Under the guise of 'Red Bull Backyard Digger', the municipality of Heeze Leende was one of the lucky municipalities where Red Bull created a clay bicycle cross track, also known as a dirt track. This track was built with local BMX riders and contained high bumps and jumps. The maintenance was arranged by the riders themselves and this is partly why it became a great success among the residents. The initiators grew older, moved away from the municipality and the track unfortunately fell into disrepair. Urban Sports are also on the rise in Heeze Leende, and after the skating rink in Heeze was renovated, the idea arose during the corona period to revive the cycle cross track at the Loofvennen.
The children from Leende became enthusiastic, the parents remember the good old days on the cycle cross track, it was a beautiful location and there was still tons of clay. Reason enough to get started with a renovation. The necessary financing was obtained by submitting an application to the national Jeugd aan Zet project. Small municipalities could use this subsidy scheme - a maximum of 10.000 euros - to help young people through the corona crisis.
Together with the children from group 6 of the local primary school, various designs of the track were drawn, more similar to a PumpTrack, which is more interesting for a broader target group. Parents, children and our builders then rolled up their sleeves for 3 days to realize the design. Nice to see that the riders from back then were present to ensure that their children can now ride on the track.
The target? Borrowed to revive the BMX times of yesteryear. The children can not only use the track, but are also encouraged to feel responsible for the track. "Anyone who wants to cross must also help with its maintenance." This way the course remains well maintained and is freely accessible to everyone. Youth Work provides guidance to the youth, working together on a maintenance plan and organizing so-called digging days.
And those BMX times of yesteryear can be found in several places in the village. Bas de Haas once cycled on the Red Bull dirt track as a boy. He started tinkering with bicycles and his hobby eventually grew into the King Cycle bicycle shop in Leende. Children can once again come here for their first BMX bike and Bas is also involved in the realization of the PumpTrack. For example, he advises where possible and recently created benches so that parents can watch their offspring.
The wishes for the future? Organizing an official opening with demos because this has not yet taken place due to corona. But also many Bike & BBQ days, relaxing and having fun cycling and eating together. In the future they also hope to build a water tap for thirsty youth, but the ultimate goal is an asphalt PumpTrack so that skaters and steppers from Leende can also use the track.
One of those steppers who would really like to step on the PumpTrack is Jesse Bust. Jesse is 15 years old, comes from Geldrop and can often be found in the Urban Sportpark in Eindhoven and on the skating rink in Heeze. There are many steppers on the skating rink in Heeze, the only one in the immediate area. There is a pleasant atmosphere and he recommends everyone to visit here. But it would be great if steppers and skaters could also go to a PumpTrack close to home and not have to travel to Eindhoven. This allows even younger children to experience the PumpTrack, but it is also very different from scootering to a skating track. Because how cool is it if you can go high and fast on the PumpTrack and combine this with learning new tricks? New challenges but also a real work out. By paving the track and organizing publicity around the track, Jesse is sure that it will become the place for young people in Leende to come together.
