LAKEPORT, Calif. – Lakeport’s Westside Community Park has another amenity to offer sporting enthusiasts.
A new bicycle pump track is now open to the public near the softball field, in what is known as the Phase II portion of the park, according to Westside Community Park Committee Chairman Dennis Rollins.
The park was designed by Andrew Taylor of Watsonville, who also built the track in about a week and a half with a few assistants, according to Rollins.
Rollins said the track was completed April 28.
Taylor also built the pump track in Santa Rosa, which Rollins has visited.
“He had built a few others as well. He said that this was the best one he has constructed so far,” Rollins said.
The unpaved track is a series of dirt mounds, loops and jumps that is meant to be ridden without pedaling, but with the pumping motion of the rider’s upper and lower body propelling the bike forward.
Rollins said design cost $500, miscellaneous expenses another $500 and $4,000 for construction.
He said those costs – as well as the rental of equipment, additional erosion control and a new fence that will need to be completed – will be covered by a $7,500 donation to the park by the Lakeport Rotary Club.
Rollins said he encountered one of the coaches of the Clear Lake High and Kelseyville High mountain biking teams riding it the other day, and the coach said he plans to bring out the team members to work on their skills.
Another park committee member, Harold Taylor, reported that on Tuesday night about 30 people were out using the track, Rollins said.
The next project expected to be built at the 55-acre park is an area that Rollins called the “beach oasis,” which will consist of three sand courts for beach handball.
The Lakeport City Council approved the plans to add the pump track and the beach handball courts to the park plan in 2015, as Lake County News has reported.
Rollins said the fundraising effort is being carried out by a local beach handball team led by Jonathan Thorn.
“It’s a reasonable project financially except for purchasing beach sand,” said Rollins. “Beach sand is really expensive.”
No timeline has yet been formulated for that project, Rollins said.
Rollins said there also still are plans for having a small facility at the park for skateboards.
Last week the Lakeport City Council approved the park committee’s proposal to move the intended site for a new equestrian park from Westside Community Park – where it became clear there isn’t enough room – to a 10-acre portion of the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District on Highway 175, as Lake County News has reported.
For more information about the park visit http://www.westsidecommunitypark.org/ .
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
New bike pump track completed at Westside Community Park
- Elizabeth Larson
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