2010

2010 saw a turning point for the trails. Nigel approached the Adelaide City Council for assistance and found that the facility was scheduled to be torn down, having been deemed an insurance risk due to its poor condition. Fortunately the Council were willing to reevaluate their decision and formed an agreement to keep the trails. As part of the agreement new dirt and earth movers were brought in to fix some of the more significant pot-holes and alter the inefficient drainage. Importantly; a water point was also installed and one of the existing benches was converted into a tool box. Callum and Nigel also became official ACC volunteers to maintain and continue to upgrade the trails.

While the earth moving appeased the council and fixed some of the most glaring problems, the overall park layout very much competition specific and conditions hadn't changed much. The new intent was for jump trails which meant long lines of multi-directional jumps mixed with other features like berms and rollers. Achieving this meant creating a downhill gradient for the whole park (the jumps had been built going uphill, limiting speed) and redirecting the drainage to prevent the park flooding in winter.

In order to achieve this, one end of the start hill was built higher than the other to make a definitive starting point and provide more gradient. At the lower end of the start mound a small hip into the 'Right Set' was begun while a berm-to-step-down entry to the 'Ten pack' line was also created.  The 'Left Set' was reversed in direction to become the 'Return Set' and linked via the 'Return hip', which was built beside the benches at the back of the park. This meant a rider could ride 'Right Set' to 'Return Set' and do a complete loop through 8 distinct jumps.

Below is some content from 2010

2011

In 2011 the focus was on improving what we had begun the previous year. The jumps were generally built squarer, thicker and wider; gradually the whole park started to take shape and ride with more flow. The 'Ten pack' gained a larger entry berm while the rest of the start hill was again upgraded becoming higher and wider. A pump track circuit was also built through the unused parts of the park.

Little Black Bike and Stowaway Distribution organised a flood relief jam in March and Zoli organised another Chromoly Crown, putting on the competition in May. Local rider Tom Hall took home first prize with a 720 over the first of 'Right Set' and donated the $100 prize money to the trails. Both events demonstrated the progress we had made was being well received and encouraged us to push the trails further.

Below is some content that came out of 2011

2012

The local scene had developed at the trails significantly by 2012 with a regular crew that was keen to ride and sometimes even dig. Similar to the previous year, stacking and packing focused on further improving the existing lines and developing a second 'Return Set'. This alternate return line was beside the original and had two entry points; a slightly awkward left transfer and the more predictable whale-tale feature. Entry into the 'Right Set' was fine tuned with the addition of a technical speed-jump before the main three jumps.

After showing the council some of the issues with existing tool storage they converted another bench into a second tool box that provided more room for tools, including a wheel barrow. Lights were also purchased which enabled digging at night. This meant we had more than enough tools for people willing to help and also that the short daylight hours of winter did not limit progress, which significantly benefitted the trails.

Kane Naaraat began regularly taking photo's at the trails, many of which were featured on websites and magazines and helped document the increasing number of riders. The photo's were also used heavily on a newly created Facebook page which was used to further promote the facility. The page enabled a convenient point of contact for riders, with regular updates on new work and current conditions. 

In 2012 the first Octoberfest event was held with the help of LBB and Stowaway Distribution. Taking the format of a laid-back 'good vibes' focused jam, Octoberfest was one of the few trails focused events in Australia and successfully attracted local and interstate riders. Holding an official event solidified the already building positive sentiment towards the jumps and enabled money to be raised to fund improvements and additions in 2013.

Below is some content that came out of 2012.

2013

2013 was a big year for the overall layout of the trails with three new line options being built. 'Speedline' was begun in late summer and was to be a real change from what had previously been built (focused on going as high as possible). Situated between 'Right Set' and the benches, someone riding Speedline was able to to pickup enough speed to overtake riders using other lines. This opened up new possibilities in the way trains of riders could move through the park and made for some interesting trial-and-error combinations. 

As summer faded a long-planned rebuild of the 'Ten Pack' began as the set had fallen into disrepair and disuse because of its poor spacing, uphill gradient and a singular direction. The old line was pulled down and the dirt used to create the replacement; 'Fiskars', which was built on a downhill gradient with wide variety of well spaced jumps. This marked a significant moment in the way the park was being changed as this was the time first an existing set had been redesigned and rebuilt. 

During the same period Angus Samson begun digging regularly and set to work building a Shark Fin through the middle of the Right Set. Eventually becoming the beginning of the 'Shotgun' line which snakes through the previously dis-used centre of the park and finishes at the return berm at the rear of the park. This berm now accommodated three lines feeding in it and was built significantly larger to handle this. 

Finally, our biggest project 'Sausage Fingers' was created. Nigel and Callum took a week off work and along with help from others, dug continuously for nine days through rain, hail and shine. Running as an option beside 'Return Set', 'Sausage Fingers' was designed and built for maximum size and the jumps provide more airtime than any others in the park.  

As October approached we once again built up the start hill in time for the Octoberfest Jam, which improved on the success of the previous year attracting significantly more people to ride and spectate. An Instagram account was also established to complement the Facebook Page and further increase our engagement. To top off this epic year the ACC also installed a permanent tire pump at the trails.

Below is some of the content that came out of 2013.

2014

By 2014 almost all of the original lines of the park had been revamped or entirely rebuilt with the exception of the original beginner line 'Mini Rhythms'. The neglected and under-used line still suffered the same gradient and pacing issues of many of the original jumps. Similar to the 'Ten Pack-to-Fiskars' change, we removed the old line entirely and spent our entire winter building a new lead-in/beginner line called 'Milkbones'. The new set more than doubled its predecessor's number of jumps and was designed to mimic the features found in every other set of the park; incorporating rollers, hips, berms and a variety of doubles. The line's diversity made it a great way of warming up and ensured a clear progression for the park from the smallest to largest.

Our third Octoberfest Jam was successfully held with the help of LBB and CTN imports. While we generally aim for the jam to simply be as 'fun' as possible, the turnout was definitely the largest yet, which provided us a another measuring stick of  how the profile of the jumps had grown.

Below is some of the content that came out of 2014.

2015

Building on building is the best way to describe 2015.  After some five years of working with the council on signage, two new signs were finally installed. Not only do they look good, they provide more information about how to use the jumps and are a great reference point for the public to gain an understanding of what City Dirt is about.  Proper signage like this was a huge advantage in the process of educating and has helped resolve many disputes over track use and care, which had previously been a major head ache. The second major boost to the infrastructure was the installation of three additional water points around the park. The ability to run two or more water points at reduced the jump prep time before riding from around 45 minutes to just 15 and made general maintenance much easier.

Digging was focused almost entirely on the start hill. To begin with, the berm into Fiskars was re-built by pushing it back and making it roughly twice its previous length. The starting point of the start mound was built into a higher platform accessed by steps and leading into a small step-down entry into both 'Right Set' and 'Fiskars'. These changes were a realization of a dream we started in 2009 and meant the trails could now be ridden with minimum effort thanks to a downhill gradient throughout every line. Further to this, a step-up/fly out jump was added to the end of Milk Bones bringing the whole set up to ten jumps in total.

Throughout the year we also worked with the Council and Lighthouse Youth Projects to deliver a number of  BMX skills clinics over the school holidays. Seeing the jumps getting more kids stoked on riding bikes provided a great insight of possibilities for the future.  Along with LBB we also organised the 4th Octoberfest.  The weather was the best year with far less wind than previous years and a super chill day was had by all.   

Below is some of the content that came out of 2015.

2016

Surfing dirt is how some people describe riding trails, and just like surfing weather plays a big role in trails. 2016 was one of the most memorable years for weather at the trails; January to May were all-time perfect for riding, but quickly forgotten once the rain started rolling in and didn't stop. While great for digging, by the time rolled around for Octoberfest the sun still hadn't emerged with any consistency, forcing us to postpone for a month or so. Unfortunately the weather refused to cooperate during the second attempt as well, forcing it to be reduced to a small ride day.

The year turned out to be the second wettest year on record which meant there was a whole lot of digging. Starting with 'Right Set', the double roller after the hip was changed into a single 'Mega Roller' which generated more speed and enabled us to increase the size the jumps afterwards. The lip on the second of right set was also brought back and slacked off slightly.  The jump following the entry hip of 'Speed Line' was changed into a single roller which lead into a double roller and jump into the berm. This set up made getting into Sausage Fingers relatively easy for the first time.

By far the biggest change was to the 'Return Set'; the idea was to dig down the bowls and to create more space between the jumps for more speed and better flow. The first jump's double wide landing was lengthened and the left hip on the 'Inside Return' was changed into a long-and-low. On the outside (next to Sausage Fingers) the previously unremarkable straight jump was turned into a steep poppy slight hip aptly named the 'Neckcracker'.  After this, the two lines converge into one large lip and another double wide landing. The start hill was also further improved, with a path carved around the back so when a rider finishes a run they loop straight back to the stairs - ready for another.

Below is some of the content that came out of 2016.

2017

At the start of 2017 the Adelaide City Council approached us with a desire to answer questions that insurance assessors, other councils and members of the public had been asking them for a while - How does this place operate?

Until this point all club members ('The Crew') had been registered as volunteers, but with very minimal council oversight and little to no investment at the trails. After many meetings, and a lot of hard work, it was agreed we would maintain our role as volunteers, engage a third party trail building company for safety assessment/auditing and put in place a working operational framework. The two key outcomes of this was a council committment of ongoing support in the form of tools and supplies and a funding injection for the entire Kurranga BMX park. Aside from the obvious physical benefits of this, one of he biggest take-away's was the Council's willingness to recognise the efforts put into the park and provide support in a way that doesn't compromise the quality of the trails.

The big hope of this is that it will have some profound positive affects on the park in the years to come. It will also provide a working model that can be used by other local governments and trail crews wanting an example of how to manage our unique sport.

In July Callum and Nigel took a week off work for another dig week. The first time this had been done was in 2013, and this time around some valuable lessons had been learnt. Initially an excavator was organised to do the bulk earthworks, meaning the majority of the week could be spent shaping, packing and sculpting by hand. The focus of the work was removing the third jump in 'Right Set' and using the dirt (and space) to extend the landing of the second jump. A roller was created in the new space and lead into a new step-up which transitioned into the completely re-built Return Berm/back section. During the dig week City Mag collaborated to create a short film and article about this role as creators and caretakers of City Dirt. Throughout the year the 'Fiskars' and 'Milkbones' lines were also modified to provide more progression and continuity with the larger lines. Some more 'subtle' changes were the addition of sumps, drain pipes and trees to better deal with heavy winter rains and water run-off. 

A number of low-key Jam's in April, October and December were also held. Although not the big events that Octoberfest had been in past years, all three days saw a good turn out and lot's of good times. The scene at the trails was stronger then ever in 2017 with the start hill frequently crowded by old and new faces alike. The persistence of previous years and the compounding effects of a strong trail culture were paying bigger dividends than ever - all the boys who started to ride the trails 5 to 7 years ago would often have things running smoothly in no time; it wasn't uncommon to turn up for a session and find the only thing left to do was ride. For the people who were still learning how to look after the trails this meant they could see the rewards of hard work and were more willing to get involved when asked.

In 2017 City Dirt was by far the most dialled it had ever been - thank you to everyone who showed respect and shredded the trails hard. Below is some of the content that came out of 2017.

2018

Building trails is like investing in the stock market; a lot of people want to get in and stack their money (or jumps) as high and as fast as possible, but end up watching it crumble when things don't go to plan. The best trails are the spots where people have held in over the years and worked consistently through the ups and downs. 2018 marked our tenth year at City Dirt and it was characterised by reaping the rewards of a decade’s worth of work, even as we continued to invest for the next decade.

The year started with a follow-through of the Council’s willingness to support City Dirt we had seen in 2017, as The Trail Collective began work on several Council-funded upgrades. Initially this was the installation of a revised start hill complete with new staircase and metal handrails up to the edges of the start platform. This had little direct impact on the trails but made the previously steep edges more gradual and introduced some important fall-protection. At the same time, a new tool shed made out of a large concrete drainage culvert was half buried into the back berm at the Northern end of the trails. The shed has enough room to keep all our tools in a neat and easily accessible space and represents a huge improvement for our digging work. To finish the shed off, we added a bluetooth enabled padlock (which allows us to easily grant or restrict access) and a custom set of door handles made out of some repurposed BMX bars (thanks Connor!).

In May we attended the City Of Adelaide (COA) sporting club awards and were finalists in two categories; Club of the Year and Volunteers of the Year. Following this in November, Nigel was also nominated in the Council’s general awards night and won the award for 2018 Volunteer of the Year. These nominations and awards were a fantastic recognition of our volunteer work and a great way to bring the trails to the attention of the wider community.

Having made several key layout changes over previous years, the digging work in 2018 was aimed at incremental improvements to the jumps and the wider park. We started the year reworking the unfinished ‘Shotgun’ line to make the features flow from start to finish. The berm after the ‘Shark Fin’ was pushed back and built-up to provide more room and the lip following was rebuilt to link back into ‘Fiskars’ hip landing. After this, we started reworking the start hill drop-in, changing it from a tight drop to a roll-in into ‘Right Set’ and a double-down roller into Fiskars. This enabled a simple relaxed pedal stroke before dropping-in, giving a faster and more controlled entry. We then adjusted the Right Set to work with this new speed by raising bowls, to distribute the downhill gradient, while also rebuilding most of the lips and landings. This was done in a progressive fashion starting with the first hip and working through the line, raising the levels jump-by-jump.

With our confidence in the the overall layout of the space we also planted a number of trees throughout the trails, aiming for key areas of water run-off and low traffic. The goal of these plantings is to reduce some of the destructive rain run-off seen in winter and provide shade for riders in the years to come. The Council’s biodiversity team also donated roughly 150 native plants and mulch which was planted on the sides of the new start hill to stabilise the banks and create a low-maintenance native garden.

Year-on-year we make comments like “the trails are running really well at the moment” but in 2018 the trails were always running well. While we have spent a huge part of our time digging at City Dirt the best rewards of the last ten years work have come from the riding. Not only were more lines, crossovers and options possible than ever before, but each line and combination flowed, making each session one to remember. For the first time since 2012 we didn’t hold a jam, but easily made up for it with a crew or regulars always down to ride. This would often be added to by new blood stepping up from the refreshed intermediate track or some nutter downside whipping the first hip!

Below is some of the content that came out of 2018.

2019

City Dirt, like most other trails, has a few dedicated diggers that do the lions share of the work. Callum had been one of those people for over ten years and in early 2019 he decided to move overseas and sample some legendary English spots for a while, which put City Dirt into uncharted territory. Trails, more than anything, need consistent hard work and the obvious fear was that they would decline without the enough people putting in the hours. Although the caliber of his work and level of dedication was sorely missed, it seemed to come at the right time because the community had grown to a size and strength that others were able to help in their own ways; leading to a even stronger community spirit and a hopeful future for City Dirt.

This community spirit was highlighted in our first project of the year aimed at revitalising the pump track built in 2018 behind the trails, which had unfortunately fallen into disrepair shortly after construction. While we wanted to rebuild the track into a more usable space for all abilities, we also wanted use the project to get the community around City Dirt to play a more active role in improvements. To achieve this, we devised a 30 day Kickstarter Campaign to raise $1500 to fund the use of machinery and show real demand for the hard work we were willing to contribute. The campaign proved an even greater success than we had hoped with more than $1500 raised in just 3 days. On top of this, Matt, from local trail building company ETS, volunteered to donate his expertise and machinery to the project, meaning the funds could be put towards purchasing some much needed additional soil. The initial earth moving was completed over two days and, after this, the community was further engaged with a ‘dig weekend’ held to finish off the track using hand tools. Our expectations were again blown away, with a tonne of people getting involved to put the final touches on the pump track.

Following the success of our initial community efforts, additional dig days were held over the winter. In the past we had focused these on the advanced track only but, given the mixed level of abilities, this time improvements were focused on the intermediate track and revitalised pump track as well as the advanced track.

Digging-wise the major project of the year was remodelling Milkbones by changing the start, rebuilding the first jumps, moving the last feature closer to the start hill and revamping the small return hip. The start platform for the line was widened and lengthened to accommodate more people and the entry berm was changed into a small sharkfin. After this, the first three jumps were built steeper and taller to make them more like small versions of the other jumps; creating a smoother progression between sets. Finally, towards the end of the year, the last feature was of the line was moved and rebuilt into a trick step-up with a soft landing. Other areas of the trails also saw some changes and the sharkfin in Shotgun was changed into a left-hand berm, creating an ‘S’ shaped berm-to-berm in the middle of the line. Following this, at the back of the park, we changed the exit from the back berm and rebuilt the Whale Tail into the Return Set. Finally, a quarter was built into the start hill at the end of Sausage Fingers to provide a fitting finish to the parks biggest jumps.

After all the community input throughout the year, on top of the fresh changes in the park, as winter turned to spring and spring turned to summer the riding sessions seemed to grow and grow. With new lines to experiment on and plenty of good-vibes encouragement, the jumps saw some riding that well and truely pushed the envelope. By the time New Years came around, it was impossible to have a ‘low-key’ ride, with so many people regularly coming out on weekends the sessions looked like organised jams. Even when the bikes were finally put down, the tools stored away and the jumps tarped, guys would often be chatting, telling stories and having a good time long after the sun had well and truly set.

Below is some of the content that came out of 2019.

2020

As volunteers we build City Dirt in our spare time with our normal work and other life comittments always competing for time at the trails. Sometimes we have taken annual leave specifically to dig trails for a week or so. How ever this time always comes to a end way to early and sending us back into the meat grinder of every day life. The thought of not having to work so we could build trails and ride bikes every day seemed like a fantasy until Covid-19 hit. Enter beast mode.

The year started off like any other in Jan and Feb we focused on resurfacing the pump track using soil stabaliser we had obtained through a grant from the council. As rumours of a Covid started to approach we managed to squeeze in a pumptrack race the week before the first lock down.

And then everything changed. Nigel was stood down from work from March through to October. It was a oppertunity to live out what was normally only a fantasy. Digging everyday. We started off by modifying a section of the intermediate track to make the track more interesting and flow better. After this we rebuilt the entire Fiskars line to make it a similar size the right set. We also adjusted some of the spacing which opened up more transfer options. Probably the most noteable change was the drop after the first berm which was built up into a sick dirt flat drop that we nick named “the loaf”. We also rebuilt the green room line with a mad hip from second of right set to get into the line. And if that wasnt enough we also built up the first three features in Milkbones. This made Milkbones start to feel more like a proper trails line. Oh and we also built a sick quarter to bank into the back of the berm on the intermediate track

With all of this digging going on and covid restrictions on indoor activity it seemed like every man and his dog was at the trails. The place was flourishing with people over these months and it was not uncommon to see a hundred or so people spread out across all the different tracks at any one time. It spoke volumes to the place we had been creating and our focus on making it a place for riders of all abilities to shred and progress.

As spring turned to summer we started doing Wednesday night sessions every week and on the back of the culture and climate of the time these where popping off every week. The scene was healthy and stronger then it had ever been. This was evident at our first ever Christmas eve jam that was a massive success and capped off a year for the books.

2021

Building trails is not easy. Dirt is heavy and more often then not the building is done when it is rainy cold. With no body is around to see what it really takes. And if its hard to build trails then its even harder to maintain the trails in a public setting with vandalisim, theft and constant lack of respect/education from the people that use the space. So it goes with out saying it is not possible for one person alone to hold down a trail spot.

In 2021 City Dirt Crew welcomed back two of its core crew. Callum returned from a few years in England and Connor came back from a injury that most would never returned from. It can not be understated what this means. As with most trails it is the work of the core few that gets the majority of the work done. This combined with now strong overall riding community saw 2021 flourish and buzzing growing scene seemed like the new normal.

Instead of big jams in 202o we had held more regular smaller jams which worked well and we continued this into 2021. Starting off the year we lit up the pump track for a invite only night jam. In March and September we held two more successful jams and this was capped off with a banger Christmas eve jam.

Digging wise we started off the year experimenting with mud bricks and generally resurfacing and fixing blown out features from previous summer. Majority of major work was done on Milkbones with the 3rd, 4th features bulked up and the 5th feature turned into a on off feature. The result was Milkbones flowing the best it ever had!!!