It was mid-April in Switzerland and we got a sunny day. Call us lucky so we could check some more spots in the Winterthur area. Google gives you all the spots. Type in skatepark, pump track, or BMX track and you'll get your options. On Friday Philip and I stopped by the Skills Park, a massive indoor park which would have been our go-to if the weather would have been shit. The Park was 250 meters from the hotel but wanted CHF 20,= per person to ride and CHF 3,= per person to look around. Needless to say our visit was short but we left the option open in case of rain. The air bag with run-up was huge though but not having any tricks to work on we did not pay for the entry fee to get to ride it.
It was Sunday and we googled the BMX track which was actually pretty near to the pump track we'd visited on Friday. Winterthur hosted several international BMX races back in the day so the name of the town sounded familiar. It's always nice to visit BMX spots, especially on sunny days. On arrival the Showa suspension crew from Belgium was there. They had the same plan of doing some riding on the day off. The track had received a tune-up and rolled pretty damn smooth. The first turn had received a smooth layer of asphalt. Think pump track turn but then 5 times the size. Not all turns had received the same treatment (yet) but for us it didn't matter. The Bensink gate wasn't set up for action but we spotted a downhill track behind the first turn. We gave it a shot and stayed on the BMX track afterwards.
Philip and I spent a weekend in Switzerland for the MXGP in Frauenfeld. We decided to bring the bikes because we had Sunday off and if we would arrive early enough on Friday we would be able to check out first spot(s). The 8 hour trip went well and we caught enough daylight for us to explore Winterthur. We had checked in at the IBIS in Winterthur and took the bikes out of the van. Google had informed us that a pump track was only 3.1 kms away. It was dry so we decided to ride there. On the way it just felt good to be on the bikes. Traveling by car has its perks as you can take pretty much all you want with you.
We headed in the direction of the pump track and stopped to check the phone from time to time making sure we had not taken a wrong turn. The last bit was a bit desolated and lead through the woods but we managed to find the place. No one was there and on first sight it was a good sized pump track. But something was strange. The concrete/asphalt reminded us on the roughest surface that Romford or Southsea has to offer. It was strange to be on a pump track with such rough surface. Polar opposite of what the Velosolutions pump tracks are like.
We did not bring our helmets/gloves which was stupid but it was just more convenient pedaling to the place like that. Key was to stay on the bike as a crash would definitely scrape you up.
Saturday results C1 Weinfelden Open #1 Weinfelden, TG, Switzerland
Elite Men:
1 Philip SCHAUB 25 GER 100.00 UCI ranking points
2 Mitchel SCHOTMAN 26 NED 86.00
3 Cédric BUTTI 23 SUI 74.00
4 Giacomo FANTONI 31 ITA 64.00
5 Gil BRUNNER 23 SUI 55.00
6 Axel WEBSTER 23 GER 47.00
7 Ruben GOMMERS 24 BEL 40.00
8 Julian SCHMIDT 28 GER 34.00
Elite Women:
1 Elke VANHOOF 31 BEL 100.00 UCI ranking points
2 Thalya BURFORD 19 SUI 86.00
3 Dorte BALLE 25 DEN 74.00
4 Nadine AEBERHARD 20 SUI 64.00
The homie Beermx and his buddy Phillip hit the road for some good times in Switzerland and Italy. Check it out!
I moved to Aigle, Switzerland by Niek Kimmann
The Velosolutions Pump Track at the Swiss Bike Park in Köniz-Oberried near Bern, Switzerland is set to host the Red Bull Pump Track World Championship World Final on 18 and 19 October in the culmination of the 2019 pump track racing season. The Red Bull Pump Track World Championship is in full swing and on a mission to find the fastest pump track athletes in the world. Hosting competitions as far afield as China, South Africa, Indonesia and the Philippines to find it’s finalists, it’s been an amazing journey to date: incredible nail-biting action and astonishing feats of
determination from across the globe.
The beautiful region of Bern to host the Red Bull Pump Track World Final. This October, the very best in
BMX World's 2017 USA. Seal, Shane und Siro Nünlist an der BMX WM in Rock Hill, USA...
Round Three is going down! We are meeting on the 08th of July 2017 by the ditch spot next to ZHDK School Zurich (address-links at the bottom). After a short warm up session we are heading to several street spots all around Zurich where you need to show us your mad set of skills! After various spots, the final station will be the Skatepark Sihlcity at Allmend in Zurich where the session is going to end with a grill & chill
Date: 08. July 2017
Postponement (in case of bad weather) 15. July 2017
Meet up: 12:00 / Start: 13:00 (ZHDK)
near Förrlibuckstrasse 181, 8005 Zürich