Getting pumped

Growing up in Chico, every time Kyle Warner got in real trouble, it was for riding his bike—on downtown sidewalks, at Chico State, or at the Humboldt Avenue Skate Park.

“When I was 16, I got arrested for riding at the skate park,” he recalls. “I went down to the jail, got fingerprinted, got put in a holding cell for a minute. … I had to go to a gang violence class for eight hours on a Saturday.

“I was like, ‘Dude, I’m not trying to be in a gang, I’m trying to ride my bike!’”

Now 22 and a professional mountain bike racer, Warner says that, for as long as he can remember, Chico’s needed a public place “for kids to dork around on their bikes.” As he is well aware, bikes aren’t allowed at the skate park, and while there are races at the Silver Dollar BMX track, many kids “don’t thrive in that competitive environment,” he said.

That’s why Warner is spearheading the construction of a pump track—a looping dirt course of banked turns and rollers that allows riders to carry their momentum without pedaling. Warner’s proposal for the 240-by-180-foot track in the northernmost corner of Wildwood Park received final approval from the Chico Area Recreation and Park District on Nov. 20, and will be completed next spring.

Warner envisions the pump track becoming a hub for the mountain bike community at the doorstep of Upper Bidwell Park.

“You’ll be able to take the bike path directly to the pump track and see if anyone wants to go for a ride in Upper Park, or just mess around until someone shows up,” he said. “It’s going to be special.”

The last time the CN&R caught up with Warner (see “Jumping all in,” May 23, 2013), he was beginning his first professional season in an emerging mountain biking discipline that combines the speed and skill of downhill racing and the endurance of long-distance, cross-country riding—enduro.

Warner said his top-10 finish in an Enduro World Series event at Winter Park in Colorado that year was a “big breakthrough.” Going into this season, his goal was to rank among the top three riders on the North American Enduro Tour.

“I knew I had it in me, knew I could win if I did the right things,” he said.

Warner’s first-place finish in Aspen, Colo., in June made him the youngest rider to win a race on the North American circuit, and it was no fluke—he remained in first place overall through the last race of the season.

“So, I was, like, a national champion this year,” he said with a laugh. “The ultimate goal is to win the Enduro World Series, so this is a huge step in the right direction.”

A group of filmmakers followed Warner and a handful of top enduro riders this past season as they raced in Chile, Canada, Scotland, Italy and the United States, among other locations. The film, The Rise of Enduro, will premiere at Sierra Nevada’s Big Room on Dec. 19, with all proceeds benefiting the pump track. CARD has agreed to pitch in about $9,800 toward the course’s $22,500 price tag, leaving the rest up to community fundraising.

For Warner, helping build the track is a way to give back to the community that helped him launch his racing career.

“You can’t do it alone,” he said. “You have to have people pushing you, and Chico has been that for me.”