The Gorham pump track, located next to the Gorham Middle School (GMS), was completed recently and is now officially open to bikers of all ages.

The pump track was the brainchild of local biker Rob Lavoie, chair of the Gorham Conservation Commission (GCC). Lavoie is the past president and a current board member of the Greater Portland chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association (Greater Portland NEMBA). He said the two groups partnered to help see his idea to fruition.

As an avid rider, Lavoie set out to build a trail network in Gorham over five years ago; and with the recruitment of a few other groups and individuals, created over 30 miles of trails on both town-owned land and private property. A group of dedicated mountain bikers was formed to build and maintain the trails.

Lavoie got the idea for a pump track from watching a video of his best friend’s son on a track. “Part of mountain biking is learn how to ride,” he said. “A pump track is a perfect place to learn how to handle a bicycle. You learn how to turn, balance and use your body to create momentum.” Since Gorham already had a trail network, Lavoie thought it should have a track as well.

With the GCC and Greater Portland NEMBA both on board, Lavoie looked for approval from the town for the location next to GMS, as it was adjacent to existing trails. The project was ultimately funded by many local businesses including Gorham Savings Bank, Happy Healthy Gorham, and Summit Church. Greater Portland NEMBA held a fundraising social at Sebago Brewing, and in all, $14,000 was raised for the track.

While the group had offers from local contractors and volunteers from non-profits to help build the track, Lavoie shared that none had experience. He turned to Google and came up with the name Alex Fowler of California. “This person had built close to 200 tracks all over the world, including one for Google and the US Olympic BMX training center,” Lavoie said. He picked up the phone and reached out to him.

Fowler agreed to come to Maine to build the pump track. Lavoie said, “He gave us a very generous offer which we accepted. At the time he had 30 projects in the queue but he pushed us up to the top of the list.”

With the project coming together, Gorham Sand & Gravel generously offered to donate dirt to the track, as well as bringing in heavy machinery to assist Fowler with the completion. Many volunteers from local businesses and the bike community donated their time which resulted in the track being completed in just one week.