Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 77, December 2015 | Page 52

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mtb trails

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UPGRADING

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lthough it only came into being at the beginning of 2015, DirtLab has
a wealth of experience and skills to create bike parks out of nothing.

rogie Estates
p Park, built at Cairnb
The Cairnbrogie Pum
built by DirtLab.
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Bay
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ber
near Pletten

With success stories like the complete redesign of Big Red Barn and
Wolwespruit bike parks in Gauteng and the building of Cairnbrogie Pump
Park near Plettenberg Bay, among others already on its growing CV, DirtLab
has a completely different and refreshing approach to building a bike park.
DirtLab’s first step is to look at the bike park itself, where it is situated and
which kind of rider will actually utilize the park.
A concept of what the park should look like is then put together.
“We will only start the build when it’s viable. The development must make
sense and it must be sustainable,” said a spokesman for the company.
DirtLab will then build anything from a pump track to a table top, or any
feature aimed at making to make that particular bike park more popular
and hopefully turn that park’s profitability around.
And the statement: “We share our passion and expertise with our clients
while offering them peace of mind,” on the company’s website certainly
seems to be true, if the quality and popularity of some of the bike parks
where DirtLab has left its mark is any measure to go by.
“We are particularly proud of the skills training areas we have built,” added
the spokesman, “which isn’t only a collection of obstacles on a track where
teaching can take place but it is also a track where coaches can gauge
performance by timing each lap.”
As a corporate member of the International Mountain Bicycling Association
(IMBA), DirtLab will often make use of experience and knowledge gained
overseas and currently also has a contract to build a bike park in Oregon,
USA with a number of very exciting developments on the cards for the future.
Added to this, DirtLab designers and builders have experience in taking
part in international and national-level mountain biking competitions as well
as degrees in sport science which ensures that bike parks built are of the
highest international standards.
“We hope to use this experience to uplift the standard of bike parks in South
Africa,” explained the company spokesman, “as we believe we are a little
bit behind international standards.”

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ISSUE 15 DECEMBER 2015 / www.moderncyclist.co.za

The company uses specialised but small construction machines like Bobcat
to shape the landscape into routes, trails, tracks and courses that make up
some of South Africa’s more popular bike parks.
“Our establishment is centred on continued innovation and combines
knowledge from various industries including construction, design,