’s more than one hour driving from Graz, it is worth every kilometer. Please build one in Graz as well, as apart from all the motivated kids, there are also Ski and Snowboardcross that could use one of these pump tracks very well for training purposes.“
The project in Neunkirchen hasn’t been always easy from the political angle, but all is well that ends well and in the end the steadfast and passionate supporters around the project leader, Peter Teix, and Initiator, Heinz Past succeeded.
And even the lord mayor of the city, Herbert Osterbauer, converted from a skeptic to a proponent of the pump track, commented: "Seeing the enthusiasm of our youth practising and enjoying sports, I’m really happy with it and I think we took the right decision for Neunkirchen and the young people of Neunkirchen.“
In the sense of the Austrian national anthem; "Land of mountains, land of rivers, land of meadows, land of cathedrals, land of hammers, promising,“ the future for more pump tracks is indeed promising. Many visitors expressed their confidence that Austria could become a country of pump tracks as well, and are considering the capital city Vienna.
MENTIONS: @velosolutions
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