By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The tiny community of Rudolph will soon be home to the longest pump track in the world, according to Don DiBartolomeo, who has helped the Wood County Park District create 1,783 lineal feet of rolling hills and banked curves.
Though it’s not quite completed, bicyclists have not been able to resist the twists and turns of the new bike park in Rudolph.
“They’ve been out there every day using it,” said DiBartolomeo, head of the non-profit Right Direction Youth Development Program.
The Rudolph Bike Park is adjacent to the 13.1-mile Slippery Elm Trail that runs between Bowling Green and North Baltimore. With an average of 275 users per day, the trail is one of the park district’s most utilized amenities.
The new bike park, designed by PumpTrax USA, is intended to attract new, younger patrons.
“It’s pretty cool,” said Wood County Park District Director Neil Munger. “This is going to be the longest continuous loop in the country.”
The total cost of the park district project at this point is $187,000, which includes the bike park construction, parking lot construction and site stormwater drainage. Next year, the park district plans to add a shelterhouse to the site, at an estimated cost of $25,000, Munger said.
The bike park is designed for multiple skill levels, so it can be used by beginners to advanced mountain bikers. Once open, the Rudolph Bike Park will be free and open to the public daily from 8 a.m. until 30 minutes past sunset. Use of bike helmets will be strongly recommended.
“This was one of the areas pointed out as a need in our community,” Munger said of the bike park. “It’s reaching out to a different segment of the population than we have before. It’s definitely filling a niche.”
Unlike regular bicyclers, who propel themselves by pedaling, pump bicyclers generate momentum by pumping with up and down body movements. To view a biker using the Rudolph park, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/don.dibartolomeo/videos/3298053776978998/
In a 2018 public survey with more than 2,000 Wood County respondents, 43.48% of people requested more bike trails and increased access, with 55% of those respondents requesting non-traditional biking opportunities.
When presenting a proposal for the bike park last year, Wood County Park District naturalist Craig Spicer explained the bike park would help the district attract teens and young adults. A survey conducted earlier in the year showed only 6 percent of the county park users were college student age.
All parks suffer from the same difficulty luring teens and young adults, Spicer said.
“They are one of the most finicky audiences,” he said.
According to Spicer, off-road and sport biking are growing in popularity.
“This is a good opportunity to ride that wave,” he said.
DiBartolomeo, who for more than a decade has operated the non-profit youth support program Right Direction, will be offering free programming at the bike park.
Traditional team sports don’t meet the needs of all youths, DiBartolomeo said. Extreme sports like pump track biking acts as a catalyst to building youth talent in sports as well as teaching life skills for the future, he said.
With some sporting options shut down due to COVID, the pump track will provide an opportunity for ages 2 to 80 to burn off energy and learn new skills, he said.
“Bike sales are through the roof,” DiBartolomeo said. “This is a huge outlet. One of the nice things about this track is that once they are comfortable in this setting they can do mountain biking.”
The Rudolph Bike Park is already attracting national attention, with interest coming in from pump bikers from as far away as Texas and Florida, according to DiBartolomeo.
“This will be a world class area to do camps and clinics,” he said.
