High-Speed Pump Track Coming To Cleveland Metroparks

CLEVELAND — A bicycle pump track will soon be added to the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation, the Cleveland Metroparks announced Wednesday.

For those unfamiliar with pump tracks, they're a looping sequence of hills and banked turns for bikers to roll through. The design of the track allows riders to hit increasingly high speeds while barely pedaling.

Instead, bicyclists generate momentum by "pumping" along the track through up and down movements, the Metroparks said. Project design on the track should be finished this summer and construction should start soon after. The track should open in fall 2021.

“This pump track will be the first of its kind in Northeast Ohio, offering a new challenge and amenity for our biking community,” said Cleveland Metroparks CEO Brian Zimmerman.

The park district is also expanding its existing mountain bike trail. Both the pump track and expanded mountain bike trails will be just north of Canalway Center, connecting to the nearby Towpath Trail.

The Student Conservation Association will aid in the expansion of the mountain bike trails. Students will expand the natural surface of the trail starting this summer and finishing next year. The expansion will include sections for beginners, intermediate riders and advanced riders.

Both projects are supported by the Metroparks' Trails Fund.