Monkey Soup
Angry Wanker
There are jumps everywhere, they’re governed by Fight Club rules, as they should.
Why can't we have jumps?
- Thread starter A Potted Plant
- Start date
This.
Not so long ago one of our local favorites (don’t feel like naming it but you probably know) threw a legit 12’ or so gap jump on the new trail they were cutting. It lasted maybe a month before some kid, that probably shouldn’t have been trying it in the first place, came up short and blew up his wrists. In comes Karen.
It was a brand new trail in a popular park and the very first feature was a massive gap jump.... not exactly subtle (it was pretty damn awesome tho). Sketchy hits need to be out of direct view of the masses.
I was once told by a Jorba lead that they can’t build anything artificial, ie using cut lumber, but they could technically build all the table tops they want because they are just big piles of dirt with a lip.
I think pump tracks are a great opportunity, especially when you have people like Dave King building them to make a living. Can cater to multiple skill levels, which is something that is really hard to do with jump lines where you need a lot of room to build different size lines. And if you make the paved ones, maintenance goes WAY down. However I am concerned about paved pump tracks being mis-built. Like we have all seen skateparks that are junk. Just think if the first version of the HB flow trails was paved, it would have been a failure.
There is an art to picking a location.
The cool thing is the town is bought-in to the idea of being a destination for cyclists being the end of the Columbia Trail.
The initial parts of Nassau System were successful, an expansion was pitched, improvements, connections -
little pump track, flow trails. All with the blessing of the town (due to solid individual efforts)
It was all very cool, and in government glacial time frames, they are the exception. I think they started digging in 2013 (???)
@Jeffreywoliver - is there a documented history? The High Bridge website seems to be unmaintained
those are grade reversals for water management. Sometimes there is more water to deal with than others.
Sounds legit
This was still in progress last time I was there.... it’s good now?
A Potted Plant
Honorary Sod
Change the name to flight club
I mean I jump it but I wouldn't say it's safe 🤣
Cassinonorth
Well-Known Member
The stuff in the PNW is absolutely bonkers. I believe a bunch of it is on private land though that I watch.
Nothing there is safe lol. This was just a rough pile of logs last time I saw it. Looks fun now.
In for table top building.
I was going to post about Stowe and the table tops & berms. Solid bunch of work there and no wood structures. You have some trails (like Flo) that my expert-level stepson and novice daughter can both ride and have a blast. Actually you could say the same for some trails at Killington. Turn every gap into a tabletop and you can easily please all the crowd. But testosterone usually demands gaps, which breaks people, which closes things up.
I was going to post about Stowe and the table tops & berms. Solid bunch of work there and no wood structures. You have some trails (like Flo) that my expert-level stepson and novice daughter can both ride and have a blast. Actually you could say the same for some trails at Killington. Turn every gap into a tabletop and you can easily please all the crowd. But testosterone usually demands gaps, which breaks people, which closes things up.
Aren’t pretty much all the jumps at creek tabletops?
when you build jumps by hand, a table top is much more work, it really has nothing to do with testosterone. When you start getting beyond an 8’ distance between just and landing. A tabletop just doesn’t make sense.
Doubles are totally mental and something I still struggle with. I’ve hit some massive tables... but I can’t shake the idea of nosing short on a double. I’m getting better with it tho... it’s literally the same as hitting a big table just don’t think about gap.
A Potted Plant
Honorary Sod
So where we putting tables?
But the premise of this thread suggested legal jumps - not off-radar shovel smacking. I'm looking at this from a legal perspective which is why the stuff that does get built legally doesn't have a massive gap of doom in it. Like I said to you in text, bring in the machines. Like I also said, small chance of this in NJ.
In reality you don't need to fill the gap with dirt. Fill it with rocks. Styrofoam peanuts. Or just peanuts. The problem with gaps is that you have to be on-point every time. Table tops give you much more room for being human.
Don't get me wrong, gaps have their place. But as was alluded to earlier in this thread, putting a 12' gap in the main line of a park is...let's say questionable.
Your back yard
don
Well-Known Member
That Flo line is an amazing line and I'd kill for one here in NJ. When I was up there last summer I rode it at least a half dozen times in one trip and saw so many levels of riders. What stood out to me were the number of kids and ladies running it and having a blast. Like you said multi-level. The table tops on that line aren't super great and probably due to the amount of riders on it. I felt the tables right at the end were a little "dudy" where you are warmed up and want something twice the size. Maybe a second bigger line at the very end/bottom could be done.
The more fun stuff seemed to be the jumpable roller sections and of course the berms.
IMO/IME this always depends on what time of year you hit stuff like this. You get a little rain on a Thu/Fri right before a gorgeous weekend and by Monday shit is burned up. Sort of like hitting KT after that festival they have every year.
But I'm guessing. We were there Labor Day and everything seemed pretty crisp. Looked to me like they had put in some work at the end of the summer for sure. But I am a hack so take this for what it's worth.
don
Well-Known Member
All the "sets" at Wheelmill and Ray's are tables too. Tables are great they just have to be built well.
For a public setup I would say table top all day long. Nevermind what Norm said about liability but if built "thick" the amount of maintenence should go down a lot as backsides and sides won't be crumbling after every winter season. And going back to Norm's liability a table should look a lot more tame to park managers.
With machines and material up to a 20' table isn't bad at all - they just have to be made correctly.
I also have seen hybrid where the setup looks like a snowboard jump. Big swell for the landing and a stand alone lip (usually made out of wood).