High speed and big air were the orders of the day, and Haywood County’s BMX riders were happy to oblige.
On Aug. 8, the long-awaited Raccoon Creek Bike Park in Waynesville opened to the public, also drawing people from the surrounding community and beyond to see what all the fuss was about. Dozens of kids and adults of skill levels enjoyed the ups and downs of the Velosolutions pump track and accompanying jump track — some were concerned with speed, some with big air and others just with keeping upright.
Don Ramsey, a member of the county finance department, planned the Aug. 8 event as well as the preceding ribbon cutting. As a former employee for the City of Asheville, Ramsey was in the asset management division for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, so he was able to handle the duty.
“We started planning probably about six weeks ago when we knew the park was going to be finished,” Ramsey said.
The county brought out had a well-known freestyle BMX rider with 139,000 Instagram followers for the event. Angie Marino is originally from Buffalo, New York, but is now based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. Marino, who took plenty of runs on the pump track throughout the day, said it may be her favorite to date.
“It’s really awesome that they have a pump track side and then a jump side as well,” she said. “We have a Velosolutions track in Salt Lake as well, and I can say that this one is way better.”
A pump track is a paved continuous circuit of bumps called rollers and banked berms. It’s smaller and tighter than a typical dirt BMX track. Riders build speed not through pedaling but “pumping” their body up and down throughout to generate momentum. While Marino has competed on larger dirt tracks, she was glad to get some time on the pump track. She was there to promote the new park and the event, but she also viewed it as a sort of practice.
“A pump track is a really good skill-building thing to have, just learning the basics and getting better technique like learning how to pump and doing the push and pull,” she said.
The 19-acre bike park sits atop part of what was not so long ago the Franics Farm Landfill, which operated from 1973-1995. Because it was constructed without an impermeable liner at the bottom, the county for decades battled methane and groundwater issues. In 2019, surveys determined that seepage was under control, and by 2022, a $5.4 million restrictive cover was placed overtop to mitigate rainwater infiltration that entrained pollutants and carried them to other areas. In recent years, the land became a grassy expanse that the county had to regularly mow.
Ahead of the bike park’s construction, county staff graded the land to a specific elevated pad and left a stockpile of fill dirt. From there, the American Ramp Company took over, carefully forming jumps and laying asphalt by hand. A red stripe bordering the pump track serves as an indication that it is certified, which allows it to host Velosolutions races. The project came in around $3 million, with $675,000 spent on the track and the rest going toward accompanying amenities.
Deputy County Manager and Director for Development Services Kris Boyd said the grand opening feels like a victory for the many employees who brought it to fruition.
“They’re very proud,” Boyd said. “We have a lot of folks that were involved with this, from solid waste staff to facility staff to administration to recreation.”
The casual observer can’t see all that now. All they see is a 15,000-square-foot pump track, bathrooms, a pavilion, a playground and a spacious parking lot surrounded by the beautiful mountains we call home.
The project hit some snags and overshot its originally planned opening date by about a year, but the wait seems to be worth it. Corrina Ruffieux — Executive Director of the Haywood County Tourism and Development Authority, which provided $275,000 in grant funding for the project — said the track will be an economic boon. It fits in perfectly with the TDA’s master plan, especially when taken alongside Chestnut Mountain Park in Canton, she noted.
“It’s outdoor recreation. It’s close to our business centers. It’s a win for locals and it’s a win for the visitor economy,” she said.
While the park may aid in attracting overnight visitors, even folks who come out for the day will spend money at county businesses, pumping dollars into the local economy and generating sales tax revenue. There were several people from out of town at the Aug. 8 event, including from South Carolina.
The greatest realization of the pump track’s value as an economic asset will come next month when it hosts the Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships Qualifier from Sept. 11-13. Waynesville is one of just four cities in the country to have the event.
To make good on its end of the contract, the county must provide crucial event production infrastructure, including sound system, power supplies, riders’ areas, registration facilities and signage. Ramsey, who is also planning that event, said that Sept. 11 will feature a practice day for the competitors. Sept. 12 will be race day. Sept. 13 will be offer an open day when anyone can use the track, something that should look similar to the Aug. 8 event.
It will be the final U.S. qualifier for 2026, which county officials previously said they believe will draw more competitors looking for one last chance to break through and earn a spot in the championship in Beijing, China. Ruffieux is looking forward to it. This kind of event can be promoted, and visitor spending can be tracked, meaning the exact economic impact of the park will be known.
“This is a win-win,” she said. “This is a repurposed property that wasn’t being used for anything and wasn’t generating revenue before. Now it’s providing outdoor recreation for our locals and driving economic impact.”