A few years back I got to visit SRAM’s Development and Training Centre in Schweinfurt, Germany, and I loved the fact that they had built a sweet little pump track in the inner courtyard of the building, but now they’ve taken things a step further. Actually they haven’t just taken it a step further, they’ve gone massive! Is this the best factory backyard track? Who knows, but here’s some photos from the official opening day along with the official word…

On Sunday, September 8th, over 250 people participated in the inauguration of the SRAM Backyard Track, the newest addition to SRAM’s Schweinfurt Development and Training Centre (DTC). Built over the course of the 2013 summer by a team of experts led by dirt jump athlete Joscha Forstreuter, the SRAM Backyard Track is a unique structure which combines a test track for off-road bicycle components, a pump track and various lines of jumps, from easy tables to competition-size doubles.

The goal of the project is in line with the activities of the Schweinfurt DTC: “Everyone here rides” says Marcus Schneider, Category Manager at  SRAM Deutschland “Our engineers are constantly on their bikes to test their latest developments, we have our marketing team which is always busy testing and hosting media and athletes, and generally we all love biking, in any of its forms. The Backyard Track adds one more dimension to our DTC, which is already a one-of-a-kind facility here in Europe: our OEM customers can test products right in our backyard, and our engineers can work on their feedback almost in real time.”

The SRAM DTC in Schweinfurt already hosted a smaller pump track in its inner courtyard, but the new Backyard Track is a whole different beast, having required 110 truckloads of dirt and a crew of over 10 people working almost around the clock for over one month.

Professional athletes like Joscha itself, Daniel Schäfer, Pierre Eduard Ferry, Timo Pritzel, Amir Kabbani, and Xavier Pasamonte all attended the opening, while SRAM employees, their families and other members of the Schweinfurt community got to experience the Backyard Track themselves or simply sit back and enjoy the show.

Even young kids got to experience the Track under the guidance of professional riders, and for those not to keen on mountain biking the latest SRAM road and urban products were available to test on the demo bikes fleet.

Photos: Cristoph Laue