The Philly Pumptrack is a bicycle

pump track A pump track is a circuit of rollers, banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders "pumping"—generating momentum by up and down body movements, instead of pedaling or pushing. It was originally designed for the mountain bi ...

within

Fairmount Park Fairmount Park is the largest municipal park in Philadelphia and the historic name for a group of parks located throughout the city. Fairmount Park consists of two park sections named East Park and West Park, divided by the Schuylkill River, with ...

, in the Parkside neighborhood of

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

. The pump track has separate beginner and expert sections. Philly Pumptrack expert and container

History

The Philly Pumptrack was created by Philadelphia cyclists Kenn Rymdeko, Heidi Grunwald, and Harlan Price. Planning began when Rymdeko, who is now the project manager, was the president of the Philadelphia Mountain Bike Association. The designer was Jim Dellavalle of Dellavalle Designs, whose previous work includes the Havemeyer Bike Park in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. It opened on 10 May 2014. It was built with the help of the

Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia (BCGP) is a nonprofit cycling advocacy, advocacy group that has been working to improve conditions for bicyclists in the Delaware Valley, Greater Philadelphia region through advocacy and education since ...

and the Department of Parks and Recreation of the

City of Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, which continues to assist in its operation. The pump track was among the beneficiaries of an event that

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

took part in during his 2015 visit to Philadelphia.

Events

The Philly Pumptrack hosts events, including bike rodeos; bike swap meets; and races, such as the 2015 Poker Run, a fundraiser.

Gallery

File:Philly Pumptrack from Parkside.jpg, view from Parkside Avenue File:Philly Pumptrack beginner.jpg, beginner track File:Philly Pumptrack expert.jpg, expert track File:Philly Pumptrack tracks and trailer.jpg, a shipping container and the gravel path leading to it separate the beginner track (foreground) from the expert section (background)

References

External links

* * {{facebook, PhillyPumptrack
Philly Pumptrack at Dellavalle Designs
Sports venues in Philadelphia West Fairmount Park 2014 establishments in Pennsylvania