When news of the Geer Bike Park in Salem, Oregon hit our radar, it piqued our interest. To the best of my knowledge, the new park features the first paved pump track in the state of Oregon. With the amount of precipitation we receive throughout the year, a paved pump track has a strong appeal.
Located at Geer Community Park, the bike park began construction in fall of 2016. The asphalt track began first for year-round rideability. The dirt jump lines followed after, and the park officially opened this spring.
This weekend we finally took the time to detour off the I-5 and check it out.
Constructed by PumpTrax USA, the pump track is divided into two separate tracks. A smaller (also paved) track is designated as a track for kids. Like many kids tracks, it doesn’t flow anywhere nearly as well as the main pump track. In addition, the banked turns aren’t steep enough to carry much in terms of momentum.
On the upside, it presents parents with an area with less traffic as it isn’t used much, and presents lower risk of rider collisions.
That’s fine with us as we’d prefer to open it up on the larger track anyway. It was neat to experience a paved track that isn’t going to require much in the way of maintenance.
Rollers and features on the track are spaced out quite a bit which make high speed travel easy, provided you push hard enough to reach it.
The track would be best on a smooth tread, pavement specific tire. My dirt jump treads rolled slower than I’d prefer. I still managed to carry enough momentum to start exploring some of the transfer lines though.
With roller spacing being how it is, I think if I come back for another session I’d swap out my pedals for clip in models and gear my bike higher so that I could try airing more of the rollers and double them up.
I also spent some time on the two dirt lines. Much of it felt a bit beat up so I spent more time on the asphalt. I get to ride dirt all the time anyway, and we came to check out what a paved pump track would have to offer.
The bike park project started in 2012 with a number of design workshops. This was developed into a concept map before a suitable site was located.
Learn more at www.salemtrails.org/bike-park
Find it: Geer Community Park, Salem, OR
Special thanks to Inga Beck for assisting with photos.