BATH

Bath Middle School is now home to the state’s largest bicycle pump track.

“ It’s right in between BMS and the skate park. This is the largest indoor skatepark in the state of Maine, and that’s now the largest pump track in the state of Maine,” said BMS teacher Lawrence Kovacs.

The pump track is a short, looping dirt track with humps and banks. Instead of pedaling nonstop around the track, riders are supposed to use inertia to wind their way up and down the dirt hills, turns and tables.

“When you get good, you can actually propel yourself around by pumping the bike without having to peddle,” explained Kovacs. “It’s a great way to build skill. It’s really hard.”

The pump track was made possible with a $2,705 grant from the Bicycle Coalition of Maine that was announced in September. The Specialized Foundation, which donated 25 mountain bikes to the school this year, flew out experts from California to help construct the pump track, with plenty of labor provided by BMS students, over the last couple of rainy days.

“Something that I envisioned taking over a year took about 36 hours with these guys behind the controls of some heavy equipment,” said Kovacs. “This happened very, very quickly.”

Steve Balboni, Director of the Bath Parks and Recreation Department, helped the school navigate permitting so that it could be created quickly, and dirt for the track was donated by the city. Tools were loaned by the Bath Fire Department and the Kennebec

Estuary Land Trust.

“ I just got over nine years of service in the Marine Corps — I’ve got a pretty good idea of how government works. I have never seen local government work like this. It’s amazing,” said Specialized Foundation Program Director David Wood. “It’s really a model case study of how it should work.”

Though located at BMS, the pump track is open to anyone.

“We envision this as sort of a launching point for mountain biking. There’s a lot of great mountain biking in Bath. This can be a place to start or end rides — for people to gather,” said Kovacs

“ It’s going to be open whenever. It’s not fenced off,” he added, although he also noted that people shouldn’t ride on it in certain conditions, such as rain.

“This project would not be here without Lawrence Kovacs,” said RSU 1 Superintendent Patrick Manuel. “ We would not have our FLOW program (…) without Lawrence Kovacs. The robotics program in the district would not have happened without Lawrence Kovacs.”

Earlier this year, Kovacs applied for the two grants– one for the bikes from the Specialized Foundation and one for the pump track from the Bicycles Coalition of Maine– that made the track possible, and saw it through to completion.

“ The initiative that he takes is just very impressive,” said Manuel.

With the new mountain bikes, Kovacs starts every school day biking with a group of students through the area, teaching them about bike skills and health.

nstrout@timesrecord.com