New year, New trails, New heights!
Happy new year to all, though it may be a bit late. Since it's a new year I decided it was time for a change. However the bad weather was a bit of a downer and so I needed some inspiration to get out and do something big...build something big(ish)...
It was a lazy Sunday that it all kicked off. There I was quite happily staring mindlessly into the videos on pinkbike when I stumbled upon something, Sam Pilgrim's step up video. As many of you will of seen it as VOD its not only an awesome video but one that made me decide to go and get the spade out and dig.Inspiration:
Let me bring you up to speed, having been building jumps for a while I had an idea of what I wanted but not 100% sure on how I was going to achieve it. I had a spot that myself and a few friends had been building on, but seeing as it had become well known the jumps we had required constant repair to keep them smooth, as sometimes we even had them destroyed by people who did not like them, from chavs to simple dog walkers. As you can see from the pictures each time they were taken down we rebuild bigger.
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Although they are not the biggest, or best built trails they were great to ride in the summer. However due to the disrespecting locals they became once again too beaten to ride and the constant effort required even to keep a simple 4 pack riding smooth was too much. Thus bringing up to the winter months and myself seeing Sam's video. So off I went to the trails with the idea of one big step up to get the bigger tricks out on in the new decade.
I decided the best way, seeing as we have only limited space and a run up on flat ground, was to build onto the second jump in the line. This meant moving all the dirt from the first and third jump onto the landing of the second, this was a big task by shovel and barrow one manned, although help from one other person when he could was a great help. Anyway enough with the talking here are some progress shots.
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Myself being impatient as most normal people decided to go ahead and give it a go after putting in the 2ft deep by about 7-8feet long bowl with a long low pump into it, this didn't end quite as I had hoped, resulting in my halfway down the back of the landing. I understand that with it being wet it will not ride as well as if I had left it a few weeks to dry out and pack down. Now I decided that I would take down the landing and move it about 2feet closer allowing for less energy on the flat run up, and also for me to be able to make it steeper for more air time.
Here is a short time laps video.
And so far here is the finished product (sorry for the bad quality pictures!). Now for some cosmetic fixes and smoothing!
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Of course not the scale of Mr Pilgrim's jump, but I didn't have the space or man power. Many thanks for the inspiration though Sam!
It was a lazy Sunday that it all kicked off. There I was quite happily staring mindlessly into the videos on pinkbike when I stumbled upon something, Sam Pilgrim's step up video. As many of you will of seen it as VOD its not only an awesome video but one that made me decide to go and get the spade out and dig.
Let me bring you up to speed, having been building jumps for a while I had an idea of what I wanted but not 100% sure on how I was going to achieve it. I had a spot that myself and a few friends had been building on, but seeing as it had become well known the jumps we had required constant repair to keep them smooth, as sometimes we even had them destroyed by people who did not like them, from chavs to simple dog walkers. As you can see from the pictures each time they were taken down we rebuild bigger.
Then into a 4 pack
Although they are not the biggest, or best built trails they were great to ride in the summer. However due to the disrespecting locals they became once again too beaten to ride and the constant effort required even to keep a simple 4 pack riding smooth was too much. Thus bringing up to the winter months and myself seeing Sam's video. So off I went to the trails with the idea of one big step up to get the bigger tricks out on in the new decade.
I decided the best way, seeing as we have only limited space and a run up on flat ground, was to build onto the second jump in the line. This meant moving all the dirt from the first and third jump onto the landing of the second, this was a big task by shovel and barrow one manned, although help from one other person when he could was a great help. Anyway enough with the talking here are some progress shots.
Myself being impatient as most normal people decided to go ahead and give it a go after putting in the 2ft deep by about 7-8feet long bowl with a long low pump into it, this didn't end quite as I had hoped, resulting in my halfway down the back of the landing. I understand that with it being wet it will not ride as well as if I had left it a few weeks to dry out and pack down. Now I decided that I would take down the landing and move it about 2feet closer allowing for less energy on the flat run up, and also for me to be able to make it steeper for more air time.
And so far here is the finished product (sorry for the bad quality pictures!). Now for some cosmetic fixes and smoothing!
Of course not the scale of Mr Pilgrim's jump, but I didn't have the space or man power. Many thanks for the inspiration though Sam!
Author Info:
Cheshire, United Kingdom
Must Read This Week
And here is a tail whip, both learnt within a few days of the step up being complete.