From KELO News / BROOKINGS, SD - Brookings will soon be home to a brand new Pump Park, built by PumpTrax USA of Columbus, Ohio. The three dirt tracks for bicycles are part of the Dakota Nature Park in the south part of town. It's not a dirt cheap form of recreation but this $20,000 dirt track facility will be a welcomed addition to the Brookings bike trail. Brookings Parks and Recreation Director Pete Colson says it's taking 100 truck loads of dirt to get the job done.

"It's a park similar to our skate park or even a sledding hill. People are going to travel just to do a particular activity. It's something very, very different and something you don't find a lot of in this part of the country," Colson said.

PumpTrax USA out of Ohio is building three courses for riders at all different levels. Once the crew is finished in Brookings, they will head to Rio De Janeiro to build the BMX track for the Olympics.

"The goal in building the Pump Park here in Brookings is to take someone that has never done this sort of riding before and then incrementally work their way up to a more advanced level," Lead Builder, Alex Fowler said.

From Strider bikes to BMX, pedals aren't necessary here. The tracks are designed to use your body weight and wheels to get you around.

Colson hopes the Pump Park will become a destination in the region.

"I hope everybody comes out and eventually enjoys the park and the nature park as well. It's kind of a place that we're really proud of and we hope it attracts as many citizens as it does visitors," Colson said.

The Pump Park will be ready in about three weeks.

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BMX Mania's, Shannon Taylor Awarded USABMX Bob Warnicke Scholarship!

More than 70 students will be awarded part of the $75,000 in scholarships; which is raised from participants in the Bob Warnicke Scholarship races held throughout the past year at USA BMX tracks.

"As our sport sees increased participation in our Bob Warnicke Scholarship races, the USA BMX Foundation is able to give back more to our members - those who are balancing college life with their favorite sport, BMX Racing," stated CEO of USA BMX, B.A. Anderson. "All of us at USA BMX are thrilled to be able to hand out a record amount - $75,000, to a record number of students."

BMX Mania Dot Com, owner and team manager Jerry Landrum is also proud to announce that one of our very own team members, Shannon Taylor was awarded a $2000 scholarship from the Bob Warnicke Scholarship Fund.

According to Landrum, "I raced with Bob Warnicke, a great BMXer who gave a lot to the sport back in my old 'Cardiac Class' days of BMX racing, and it is awesome to see a BMX Mania team member, Shannon Taylor, to be honored in the memory of a great man who worked really hard to make BMX better, my old race mate, Bob Warnicke. Shannon personifies the spirit of the Warnicke Scholarship award, he's a great student, a hard worker and gives his all to the sport that he loves! I couldn't be prouder."

From the USABMX Bob Warnicke Scholarship announcement .... NAME: Shannon Taylor ..... HOMETOWN: Warsaw, IN ..... COLLEGE: Marian University ..... DEGREE: Chemistry, Exercise Science ..... AMOUNT RECEIVED: $2,000

Shannon has also been accepted for a cycling and academic scholarship to Marian University in Indianapolis and will be studying and competing this Fall as a member of the Marian Knights Cycling Team.

MORE ON THE BOB WARNICKE SCHOLARSHIPS FROM USABMX!

Caroline Buchanan battled to hold on to the series leader red plate at stop 2 of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series in Holland.

Buchanan continued her lead in the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series despite battling it out all weekend in the middle of the pack. The heavy travel and race schedule over the past 25 days saw Caroline compete at 2 World Cups, The Oceania Championships & National Championships, across 3 countries, 4 time zones & 6 days straight of travel time. The fatigue caught up with Caroline by this final leg of 4 weeks on the road and saw her bar to bar fighting for a spot in the final.

The European weather put on a show with amazing sunny summer conditions for the finals as the riders battled not only for World Cup series points, but all important Olympic qualification points as well.

In the elite women’s final the current world champion and Olympic gold medallist, Mariana Pajon (COL) won with a solid lead ahead of Felicia Stencil (USA) and Stefany Hernandez (VEN). Caroline crossed the line in 4th position.

“Riding against the best girls in the world doesn't get any easier. With Olympics closing in less than 550 days away, all the countries are stepping up their game."

"I am not a racer that is used to battling it out in the pack but this weekend taught me how quickly fatigue can catch up with you and a really good lesson about riding through the hard days, persavering and holding onto as many crutial points as possible."

“The amazing support from the BMX High Performance Unit, my coach Wade Bootes and boyfriend @barrryNobles95 has me in positive spirits looking forward to the upcoming World Championships."

On to the next :)

UPCOMING EVENTS

Haro Bmx UK Race Team from Haro Bikes UK on Vimeo.