5 pump track hacks from world champions Payton Ridenour and Tommy Zula
Ride faster, corner better and improve those pump track skills with expert advice from two Red Bull UCI Pump Track world champions.
Pump tracks may look short and technically simple, but if you want to really excel at it you need to have the killer combination of strength, stamina and finely-honed skills. Combine a few key tips from Red Bull UCI Pump Track world champions Payton Ridenour and Tommy Zula, with some dedicated practice and you'll be smashing your track times in no time.
Tommy Zula and Payton Ridenour are the 2019 Red Bull UCI Pump Track champs
© Dan Griffiths/Red Bull Content Pool
The goal of pump track racing is to complete the circuit of turns, berms and multiple-rollers in as quick a time as possible, head-to-head against a competitor. The fastest wins and in a competition advances to the next round, but what does it take to win?
Pump tracks have been built all over the world
© Velosolutions
Both Ridenour and Zula are Red Bull UCI Pump Track world champions and competed across a whopping 26 qualifying events to win their crowns. With the World Championships postponed until 2021, you've now got another year to get your skills and fitness up to scratch, so you're ready to have a crack at the qualifiers yourself. Who better to share an insight into how to shave seconds off your time and ride smooth, fast and efficiently than these two champs.
1. Get those key skills dialed
This is how you ride corners like Payton Ridenour
© Jan Cadosh/Red Bull Content Pool
Pump tracks are as much about technique as strength and stamina. Being able to control the bike as you flow around corners and over rollers is key to keep moving as fast as possible.
"The three tricky parts of the pump track are corner entry, maintaining speed in the corners and staying controlled when the rollers are tight together," explains Ridenour. Let's break it down.
- Corner entry
"Typically, the faster you go, the wider you should take the corners, so they can hold your speed," says Ridenour. "The lines painted on the pump track are always a great reference when going around the corners."
- Maintaining speed when cornering
"As for keeping your speed or gaining more, you need to trust the corners. I keep my body weight slightly back and push through the corners with my feet to stand my ground and gain speed."
- Staying controlled in tight rollers
"Lastly, staying controlled over the rollers is a big part of going faster on the straights," Ridenour explains. "You need to keep your body weight distributed evenly and be ready to push down on your bike as hard as you can to pump over the rollers."
- Practice a lots
If you want to improve, spending a whole lot of quality time on the pump track is key as both explain. "People often get sketchy in these sections if they're fatigued,” Ridenour says. "So, practicing will only make you better."
"It's all of that on top of being able to go all out for the whole track," explains Zula. “You begin by trying to get up to full speed and then try to maintain it while jumping, landing and executing every corner perfectly."
2. Get your body ready to ride
Tommy Zula trains to ensure he has the strength he needs
© Mark Schwartz/Red Bull Content Pool
You can't just get on the bike cold and expect your body to be working it's best. Like with any kind of physical activity, you've got to give it a chance to warm up and prepare itself, and the mental side of things is just as important.
- Prepare
"Preparing for the race is everything," explains Zula. "Everything has to come together and when you wake up the day of the race, you either wake up feeling 'I've got this!', or you're questioning yourself. If you’re second-guessing something, you're going to be a little off your game."
- Warm-up
Ridenour's warm-up routine consists of a range of different movements to ensure muscles, joints and lungs are ready to go. "Before a competition, I'll begin by pedalling my bike around to get my body warm," she says.
- Stretch
"After that I'll do some stretches, followed by a dynamic warm-up to get my heart rate up a little. I'll do a few quick sprints on my bike and drink some electrolyte before I head up. Overall, staying hydrated and making sure you warm-up properly is the first step for setting yourself up for success."
3. Give yourself time to recover
Take time out between heats to rest and refuel
© Graeme Murray/Red Bull Content Pool
It's an often overlooked part of performance, but if you want to keep your body working efficiently, rest and recovery is as important as training.
"I'll spin out my legs on my bike or a stationary bike to cool down and I'll eat something to replenish and fuel my body, even if it's something small," says Ridenour. "I also love to drink chocolate milk after competitions, since I don't like the taste of recovery drinks and, at the end of the day, getting some quality sleep is the best way to recover your body for the next day."
4. Train your body
Pump track racing is fast and furious
© Sven Martin
Pump track competitions are a series of short, intense bursts of performance, repeated over a day or more. Strong muscles and a strong cardiovascular system are critical if you want to be able to perform your best over and over again.
Consider doing some strength training using free weights, get the lungs and heart working with running, swimming or cycling and, of course, schedule plenty of time on the pumptrack.
Training doesn't have to mean the gym, though. Perhaps surprisingly, Zula doesn't use traditional means to hone his physique for competition.
"I used to count on the gym to stay in shape, but nowadays I just try and be active," he states. "Now, I just run with my dog Lily, go on trail rides with my friends and usually end the day at the BMX track or pump track."
5. Listen to Ridenour and Zula's wise words
Tommy Zula powers his way to victory
© Dan Griffiths/Red Bull Content Pool
"I think a lot of young riders starting out tend to get too involved too early and burn themselves out," says Ridenour, when asked what her key pieces of advice to a budding pumptrack competitor would be. "A lot of the time, the young kids are forced to focus on winning races and going fast. However, I'm a big fan of learning fundamentals like manuals and jumps first (on flat pedals of course). Kids should just be having fun riding their bikes, because that's what I'm doing and it's gotten me pretty far."
The fun part of the magic equation is something that Zula wholeheartedly agrees with. "Have fun and enjoy it. If you aren't enjoying it, move on and do what makes you happy."
What's happening with the 2020 World Championships?
Could this be you in 2021?
© Dan Griffiths/Red Bull Content Pool
The 2020 Red Bull UCI Pump Track World Championships, which were due to take place in Leogang, Austria on October 9, have been cancelled, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel.
The 2020 and 2021 seasons will now be combined, which means that riders who qualify in 2020 are eligible to compete in the 2021 event and if a qualifying event has a different winner next year, then both get to go.
Several qualifying events have already taken place in Lesotho, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia, while the Netherlands and France events are scheduled to go ahead in the coming months. There's everything still to play for and the show will go on.
