Mountain Bike Day Opens Big Creek Pump Track

The Roswell Cycling Festival kicked off this past Saturday, April 30, with Mountain Bike Day at Big Creek Park. The festival's inaugural day celebrated the grand opening of the Big Creek Pump Track, an extension of the mountain bike trails and green space at Big Creek Park. 

The two tracks are small, circular courses with bumps and rolls professionally built for both kids and adults. One track is for beginners, while the other is for more advanced riders. 

The track is the creation of the Roswell Alpharetta Mountain Bike Organization (RAMBO) after they were given permission for use of the land by the city of Roswell. The city also donated the use of water lines for the course and RAMBO received significant donations from Roswell Bicycles, Specialized Bicycle Components and the Virgil P. Warren Foundation. 

"The city is really happy with the tracks and we're hoping to have a summer program to teach anyone interested how to ride mountain trails." Brad Wender, RAMBO's president, said. "It's a skills building thing."

Pump courses give bicyclists an excellent workout, requiring a pumping technique by the rider on the bike to move over the bumps and rolls of the course. 

Wender explained that most bicyclists could make it through one of their courses without ever needing to peddle the bike and, he added, they'd be exhausted when they exited the track. 

The pump courses, combined with the existing mountain bike trails and the Big Creek greenway, led Wender to describe Big Creek Park's trails as Roswell and Alpharetta's very own Silver Comet Trail, the 61-mile, non-motorized trail running from Smyrna to the Georgia/Alabama state line. 

The Roswell Cycling Festival continued through the weekend, with multiple events on Sunday, including the and the Criterium.