A group of concerned citizens and the Fillmore City Council deserve a big thank you. The Fillmore Bicycle Pump-track located at Two Rivers Park next to the skate park came at no cost to the City. It has taken a little more than a year for the two acre site to be completed and is expected to have a soft ribbon cutting ceremony in March.

According to Councilman Rick Neal, "The response has been overwhelming. People from out of town have come to Fillmore to use the track. It will really add to our tourism."

The track is the only one in Ventura County. The next closest track in Southern California is a private one in Santa Barbara/Santa Ynez with the closest public track located in San Diego. "Pump-tracks are popular in Europe" according to Parks and Recreation Commissioner Chano Ibarra, who believes the uniqueness will bring tourists and sports events to Fillmore.

The track is a continuous circuit of dirt rollers, banked turns, berms and jumps that loop back on itself as the riders propel themselves by shifting their body weight to gain momentum; similar to one shifting their weight in a swing to propel higher. The pumping allows the rider to propel forward without having to pedal. As the bike moves up and down and sideways the rider's goal is to keep the torso, the center of the body's mass, in as straight of line as possible and as quickly and fluidly as possible. It is a sport for all ages and challenges the participant requiring a great deal of energy and exercise in a short amount of time.

The new bike park is a fun family environment and a safe off-street place to learn to ride, practice and increase cycling skills and designed to accommodate up to 10 riders at a time. The drawbacks are the weather, particularly hard rains. The track must be completely dried out before it can be used and needs attending to about once a month, clearing rocks and weeds.

This all began with Ibarra's idea of building the pump-track to increase the sports activities available in Fillmore. He, along with Jason Foy and Vivian Madena, created the Ride Heritage Valley (RHV) organization. The group procured a donation from Pacific Coast Web Design (Danielle) who created the website and logo for RHV: http://rideheritagevalley.weebly.com/ and the project proceeded from there.

Ibarra's friend Jimmy McIlvain, who lives in Santa Clarita and has a completed track in his back yard, invited Councilmember Rick Neal and others to see what a bump-track consisted of and whether it would be an asset to Fillmore. RHV's idea was presented to the Fillmore City Council on December 13, 2013 and all agreed that the bike pump-track should go forward.

Using donated funds, Ibarra purchased pump-track plans for a residential back yard and presented them to his friend Hans Keifer, owner of Bellfree Contractors Inc. out of Los Angeles. Keifer redesigned the smaller back yard plans to plans for a public park and donated the finished work to Fillmore; an estimated donation of up to $12,000. Bellfree Construction has completed close to 200 paved and natural bridle trails and paths along with numerous bridges and viewing platforms for cities, counties, states and private endeavors, but this is the first bike park design for the company and a new addition to their portfolio.

Rick Neal, who was Mayor at the time, approached Fillmore resident Grant Taylor, owner of MG Taylor Equipment, about the needed heavy equipment. Taylor agreed to donate approximately $25,000 of heavy equipment including backhoes, forklifts, bulldozers, loaders and volunteers agreed to the labor needed to operate the equipment. It took three weeks of work, on and off, and a large work crew to grade the site to a 1% slope which allows rain water to be cast off at a speed slow enough to not create crevasses and fast enough to not puddle. According to Ibarra "With all the recent rain the drainage worked great, it was close to zero, almost perfect."

The rock and soil, with a price tag of $9,832, was donated by Rusty Cochran, owner of Grimes Rock Inc. Trucks worked daily nonstop for a week delivering and placing the 1,500 tons of export soil (mixture of sand and clay) needed to build the continuous circuit of dirt rollers, berms and jumps. More volunteers worked numerous days using hand tools to produce the finished track.

When asked what was the projects most difficult hurdle, all agreed it was coordinating the volunteer labor and donated items. Without the incentive of being a paid customer, things get done when available and that took a great deal of cooperation by everyone involved.

RVH was adamant that a special "thank (you to) the current Fillmore City Council, Parks Commission and Fillmore City Staff, especially Rick Neal, Rigo Landeros, David Smallwood and Annette Cardona for all their input. They have all been very supportive and forward thinking in bringing a project like this to Fillmore..... and there were two CORBA members who have been super supportive. They are Mark Langton (former CORBA president) and Steve Messer (current CORBA president)." But the project would not have been such a success if RVH had not put the idea forward in the first place.

Taylor stated, "The track is a great for the community and for the youth. They'll have something to do to keep them out of trouble" and added that there is still a bit more shaping of jumps to be completed. Jeremy Combs, an experienced bike rider who lives in Ventura, tested the track and gave recommendations for improvements of the berms and jumps. There are also a few items still needed to complete the overall track; ladder drops with wooden features, a teeter-totters platform, seating, picnic benches and shade trees. They continue to need donations to complete it.

Weather permitting and donations for the final needed items, the park is expected to be completed by March. Ibarra stated that May is Bike Safety Month and it is hoped there may be an event opening.

To view a video: https://vimeo.com/116016980

Their Facebook page: RideHeritageValley-RHV and to donate to the parks construction: FBP: http://www.gofundme.com/axz0cs