Pump tracks from Velosolutions are currently springing up like mushrooms all over the world. Reason to put the initiator of all this to the test, Claudio Caluori, and our own director Tim Smit!
Both men came into contact with mountain biking in their youth. Claudio Caluori, founder of Velosolutions, grew up in Zurich Switzerland, where he switched from ice hockey to mountain biking and eventually became an international Downhill Mountain Bike rider. Tim, on the other hand, cycled 30 km to school every day from his home near Rotterdam, with the aim of going faster and faster. His first time on a mountain bike was in the Ardennes and he has been sold ever since.
Velosolutions originally started with the construction of trails on the steep mountains of Switzerland, but quickly expanded its specialties with the construction of pump tracks. And was the first in the world to develop and build an asphalt pump track track, the beginning of a global pump track boom with now more than 300 jobs worldwide. Tim, on the other hand, started giving MTB training and clinics, which was soon expanded with the construction of gravel pump tracks. When his business partner came across Claudio's tracks while on holiday, they were quickly sold. After coming into contact with Mister Pumptrack, the signature as Velosolutions Benelux was quickly signed after a relaxed meeting in Lindlar. After intensive training by helping with exciting projects in Switzerland, Velosolutions Benelux has now been around for 10 years. Tim is still proud to have built the very first asphalt pump track in the Netherlands.
How Velosolutions came up with the idea of an asphalt pump track? According to Claudio, it started during a project for the municipality of Chur in Switzerland, which gave Velosolutions the opportunity to develop and install this innovative product! Asphalt ensures that not only BMX riders can use it, but also skateboarders and inline skaters can enjoy pumping. In addition, asphalt pump tracks last longer and maintenance costs are lower. Now, 10 years later, the construction method and the total process have been completely thought out and even more attention can be paid to the details of the special shapes. Years of experience through trial and error, dedication and structure ensure top quality of the asphalt and the entire track. As Tim indicates, building a pump track is not rocket science, but making a track that is suitable for everyone from young to old and from bicycle to skateboard makes it difficult. The eye for detail completes the job, in creativity, quality and sustainability. Continuing to innovate is what sets us apart.
Best of all, Velosolutions Benelux is not the only partner. The growing demand for pump tracks worldwide quickly enabled Velosolutions to grow. Not only in Switzerland, where Claudio now has 34 colleagues, but also worldwide! There are no fewer than 20 international partners where a total of around 200 employees work together on the coolest jobs in the world. The international partners but also competitors (we see it as a compliment that new companies have started constructing asphalt pump tracks) ensure that pump tracks will soon be accessible to every child around the world, and that is our shared goal.
“A PumpTrack on the moon, that sounds like something to me!”
When we ask Claudio and Tim about their favorite pump track, Claudio doesn't dare to make a choice. For him it is important that every track is unique and has a good flow. But above all, it provides fun and is safe. Young to old, beginner to professional, everyone can go there for years of fun. Tim thinks the Pumptrack in Roosendaal is a perfect example of this, a track with a good size and flow where there is something for everyone. Moreover, this track is publicly accessible to everyone, exactly what we want to see from Velosolutions. But even when you see children on the track near our office in Wijk bij Duurstede every day, you know that you are making a difference.
For this reason, Velosolutions' tracks have a major social impact. They bring people from different social and ethnic backgrounds together and thus ensure a healthy, peaceful and tolerant lifestyle. It brings people out from behind their screens and back into the real world. The world where you meet new people but you also work on your health. Riding a pump track requires physical fitness, coordination and focus. Every muscle in your body tenses when you accelerate on the pump track, a full body workout.
This effect of the pump track is universal, whether in Europe, America or in a developing country in Africa. The reason why #pumpforpeace was founded, a foundation that enables the construction of Velosolutions pump tracks in less fortunate and challenging areas around the world. Claudio's fondest memory in his Velosolutions career has to do with this: a youngster from Lesotho, where one of the first #pumpforpeace tracks was built, qualified for the Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships. Without #pumpforpeace and the construction of tracks worldwide, this would never have been possible.
Tim's fondest memory concerns an important milestone in the development and construction of a pump track. In Roosendaal it was the first time that he did all the excavating work for the track himself, followed by paving 7 hours a day for 12 days with the crew. As mentioned earlier, the construction of a pump track is not rocket science, but requires a major effort with quite a bit of blood, sweat and tears. But of course it's all worth it! Claudio and Tim both think Pumptracks are here to stay. Continue to innovate, improve and change to meet the needs of today and the future.
And did you know that Velosolutions pump tracks have an exclusive UCI status? Also something Claudio is very proud of. This status ensures that when you build a Velosolutions pump track, you are assured that you can organize official (inter)national pump track competitions in the coming years (until 2029).
Finally, we asked Claudio and Tim what their ultimate location for a new pump track would be. Claudio's answer? Definitely a track in my own hometown and guess what?! This has already happened between this interview and publication!
Tim would rather see a track on the moon, curious how moon dust forms into a pump track. Although with less gravity some changes will have to be made to the design. But seriously? The center of the Netherlands does not yet have many jobs, so it would be great to work in Amsterdam and Utrecht. And in Belgium, Antwerp is high on his list!
As you read, there is plenty to do, so get back to work quickly!
