Pump Track opens in Battenhall Park

The first pump track in Worcester City is finally open! Worcester City Council opened the new track in Battenhall Park on Friday 1st November and it is an instant hit with hundreds of visitors in the first weekend. 

The first pump track riders

The pump track, designed to offer a safe and fun environment for riding bikes, scooters, skates and skateboards, has been eagerly awaited by local residents. Bike Worcester campaigned for the pump track’s development in Battenhall Park and we’re delighted that it’s built: the benefits are numerous and immeasurable and we’re hopeful that as a community asset it will encourage more people—especially children and young people—to get outdoors, get active, and embrace cycling.

Gary Vallance, Bike Worcester’s pump track expert, has this to say about tracks:

Pump tracks are cool. 

Considering they’re just a line of asphalt lumps and curved into a wobbly loop, it’s surprising how cool they are.

Pump tracks are cool because so many kids can use them: preschooler on balance bikes and pushalongs, middle-schoolers on pedal bikes or scooters, high-schoolers on MTBs or BMXs, and any person of any age that can self-propel themself on most kinds of bike, scooter or skatey thing. Just being outside, doing something physical and fun is immediately cooler than another hour in front of another screen, but doing it in the company of other people, from other schools, areas, generations or cultural heritage is ice cold.

Pump tracks are also cool because they’re difficult. No one has ever “completed” pump tracks. Riding one for the first time takes a bit of nerve. The techniques needed to improve can seem hard to grasp, and there are many levels to unlock. Repeated efforts to “normalise” the roller-coaster sensations of positive and negative G-forces can be so physically tiring that distinguishing between symptoms of a dopamine overdose, inner-ear imbalance, and basic oxygen debt occasionally becomes impossible. 

First timers might only make it along a little bit of a friendly straight. Developing riders might focus on completing a lap with a minimum number of pedal turns. Advanced riders might be angling for more speed, chance to jump from peak to peak, or just trying really hard to look relaxed.

The fears, the thrills, the challenges are felt by all riders. So  all riders share a level of respect, even those who have just met. Simply showing up at a pumptrack ready to ride is a badge of membership, and friends are made in the space of a few laps.

Rosa, 7, on the new pump track

Rosa (7) had an amazing time trying out the pump track for the first time

“It was really epic but a bit busy”

Bike Worcester are SO excited about the pump track opening, we even recorded a new podcast, which you can listen to here:

The pump track is located in Battenhall Park, with excellent cycling links from County Hall, Diglis and St Peter’s. The best place to park is Tesco in St Peter’s - the track is a 5 minute ride from the main car park. 

 

There is work underway to explore sites for additional Pump Tracks in the city, including in St John’s and Dines Green, and Perdiswell.

Kudos and special thanks to the C&K for their amazing work!