Rockburn Park Pump Track Repair & Reopening

Please come out to the track on Friday, March 23rd at 4:30pm to repair the surface of the track so we can all get rolling again!  Please bring a flat shovel, bucket or wheel barrel if you have one.  Once the repairs are done, the track will reopen.  We need about 20 folks to knock this out in an evening, please RSVP if you are a yes by sending an email to volunteer@rockburnskillspark.org.  Bring beverages and a snack, MORE will be ordering pizza.  This is a family focused venue so please bring the kids and we can all get to work.

This past October 2nd was an exciting day for Rockburn Park and biking community when the non-profit organization MORE celebrated the completion of the Rockburn Skills Park Pump Track, a “first of its kind on the East Coast” community project that provides a state of the art mountain bike park facility right in the backyard of Elkridge and nearby residents. The first phase, the pump track, was completed in October and saw hundreds of users visit during the fall season.  On any given day you could find kids on tricycles, adults on specialty bikes, teanagers on anything they could ride, mountain bike race teams from West Virginia and Delaware, even cops-on-bike using it for training.  The turnout has been phenomenal.  Sundays see many families enjoying a lunch on the picnic table while taking turns riding the track.  The 4900 sq ft plot of carefully engineered and manicured dirt consists of banked turns and rolling bumps formed so that riders can propel themselves using only their bodies, pumping with their legs instead of pedaling.  Check out the website for videos of the pump track in action atwww.RockburnSkillsPark.org. 

This project has already been recognized by several organizations for its ambitious nature and success with the community, including IMBA, Clif Bar, REI, and more. It is a $60,000 endeavor that is 100% underwritten by private donors, community support, and grants. So far it has garnered over 500 volunteer man-hours.  Since the website went live in August, it has had over 10 thousand visitors to the site.  It is definitely a park worth checking out and supporting.  Fundraising continues as MORE prepares to build the additional five trails in April to create the entire Rockburn Skills Park.

MORE is raising the 60K in funds, building the facility, and donating it back the park so that everyone can use it forever...and for FREE!!  How awesome is that?!?

In late December, Mother Nature is said that the time had arrived to close the pump track for a couple months.  As anticipated, the freeze and thaw cycle had started to pull moisture from the water trapped under the pump track. This can create a sliding mess on the track surface which could lead to a lot of damage. IMBA strongly suggested we close the track for the winter season.

It will be re-opening next week after volunteers spend the day putting in place a new top layer on the track, adjusting some of the flow lines, and fine tuning the work from the fall build.  This resurfacing project is unique to the first year.  This summer will be the time when the track gets the full summer to cure or bake in the sun to be an even better surface! 

Fundraising continues to focus on raising the remaining 20K to build the five additional trails that will make up the Rockburn Skills Park.  Please considering buying a raffle ticket and coming to the April 15th picnic. Visit http://www.rockburnskillspark.org/Family_Picnic_BBQ.html

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To find out when the track is closed due to rain, Howard County Recs and Parks has placed a message on the field status hotline (410) 313-4455.