abandoned Jumps but should i dig?? ( with pics)

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FLOYD1

Likes Dirt
I am at a delema, I know of a set of jumps near where i live but they are in disrepair and so far no one has been there for at least a couple of months. The place is a pig stye with bottle ,old couches, pillows everywhere and what appers to be lazy arse diggers who dont give a F&*k about the environment or there jump spot. They are asking for the council to come a flatten the jumps as it looks like a tip.

I want to clean it up and change a few things and make it my local jump spot .I know i would be pissed if someone else came in and took over after all my digging.

What to do , wait it out a little longer or clean it up , reshape a few jumps and trannys, and take ownership (caretaker) of them.

a few images of the site. it has real potential



IMG125.jpgIMG129.jpg
 
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niki125

Likes Dirt
Potential!?!?! they look fkn awesome. Doing a bit of maintenance on them and cleaning the place up shouldn't piss anyone off but be careful reshaping or changing anything too dramatically. Maybe post a note up with your contact details so someone can get in contact with you.
 
bikesarefun

bikesarefun

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Tough call.

The way I see it, there are two ways this could go to shit:

1) Jumps get dozed by authorities.

2) Old crew comes back once you've put in all the hard work, and you get shafted.​

Both of these suck (I know from experience). But I reckon it's worth the risk. Sounds like you're planning on showing some pride in your work, and that's important.

If you can find out who the previous crew were, and chat with them first, that would be worthwhile.
 
unitec

unitec

Likes Dirt
Tread Carefully

FLOYD1 said:
I am at a delema, I know of a set of jumps near where i live but they are in disrepair and so far no one has been there for at least a couple of months. The place is a pig stye with bottle ,old couches, pillows everywhere and what appers to be lazy arse diggers who dont give a F&*k about the environment or there jump spot. They are asking for the council to come a flatten the jumps as it looks like a tip.

I want to clean it up and change a few things and make it my local jump spot .I know i would be pissed if someone else came in and took over after all my digging.

What to do , wait it out a little longer or clean it up , reshape a few jumps and trannys, and take ownership (caretaker) of them.

a few images of the site. it has real potential
Click to expand...
For abandoned jumps they look pretty fresh and judging by the plastic covers the original builders must have known what they were doing. Also from what you have said you can be pretty sure that it was previously a BMX hangout.
Whether you should move in & take over or not IMO would depend on how much change you are looking to make to the place.
If you are planning to flatten the thing out to make beginners jumps I would suggest that you walk away & find another site however if you just want to dial it back a bit so mere mortals can also ride them I would say go for it.
My suggestion would be to make the least amount of changes you can just to get you and your buddies over them & hold off on any major reworks for 6 Months until you have settled in.
There is always a lot of infrastructure work you can to like drainage, case pads & return lines. Where possible I would suggest you try to honour the original design as much as possible. (don't make changes just for the sake of it)
Good Luck
 
DeBloot

DeBloot

Feeling old
bikesarefun said:
Tough call.

The way I see it, there are two ways this could go to shit:

1) Jumps get dozed by authorities.

2) Old crew comes back once you've put in all the hard work, and you get shafted.​

Both of these suck (I know from experience). But I reckon it's worth the risk. Sounds like you're planning on showing some pride in your work, and that's important.

If you can find out who the previous crew were, and chat with them first, that would be worthwhile.
Click to expand...
i agree with this

But first i would try and get the joint cleaned up a bit
personally, i think you should respect the area where you dig
That area looks disrespected, so why should local people or council respect your jumps

Clean it up and you may meet some of the locals or just have a chance to see what the movements are around the place
Then slowly start fixing up a few lines without dumbing anything down
Over subsequent missions be on the lookout for fresh tread marks to see what the traffic volume is

This way at least you build up to rejuvenating what looks to be an area with a stack of potential
And worst case, you've helped to clean up an area that, if i was a square head, would make me think all dirt jumpers have no respect
 
brycethebomb

brycethebomb

Likes Dirt
they look friggen awesome!
If i were you i would just clean up around the place and maybe fix a few jumps to see if anyone notices the work your doing. if the original people do see what your doing I'm sure they wont be angry if you've just made the place look nicer. if they don't come back well then i guess there yours!
 
F

Flint

Likes Dirt
FLOYD1 said:
Yes they are near Jerra?


call me dale when you wanna have a look or go to the Scar

Deano
Click to expand...
Jumps have been in that area for over 10 years in one form or another. I went splat there way back then lol.

Yep, will do. Went to Thredbo this weekend, should be free next weekend I am hoping.
 
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JMarto

Squid
far they have lots of potential and looks sick as!!! where bouts are they located? hope to see them open soon.
 
johnny

johnny

I'll tells ya!
Staff member
I've found some pretty awesome jumps in Canberra that look abandoned as well. Pretty sure that's not them, the ones I've found are relatively close to Bruce Ridge. The ones I see still even have all the digging tools there and hadn't been touched in months the last time I looked. Haven't been back for a while though.
 
Live2DieTrying

Live2DieTrying

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Just checked my jumps and some people have decided to cut the tops down and make them easier!!
Not happy!!
I don't ride them very often, so it might have been easy to mistake them for abandonned...
but I purposely made them steep and tricky so the moto's would stay away.
Hopefully I'll bump into the new builders and can have a word to them about what I would like changed back, and how the 'speed dip' or whatever you want to call it will flood the place.
Guess I'll have to make them bigger and better this winter!!
 
bikesarefun

bikesarefun

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Live2DieTrying said:
Just checked my jumps and some people have decided to cut the tops down and make them easier!!
Not happy!!
I don't ride them very often, so it might have been easy to mistake them for abandonned...
but I purposely made them steep and tricky so the moto's would stay away.
Hopefully I'll bump into the new builders and can have a word to them about what I would like changed back, and how the 'speed dip' or whatever you want to call it will flood the place.
Guess I'll have to make them bigger and better this winter!!
Click to expand...
Solid chance this is what the "owner" of the jumps in this thread might end up thinking.


Have a similar issue with some jumps locally. They got pretty hectic, people stopped riding, and they were abandoned for a couple of years and fell into complete disrepair. I was involved in an effort to get the place running again, but a bit mellower to give us all a chance build skills more safely. Spent a few months digging, then as soon as the place was running again the old crew came back and took over. Made everything super hectic again with minimal effort, and outsted the crew who re-built. Now, a year later, the place is abandoned and run down again and it'll take a shitload of effort to get anything running again.

The end lesson (in my opinion): you need a crew of people willing to keep jumps running. It isn't always the shit-hottest riders who have the time and enthusiasm to keep jumps in working order. In the end, nobody has anything to ride.
 
Live2DieTrying

Live2DieTrying

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I see what you're saying.
I never really had a crew at these jumps, so it's been a bit hard to have continual presence.
Hopefully these guys will understand that if the jumps are too easy they will be ruined by moto riders.
I'll give them a chance with the modified jumps to build up their skills for a little while, then I will rebuild.
 
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