Members of PumpTrax USA joined Kevin Krulik, Lebanon City Engineer, at the proposed Stone Eater Bike Park in October to explore the upcoming project slated for completion in August 2024.
The Stone Eater Bike Park has been a long-awaited addition to the Lebanon community and will be constructed over the former city landfill. The park will feature various trails for cyclists to utilize, including skills trails intended to push cyclists to their limits with opportunities to practice for the National Interscholastic Cycling Association program, known as NICA, that has recently begun to develop in Indiana.
Krulik stated that the bidding process for the construction and design of the bike park was successful with three bids being received, but the city decided to award the bid to PumpTrax USA due to its pricing and experience with BMX and cycling parks.
“We had a really good turnout on the bidding process,” Krulik said. “We had three really qualified companies that bid on the project. Happy to report that the lowest bidder, and what we consider the most responsive and responsible bidder is PumpTrax USA.”
Krulik continued to state that PumpTrax USA boasts an outstanding resume for designs of BMX courses, and he believes that the company’s expertise will help bring the vision for Stone Eater Bike Park to fruition.
“We’re excited to work with them, and this group has been a group that is really involved with cycling sports at the highest level, and when I say that, I mean the highest level,” Krulik said. “They built the BMX courses at the Olympics.”
Tom Ritz, founder of Tom Ritz Designs, the parent company of PumpTrax USA, commented that designing bike parks and trails provides the team with a new adventure with every iteration, and his team has begun to envision the layout of the new park that will revolve around ideas that make Lebanon a one-of-a-kind place to live and visit.
“Every trail, every pump track, every BMX track, when we build, they’re not the same,” Ritz said. “We want to bring a special thing to Lebanon here (and) find out a little bit of history, maybe tie in some of the history with some of the trail designs, maybe some of the feature designs and stuff like that. It’s always fun to do.”
Ritz stated that the location of the proposed Stone Eater Bike Park provides the team with several restrictions due to the laws and policies surrounding the use of a former landfill, but he continued to comment that the wooded areas surrounding the designated landfill zone would allow for the team to flex its creativity and create elaborate skills trails.
“The lay of the land is key,” Ritz said. “Being on a landfill, you got a lot of restrictions. You can only go six inches down a certain amount of years, stuff like that. Once you get off of that, like what you see behind us, is good terrain to let our minds go free.”
Jason Schiefelbein, PumpTrax USA co-founder, highlighted the team’s focus on providing the community with a design that can be accessed by people of all ages and skill levels rather than designing a park specifically built to cater toward those interested solely in the BMX sport.
“The big thing that we always hear with every city that we speak with is, ‘we want a progression,’”
Schiefelbein said. “You want to bring your 5-year-olds here that can learn the basics, then your 10-year-olds who are maybe getting a little crazy, maybe going beyond their limits, but then they learn those limits, up to people my age–all skill level, all different types of trails, easy to more advanced.”
Schiefelbein highlighted the participation of John Leitzel, Indiana NICA League Director, in the project and scouting as PumpTrax USA has been at the forefront of introducing areas for NICA leagues to gather throughout the Midwest, which Schiefelbein expressed was a goal for the Lebanon park. Schiefelbein commented that the design is intended to bring people of all ages to Lebanon to participate with NICA.
“What really excites me at least is the NICA end of it,” Schiefelbein said. “We’re from Ohio. NICA is just getting started in Ohio, and it seems like it’s in the same phase here in Indiana, so we’re happy to be a part of the growing NICA scene in the lower Midwest, Ohio and Indiana area.”
According to city and park officials, trail building materials are currently being procured, and trail construction is scheduled to begin during the winter months into the early spring. Trails are expected to be completed and opened to the public by fall of 2024, officials say.