And so it begins, my blank canvass to paint, mold, er, something.....

Haven't been around these parts in a while. Life has just kind of gotten in the way. Well, that and living in the mountain biking non-mecca. Back in August last year we moved into a larger spread and I've finally had a chance to bring the riding home, so to speak. This is my evolving thread of trying to figure out just what to do with my back acre or so. I have some sort of pump track/trails combo in mind, but who knows. I just know I've got a LOT of work to do, but at least I have a tractor at my disposal and I've finally gotten started....

And yes, these three rascals can also explain my lack of skiiing/riding the last few years.

http://cmoney.smugmug.com/Other/Misc..._103418-X2.jpg

Oh, and the weeds will be gone by Saturday. A guy is coming over to disc the whole area, then I'll get a tractor and scrape it nice and flat, getting lots of dirt to play with in the process.

Sick! That's exciting. Lots of potential there.

Color me jealous... if I lived in your area I'd be happy to help. My dream is to one day own 30-40 acres with my own pump track, skills course, and longer XC trail.

Depending on how much time and money you want to spend, I'd go with a pump track for the kids and a little skills course with bridges, drops, and some rock features. Nice!

Edit: Not sure how much experience you have building features, trails, etc, but this MTBR forum probably has some useful information:

http://forums.mtbr.com/trail-building-advocacy/

picnic table/BBQ in the middle to hang out at. Pump track around that. Skills/skinnies around the pump track. Jump line around the outside of it all. Epic backyard.

Some shade somewhere is always nice.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rideit

Some shade somewhere is always nice.

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Yeah - make sure you build big enough jumps so that they provide some shade.

Children make great jumps and log drops and stuff like that. Depending on how and how often you ride, you may have to replace them every summer or so, though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

Children make great jumps and log drops and stuff like that. Depending on how and how often you ride, you may have to replace them every summer or so, though.

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Heh, depending on the day, my wife just might endorse this idea.

At the moment, no plans for any skinnies or anything such, just dirt features. As for shade, I want to plant 50-75 or so eucalyptus trees and water the crap out of them so they grow fast. Should be nice and tall within a few years. Yeah, it tends to get warm here in the summer so shade would be nice.

most eucalyptus trees don't provide good shade - they turn their leaves so the thin part faces the sun. Some adaptation that came from surviving Australian droughts. Do you know they are also renowned for dropping branches randomly once they get bigger? The insides of the boughs rot out.

Sweet looking project dood. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smmokan

Color me jealous... if I lived in your area I'd be happy to help. My dream is to one day own 30-40 acres with my own pump track, skills course, and longer XC trail.

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same here. pretty stoked for you. it's going to be a fun project.

wifey and i just started talking about scoping out some land and building a place. i told her i'd like to do this and she laughed saying go for it. grab a shovel mokan. beer's on me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jamesp

most eucalyptus trees don't provide good shade - they turn their leaves so the thin part faces the sun. Some adaptation that came from surviving Australian droughts. Do you know they are also renowned for dropping branches randomly once they get bigger? The insides of the boughs rot out.

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They also explode horrifically and contribute to spreading fire, or at least that's the old wives tale. Not that it looks like this is a location that is likely to burn.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smslavin

same here. pretty stoked for you. it's going to be a fun project.

wifey and i just started talking about scoping out some land and building a place. i told her i'd like to do this and she laughed saying go for it. grab a shovel mokan. beer's on me.

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Oh, I'm game. As long as you return the favor in a few years. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sirshredalot

They also explode horrifically and contribute to spreading fire, or at least that's the old wives tale. Not that it looks like this is a location that is likely to burn.

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Lots of natural oils yes, but any old pine tree will also explode in flames in a hot enough fire...

looks like farmer neighbours, they're going to have a little conniption when the OP turns his field into a treed covered bike park :yourock:

i whole heartidly endorse this thread and can't wait to see where it goes. I would suggest maybe building some non-dirt features to reduce the amount of maintenance it needs.

When I moved my yard got 30% smaller, but i moved closer to biking. This back yard will build rippers out of your wee ones. My little guys love the local jumps, they would blow a fuse (in a good way) if I built something like this in the back yard, then my wife would blow a fuse (in a bad way).

Get dirty!

I've been wanting to do something with my yard...
We've got a nice canvas to work with as well.


https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...85195102_o.jpg
everything past the fence to the trees near the powerline is in play.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sirshredalot

They also explode horrifically and contribute to spreading fire, or at least that's the old wives tale. Not that it looks like this is a location that is likely to burn.

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They are also very shallow rooted, and tip over very easily.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by grskier

I've been wanting to do something with my yard...
We've got a nice canvas to work with as well.


https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...85195102_o.jpg
everything past the fence to the trees near the powerline is in play.

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Your views are better than mine.

As for neighbors, I doubt any will care. Backyards in this subdivision range anywhere from fruit trees to junk yard to manicured landscaping to weeds.

How to make flat work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZh-zO1trBM

This place is pretty legit.

I'll tell you the story behind '8 mile' some time :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CS

Your views are better than mine.

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Yeah but you can ride every month of the year. That's going to be the coolest yard ever CS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Particle

Yeah but you can ride every month of the year. That's going to be the coolest yard ever CS.

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^^this


I have a pretty short season. Stoked to see what you're going to come up with. I have some neighbors with a ridiculous setup.
Flow trail, bridges, pump track, and dirt jumps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CS

Backyards in this subdivision range anywhere from fruit trees to junk yard to manicured landscaping to weeds.

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Oooooo, good call, definitely grow some weed, that'll make all the small flowy features a lot of fun.

CS, where are you again? I forgot.

I am in Fresno, Ca. Well, more specifically, Clovis, but, yeah, smack dab in Central California.

Aha.
Dang, build Kidwoo a little torture dungeon, and let him just live there....

Plus, the kids are like mini-8 miles. Just work "wet down the jumps" as part of the chores and make them dig when they do something bad.

The going is slow. Tax season and 12-14 hour work days seem to get in the way. But, the weeds are gone (for the most part), another roller has been formed and another roughed in and a big berm has been roughed in. We really need some rain. I was scraping the yard just last night and it is all bone dry. No bueno.

http://cmoney.smugmug.com/Other/Back..._073140-XL.jpg

http://cmoney.smugmug.com/Other/Back..._073215-X2.jpg

There's GOTTA be a place in your neck of the woods that rents skid steers or a mini-ex.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kidwoo

There's GOTTA be a place in your neck of the woods that rents skid steers or a mini-ex.

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You don't think the pink kiddee shovel is gonna cut it? :biggrin:

Sick.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kidwoo

There's GOTTA be a place in your neck of the woods that rents skid steers or a mini-ex.

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Oh, there is. I just don't have the time to justify the cost. As of now, I just use my dad's small tractor with a front loader. It works, especially the scraper on the back, but I can definitely see the benefit of a skid-steer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CS

Oh, there is. I just don't have the time to justify the cost. As of now, I just use my dad's small tractor with a front loader. It works, especially the scraper on the back, but I can definitely see the benefit of a skid-steer.

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Save it for when the big line goes in then.

I'll come down and kick in some bucks. :)

Might be able to talk the z-man into coming up there and getting some quick work done. I still haven't seen anyone pile things up as quickly as he can with good skid steer. It's nuts.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kidwoo

Save it for when the big line goes in then.

I'll come down and kick in some bucks. :)

Might be able to talk the z-man into coming up there and getting some quick work done. I still haven't seen anyone pile things up as quickly as he can with good skid steer. It's nuts.

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I appreciate the offer! For sure I'd love your building expertise and ideas, but no way in hell would I accept you chipping in to rent a skid steer. In reality, the big line is probably a year out. For now the idea is the pump, but a progressive type pump with jump options that gradually get larger. I basically want to make it so people of all skill levels want to ride it, but still have some fun options for me. At least, that's the idea. Some rain and 50 or so loads of dirt would certainly help the situation.

The dig thread got me reminiscing about this thread that I created years ago, and I was out this morning digging on the pump track so.......

Figured I would resurrect this thread for what has become an......checks calendar......almost 12 year labor of love....

It took a bit over a year to connect the full loop, and though it has gone through some periods of neglect, the backyard pump track is still riding great and better than ever. I am constantly tweaking and trying new ideas and have added on and changed a bit from the original loop.

On that note.....beginning where I last left off.....one year's worth of digging to connect the loop:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._174640-X2.jpg


Start hill added

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._171925-X2.jpg


Return berm

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._145705-X2.jpg

Rollers after the berm

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._174431-X2.jpg


Cleaned up the berm proper

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._123654-X2.jpg


It sat like this for a while:

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._094230-X4.jpg


Until I got motivated and roughed in everything to close up the loop

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._153859-X4.jpg


Cleaned up and she goes!

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._185319-X4.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._124846-X2.jpg

Are pics working? I can see them, just wondering if anyone else can.

sick

<p>
Fast forward a hot summer and in the fall I got some dirt delivered after I ran across a neighbor who could get me some.</p>
<p>
All it cost me was a chord of firewood.</p>
<p>
With said fresh dirt I figured why not add some double to the mix:</p>
<p>
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac...8.41.33-X3.jpg</p>
<p>
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._091018-X3.jpg</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
The basic procedure of the jumps, like the pump track, was stack up dirt using my dad&#39;s tractor, then fine tune it all with a shovel.</p>
<p>
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._144816-X3.jpg</p>
<p>
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._152433-X3.jpg</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Sometimes the kids helped</p>
<p>
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._162135-X2.jpg</p>
<p>
&nbsp;</p>
<p>
Or heckled</p>
<p>
https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Bac..._121457-X2.jpg</p>