Cambridge has been identified as the ideal community for a new dirt jump track.
Enthusiasts Jude Eades and Paul Langlands made the pitch for the town at the Cambridge Community Board meeting yesterday.
Dirt jumps are a series of jumps in various lines or runs. A rider jumps off mounds of dirt, usually performing a track in between jumps. They are designed as a playground for all bikes.
The jumps are made in various sizes and technicality to challenge the rider.
Eades and Langlands asked the board to consider asking Waipā District Council to donate a piece of land 5000 square metres or larger with a slight gradient and reasonably sheltered.
They identified four possible options – Behind Carters Flat, Riverside Park, Gil Lumb Park and Cook St Reserve.
Riders would maintain the facility but would need access to water, parking and toilets.
Before Covid-10 the Gorge Road Jump Park in Queenstown, with 40 dirt jumps, attracted dirt jump enthusiasts from around the world. The Queenstown Mountain Bike Club created and maintains the track.
The jump park has been described as “a work of art, a labour of love, and a training ground for some of the world’s best athletes.” Free style mountain biker Matt Jones called them the best dirt jumps in the world.
Cycling interest in Cambridge is already high and BMX action from the Olympic Games in Japan has seen it intensify.
“The skill acquisition and strong links to dirt jumping and associated tricks are learnt, developed and progressed at a dirt jump park,” Eades and Langlands told the community board.
