Monday, April 9, 2012

Pumping for fun and health

After about 20 minutes drive and passing by two toll houses and 3.90 cent poorer we reach the road leading into Putrajaya. A beautiful city but looks deserted greets and welcome us with open arms or so I thought. The roads are clean and void of traffic. The greeneries and landscape seem to be out of this world, what a beautiful place to spend ones freetime. A short while later we see a building with many cars with roofrack parked in the parking bays and overflowed into a grassy field nearby. The building is situated at the foot of a small hill which used to be a rubber plantation many moons ago. The location is at the far end of the city bordering Dengkil. It is my new playground.
The complex is of world class not too surprising because it was designed by an overseas consultant (for local people?)and built at great cost. There is a skate park/BMX,dirt jumps, downhill track, pump track and of course a network of single track trails, all within the complex very nice indeed.
I have ridden the mtb trails a couple of times and it was very entertaining to ride which equals big fun but what really attracts me is the pump track. In my entire cycling tenure I have never ridden a professionally purpose built pump track and what a relief to eventually ride one before its too late for my aging body. It flows very well and I want to see more riders utilize the track because it is the base for building up overall skill for the trails and also will be a good starting point for young children.
The whole idea of riding a pump track is to ride without pedalling,all you need is your body movement to keep going hence is suitable for all ages on all types of bikes. For the experts it can become a mini BMX track with jumps and berms.
It is a good idea if pump tracks can be built on public playing fields as an added feature. It will trigger a whole new interest in the healty sport of cycling in general and maybe create one or two international champions.
Im hooked again

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