If you live in Sweden or are looking for a great reason to visit, DirtScupt recently gets a Hi5 for their design in Obbola, Sweden.
Location of Hi5 Dirt Jump Bike Park in Obbola Sweden designed by DirtSculpt Parks
Obbola IK Cykel Club’s dream of having a top-notch bike park is finally coming true. Obbola is small town in Sweden located west of the mouth of the Ume river having approximately 2,200 residents.
So how did the Obbola IK Cykel Club get a world-class bike park built in their small town? Based on what DirtSculpt observed, the formula appears to be:
How to get a bike park built in your town
DREAM BIG: Get a group of passionate riders who aren't afraid to dream big.
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COMMITMENT & SHARED VISION: Be committed to your dream and share your vision with members of your local community including businesses / sponsors that may be able help.
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HARD WORK & DEDICATION: Like anything in life, having big dreams and a vision only becomes reality when combined with hard work and dedication.
Getting Started
In April 2015, Members of Obbola IK Cykel Club ("Club") reached out to DirtSculpt Parks with a small budget and a big dream of getting a bike. After speaking with member of the riding club, one thing was clear, there was no lack of passion or energy from the local riders about getting their bike park built.
When the Club reached out to DirtSculpt, it was clear what they had and didn't have. In addition to having lots of enthusiasm and willingness to work, the Club also had a clear idea of what type of riding elements they wanted in the park including a pump track and three (3) progressive jump lines to challenge beginner to expert riders. What they didn't have was a ton of time or money.
Aerial Photo taken from drone prior to construction with rough sketch plan of park in red.
Bike park design and construction is very specialized. Almost all the bike parks we build are "Design-build" projects. This meaning that one company does both the design and construction of the project. Some of the benefits of utilizing a design-build approach for bike park projects is due to the fact that bike parks typically require a lot of site grading. Communicating complex 3D site grading from a design firm to a different site contractor is challenging and often leads to project issues. Another reason that DirtSculpt prefers using a design-build approach is because you will often miss great design-opportunities if you rely on designs that were completed offsite in an office.
As we all know, there's often a difference between what is ideal and what is reality. We were stoked that a group of riders nearly 4,000 miles away in Sweden were contacting us because they thought so highly of our work; however, I'd be lying if I didn't tell you that Dave and I were bummed to learn that the project budget wouldn't allow for us to even do a site visit in Sweden, yet alone build the park for them. Putting our desires to visit Sweden behind us, we began to focus on what was most important, doing whatever we could to design and assure clear communications to the contractor that would be building our design.
In part 2 of this blog series, we will show you DirtSculpt's design and discuss how we utilized new innovative techniques to communicate our design with the Swedish contractor. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog post to be released in the next week.
