Pump Track Pandemonium

The timeline:

• SCMBF 2011: Come across my first ever pump track. Try to ride it on my Anthem. Fail miserably.
• In the months that followed: Hear about how pump track skills translate into trail skills. Intrigued.
• Early March 2012: Find out about a pump track clinic with pro women coaches at SCMBF 2012.
• March 15: Sign up for clinic. Start searching for a DJ bike.
• March 21: Buy a DJ bike off Craigslist. Destroy myself on it immediately. (I’m still healing.)
• March 24: Sign up for the pump track race a couple hours after the clinic. Still haven’t pumped anything, but I figured I’d be there already, so why not?
• Week of March 25th: Watch it rain.
• April 2-9: Go to the Pleasanton BMX Park a few times.
• April 14: SCMBF 2012. Attend morning clinic. Race shortly afterward. Win. Receive awesome schwag.

How awesome? This awesome:

No, I didn’t win a bike. But I did win a Pivot Point frame. Thank you Pivot Cycles!!!

Remember that Hilo I won in a raffle earlier this year? I ended up buying an Enduro for it. I’m in a similar situation with my new frame. I just bought a DJ bike. Yes, remember? Up there, next to “March 21″. The Malice is a great bike. It fits me beautifully.

While logically I should sell the Pivot frame because I don’t need it, I can’t bring myself to do it. It’s way too pretty. Plus, I won it! I can’t sell the prize from my first ever pump track race! So I’ve decided to turn it into a project. I need to learn more about bike parts, all the variations in bike parts, and bike assembly. I will build this frame up myself. I did something similar when I spec’ed and built my desktop back in 2009. It was a great experience. And now I get to do it for something else. I’m looking forward to it.

Some thanks:

• Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival for providing me an opportunity to know the joy of pump tracks.
• Aaron for being my enabler of all things bicycle. (Except for giant drops he thinks I’ll kill myself riding.)
• Pivot Cycles for the super duper awesome prizes. (I love the T-shirt that came with the frame too. I’m sad that it’s a men’s medium and I’m not, but Aaron is and it looks great on him.)