Successful Saturday Dig

A big effort by all the participants on Saturday saw almost 3/4 of the track completed. Heavy duty work unassisted by fossil fuel and limited tools was well worth it as another berm, double and two rollers were roughed in.

All eyes on the track as 170 spectators looked on

KPT Attracts hundreds to a half built track - wait for a competition day!

KPT Diggers & Riders

Riders Build the Dream Triple

KPT riders built a massive triple roller which will prove to be an interesting feature! Stay tuned to see if anyone will make it to the top and down again!

Installing the Drainage

The riding of quite possibly the nicest berm in Honiara was disrupted by very large tropical rains (as was expected). The drainage onsite is a complex task as there is a rather large hollow at the base of the site. The main berm filled up very quickly. The regular local pikininis were quite excited at the prospect of their own swimming hole in the middle of the pump track. Although the idea of having to ride the berm is somewhat appealing, the water had to go!

All we need is bread and ducks!

Mud - always good value

25m of perforated 100mm pipe graciously donated from Dalgro SI Ltd

French Drain - Solomon Style

The Solomon Drain Complete with rubbish plastic and rice bags in place of geotextile fabric to prevent silt deposition

Using a clinometer to approximate the drop in water levels will prove to be a mistake or a good idea. Perhaps the next big rain will test our engineering skills and eyesight as water never lies (no pun intended)!

Tree Ride?

Drivers & Style Check

Honiara City Council provided the loader for more soil shifting today. Peter operated the machinery with ease and made light work for the riders (probably saving about 3 weeks of wheelbarrowing!). He made the soil look like putty with the Big Yellow.  Thanks Peter!

George, a little suprised at Olsen's remark!

Peter, the master loader driver

Uncle Jimmy, SIPPA's Driver, watched a little bit of the action today. Jimmy Mani has been instrumental in the success of the project and has patiently transported tools, participants and vehicles for use to the KPT. Thankyou Jimmy!

Uncle Jimmy - SIPPAs Driver and master Kastom story teller

The double roller proved most exciting today. The following is a little style check.

Christabello aiming to keep the nose down

Harold HK, almost vertical

George F, the future of BMX in Honiara

Billy Junk with a nice x-up

Gino O, rocking the small diameter 16inch!

Final Design

After receiving some lessons in design, watching many pump track videos and discussing endless possible lines, the riders eventually agreed upon a final design. Wielding nothing but a pencil, ruler and protractor, Raji King set to work marking out the track and its measurements. The overall design utilises the full 20m x 20m area squeezing about 120m of track inside.

KPT On Pacific Beat, Radio Australia

This story by Dave Murray features Kukum Pump Track participants and most importantly the frequency of rubber and dirt in a frictional battle (the sound of a skid)!

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/pacbeat/stories/201101/s3122435.htm

Enjoy :)

KPT Sessions

Honiara has a strong flatland crew, mostly busting big tricks on flatground. These lads are riding cheap Chinese BMX's that contain at least one component that fails every time they ride. Despite this they still wear thongs and go hard!

The introduction of the third dimension to bike riding (up and down) has produced interesting results here at the Kukum Pump Track. With only one week of practice under their belts (on a reasonably good flowing section) these naturally highly skilled and balanced riders are finding plenty of challenges as they delve into the world of getting launched and pumping for speed!

The KPT now has about 40metres complete. 3 berms, 9 rollers and one small double. New lines are starting to develop as the riders start to gain new perspective in BMX riding. Some riders are already attempting to manual between rollers even though they have just started to ride Pump Tracks.

This following sequence is fantastic. Ashley gets a bit of a front wheel drift and turns it under only to roll into the path of Raji who narrowly avoids him by going high.

ASHLEY RAILS THIS BERM HARD

A LITTLE TOO HARD

RAJI PLAYS SAFE - RIDES HIGH

RAJI FINISHES THE AVOIDANCE MANOUVERE WITH STYLE

Design Work

The participants in the Kukum Pump Track program have been taught the basic prinicples behind Pump Tracks, shown some videos and had some explanations about the idea. From all this, they worked together as a group and came up with their own design.

RAJI KING DRAWS UP THE FINAL DESIGN

OSCAR WATESAO, SITE FOREMAN

The participants determine the correct radius through using a table of proportions drawn up to ensure berms and rollers match in their respective circumfereces so that the flow of the Pump Track is consistent with minimal hang ups.

PARTICIPANTS MEASURE OUT THE BERM RADIUS

Honiara City Council Provides The Goods

SIPPA has been working with Honiara City Council's Works Depot to get the Pump Track program underway. Council has provided engineers and metal fabricators for tool making, front end loaders, advice on soil types and a 5 ton tipper truck to transport soil from Dalgro (SI) Ltd to Kukum Pump Track. It has been fantastic to work with such a supportive Council!

OSCAR WATESAO AT THE HCC WORKS DEPOT

After a five minute conversation, the mechanics/engineers from Honiara City Council's Works Depot ingeniously came up with the design for two differently weighted hand compactors. Using 5mm and 3mm plate steel, braces were welded to round galvanised posts to be used for compacting the Pump Track.

HONIARA CITY COUNCIL WHIPPED UP THESE FRESH SOLID 5MM PLATE STEEL COMPACTORS

CLERRY GWALI TESTS OUT COMPACTOR

HCC brought the loader out to shift some soil around on site. The precision required was more than the loader was capable of but seeing as their bobcat is in need of repairs, its the next best thing! A bucket full was loaded on top of the rollers and valleys. These were previously hand dug into the ground. This has raised the height of the track to around 10cm above ground level which hopefully will reduce water pooling in the valleys.

HCC SHIFTS SOME SOIL TO RAISE THE HAND DUG TRACK

Following the soil dump, about 20 boys worked hard to remove big rocks, shovelled ground to get the levels correct and smoothed it all out with rakes. The compactors came out and the 'Kukum Pump Track gym' opened its bicep enhancement program - pumping iron. Weighing in at around 7kgs each, these compactors are heavy but rewarding work!

THE CREW RAISING THE TRACK ABOVE GROUND LEVEL

#3 Berm Completed

Honiara City Council has delivered approximately 100cubic metres of soil. With about 16cubic metres per berm, there is a lot of work to do with cutting and shaping. Thursday 17th March saw the completion of the third berm.  40m of the 120m is now complete. The track is rolling nicely!