Trails

RENT a backhoe makes life easier and everything else is preference on size and layout just keep em moist so they dont get dried out and crumble thats all really

One thing when building, drainage. One of the most overlooked but important things. Find some sort of drainage system. I'd talk to the 9th syreet crew in Austin about drainage.

Just went scoping some spots to
Build dirt jumps got pulled over by a cop thought we were getting high , did find this sick spot with a tall slanted walk bridge over a river for a roll in though , might get working on some jumps after it going to have to be stealth though

I've had a little line in my backyard for about 3 years now. I've built and rebuilt it numerous times to fix fuck-ups, and to make it bigger as I've progressed. A few of the lessons I've learned:

Put a little roller or pump down or something just before the first jump (about 10-15 feet). It helps establish a rhythm.

Make the first jump really long and low. I'm at about a 10 foot gap, and my lip is about 2 feet tall. It's a really mellow angle (about 30-45 degrees). It's also got about a foot of step up.

Speaking of step up, give everything a little step up. It makes the landings easier to hit smooth. Contrary to common sense, a step up does not make the jump harder to clear. When I say I have a 10 foot gap, the actual gap is closer to 8 feet, but the point on the landing level with the top of the lip is 10 feet away. My step up extends the landing about 2 feet closer to the lip.

Make the landings way too wide. Most of my bad crashes came from missing landings. Also put a way to get out of the line between each jump.

If your line is good, and you don't suck, you'll build more speed with each jump, so size accordingly. Each subsequent jump should either have a bigger gap, or be slightly steeper. My three jump is about 10 feet @45, 10 feet @60 and 8 feet @~75 (I ran out of room), but I'm working on extending the last jump to about 9 or 10 feet.

Berms fucking suck. They use a ton of dirt, they are really hard to place right, and if the radius is too big or small, you can't pump them. They also use a ton of tarp to cover, and if you don't cover them, they get slow really quickly. Go really steep with berms because you can keep them shorter and use less dirt.

tecnic1 wrote:

I've had a little line in my backyard for about 3 years now. I've built and rebuilt it numerous times to fix fuck-ups, and to ...more

tecnic1 wrote:

I've had a little line in my backyard for about 3 years now. I've built and rebuilt it numerous times to fix fuck-ups, and to make it bigger as I've progressed. A few of the lessons I've learned:

Put a little roller or pump down or something just before the first jump (about 10-15 feet). It helps establish a rhythm.

Make the first jump really long and low. I'm at about a 10 foot gap, and my lip is about 2 feet tall. It's a really mellow angle (about 30-45 degrees). It's also got about a foot of step up.

Speaking of step up, give everything a little step up. It makes the landings easier to hit smooth. Contrary to common sense, a step up does not make the jump harder to clear. When I say I have a 10 foot gap, the actual gap is closer to 8 feet, but the point on the landing level with the top of the lip is 10 feet away. My step up extends the landing about 2 feet closer to the lip.

Make the landings way too wide. Most of my bad crashes came from missing landings. Also put a way to get out of the line between each jump.

If your line is good, and you don't suck, you'll build more speed with each jump, so size accordingly. Each subsequent jump should either have a bigger gap, or be slightly steeper. My three jump is about 10 feet @45, 10 feet @60 and 8 feet @~75 (I ran out of room), but I'm working on extending the last jump to about 9 or 10 feet.

Berms fucking suck. They use a ton of dirt, they are really hard to place right, and if the radius is too big or small, you can't pump them. They also use a ton of tarp to cover, and if you don't cover them, they get slow really quickly. Go really steep with berms because you can keep them shorter and use less dirt.

...more

See I find berms are easy to make. I dug mine out and shaped it. If you want it ABOVE ground, they take a ton. What I did was figured the radius of what I needed, and basically dug dirt and piled it on the OUTSIDE of where I wanted it (if that makes sense), and then I packed and shaped it. I have also buried rocks and such into them to take up the space of dirt.

One thing I found a good idea with berms as well is to build your jumps to where you want one, then session them, to see what kind of speed you are working with. If you can make the turn without losing speed, make the berm with a smaller radius to be able to pump it better. With practice you will get good at eyeballing the size of things and knowing what will and won't work speed-wise.

berms are a bitch but are sooo fun to ride through the line of the trails

MidWestBMX wrote:

berms are a bitch but are sooo fun to ride through the line of the trails

MidWestBMX wrote:

berms are a bitch but are sooo fun to ride through the line of the trails

...more

Hey can I bug you to post more pictures I have about the same amount of room as you and would like more ideas.

damn i feel lucky, i have entire mountain behind me to build on.

Good luck, brother. I don't know much about trails because I know that I will hurt myself if I try to ride trails.

Just keep your trails low key or people might come and try to tear them down. Either with dirt bikes or bikes or whatever.

Stocksy wrote:

Good luck, brother. I don't know much about trails because I know that I will hurt myself if I try to ride trails.

Just keep ...more

Stocksy wrote:

Good luck, brother. I don't know much about trails because I know that I will hurt myself if I try to ride trails.

Just keep your trails low key or people might come and try to tear them down. Either with dirt bikes or bikes or whatever.

...more

This. Keep them quiet, only a few close friends, and if they are on YOUR land (or your parents land), make sure that people you know and trust are the only ones riding them. Randoms could show up, get hurt and have sue-happy parents that would ruin more than just your trails.

Or set up a legally binding waiver. This day and age that would be something I would do for anyone who wasn't a close buddy. I would also make helmets MANDATORY on my land. I've seen someone hit their head so hard they had a seizure, and were hauled off in an ambulance fighting the paramedics because they had no idea what was going on.

Stocksy wrote:

Good luck, brother. I don't know much about trails because I know that I will hurt myself if I try to ride trails.

Just keep ...more

Stocksy wrote:

Good luck, brother. I don't know much about trails because I know that I will hurt myself if I try to ride trails.

Just keep your trails low key or people might come and try to tear them down. Either with dirt bikes or bikes or whatever.

...more

dave lawrence wrote:

This. Keep them quiet, only a few close friends, and if they are on YOUR land (or your parents land), make sure that people ...more

dave lawrence wrote:

This. Keep them quiet, only a few close friends, and if they are on YOUR land (or your parents land), make sure that people you know and trust are the only ones riding them. Randoms could show up, get hurt and have sue-happy parents that would ruin more than just your trails.

Or set up a legally binding waiver. This day and age that would be something I would do for anyone who wasn't a close buddy. I would also make helmets MANDATORY on my land. I've seen someone hit their head so hard they had a seizure, and were hauled off in an ambulance fighting the paramedics because they had no idea what was going on.

...more

I had hopes of doing a collaboration with the park in town. They won't do it though. The said it's too much of a liability and they couldn't afford the insurance. I'm personally kinda angry about it because It's such a perfect spot in my mind. BUt it's fine. I'm basically going to just go out to one of those really out of the way areas in the woods or something and make a really cool place. Just have to find the perfect thing.

Berms rule. They can make a mediocre line into an amazingly sick line.

[LINK TO IMAGE]


Expect to put in a ton of work if you want something awesome.

Sick trails take WORK. Don't be afraid of the work.

Trails rule.

this is my little backyard line. It's a bit boring, and a ton of fucking work, but its nice for when I can't get to a legit spot because my kids have me busy or something.

Thanks everyone for the help!

tecnic1 wrote: this is my little backyard line. It's a bit boring, and a ton of fucking work, but its nice for when I can't get to a legit ...more

tecnic1 wrote: this is my little backyard line. It's a bit boring, and a ton of fucking work, but its nice for when I can't get to a legit spot because my kids have me busy or something.

...more

That looks pretty sick