Asphalt, also referred to as tarmac, pavement or bitumen - as we like to call it: Black Gold. It is the base of our pump tracks and something we consider to be of very high value. It puts a lot of smiles on ours and many others faces. From building with it, to riding and winning on it. Pump tracks are the future and bring people and communities together. As long as it has wheels, you can shred them. Every track is built to the highest standard and with an eye for detail for the best user experience, over and over again. And who knows better how to build them than Niels Bensink?
He is your current UCI Pump Track World Champion and main shaper and quality coordinator at Velosolutions Canada West. For him it all started 20 years ago building pump tracks in his backyard in the Netherlands, now it has evolved to giving back his knowledge to the next generation in hopefully a city near you. He sure knows how to build a pump track, but he also knows how to ride them, fast too.
Last year, Niels and the Velosolutions Canada West crew, completed 8 tracks all across the country. We would say he is a builder by day and a racer by night . All summer season he finds himself on the job site operating machines, raking gravel and asphalt and shaping every inch of track, all while training for and racing the Crankworx World Tour and UCI Pump Track World Championships after hours. As if laying asphalt wasn’t hard enough already… If you ask him why? Simply because he is passionate about this young up and coming discipline. Maybe being part of the Velosolutions crew is the secret to success .
In Black Gold he showcases some of BC’s finest pump tracks. Like the brand new one in Pemberton and North America’s biggest track in Chilliwack with a total length of 475m. The construction of the Pemberton Bikepark started exactly one year ago and took us 2 months to complete (pump track and dirt jumps). To top off Niels’ season he finally accomplished his main goal of not only getting on the World Championship podium, but standing on the top step and putting on the rainbow jersey. This video shows us the hard work, dedication and art that goes into building pump tacks and shredding every inch of them. For Niels, black eventually turned to gold.
Film/edit: Liam Wallace