Riders pumped with opening of Dungog Common Pump Track

The opening of the pump track on Friday, January 19 coincided with the announcement of the Common's 150th anniversary celebration.

Dungog Common's Development Director Daniel LeBlanc said that he's excited to see new projects starting to take shape.

"It's a great project for the community and I'm happy that we're finally at the stage where we can bring the projects to their opening stage," he said.

"We have been doing a lot of upgrades on our trails in the last year while we're waiting for the bigger projects to come together but this is the first major project.

"We've got one or two more to finish, if we can by April."

The 180 metre track constructed by Velosolutions cost $250,000.

A pump track is a circular track that has jumps and ramps integrated into it and is designed to increase the rider's speed and give them the opportunity to get airtime.

The previous pump track consisted of a dirt base with a rocky topsoil. The new track is asphalt sealed.

This upgrade comes in an attempt to give the Dungog Common the reputation of a nationally recognised destination for mountain biking.

"We want to bring the reputation of a nationally recognised site and to do that we need national standard infrastructure," Mr LeBlanc said.

"The second project we're working on, the dual slalom is going to be the same standard and that should bring national competitions to Dungog which is a side benefit to this.

"It's enjoyable to the community but once you bring other people from outside it's a wonderful benefit for the business sector."

Alongside this benefit to the business community of Dungog, Mr LeBlanc hopes that this work in the Dungog Common may inspire some of Dungog's youth to engage with mountain biking at a higher level.

With the Pump Track officially open the next project that the Dungog Common is pushing through is their Dual Slalom track.

A dual slalom track consists of two almost identical tracks going downhill, allowing riders to race each other down the slope.

"The dual slalom is another competition type of infrastructure that's very popular amongst riders," Mr LeBlanc said.

"Tenders are in progress now and so is the development application. More news should come soon."

For more information visit the Dungog Common's Facebook page.