The track, which cost $140,000, is the first of its kind in Greater Sudbury<\/p>\n
Published Jun 04, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 6\u00a0hours ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 6 minute read<\/p>\n
![\"Pump](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260603jl21776.su_.jpg\")
Austin Kurtis, 11, flies around the pump track at the Levack bike park in Greater Sudbury on Wednesday. Kurtis said he is excited to learn some new tricks this summer. Photo by John Lappa \/Sudbury StarArticle content<\/p>\n
Austin Kurtis is looking forward to learning a few new tricks this summer.<\/p>\n
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The 11-year-old brought his bike \u2013 and helmet \u2013 on Wednesday to the new pump track<\/a> in Levack for its official opening. His mother, Chantelle Gorham, helped bring the bike park to fruition. They were joined by a couple dozen people who were celebrating the new park under blue skies and a delightfully warm sun.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Recommended Videos<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Kurtis said he is really excited about the new track, located at the rear of the tot lot at Beech Street and Fourth Avenue. The black oval track includes a number of rolling bumps and berms that teach riders to pump their bodies up and down to maintain momentum. The track is also suitable for skateboards, scooters and inline skates.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very excited,\u201d Kurtis said. \u201cI\u2019m very confident everyone will love it and take care of it, and it\u2019ll be a place to connect and just have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Kurtis is still working on learning tricks, but he said he has ridden the track \u201ca lot and it has been very fun.\u201d<\/p>\n He hopes to spend some time this summer learning tricks.<\/p>\n \u201cI am learning to experience new things; experience how to do more stuff on pump tracks and stuff like that; and really just expand to different varieties of things,\u201d he said. \u201cIt might take a while, but I am hoping to (learn).\u201d<\/p>\n Sudbury Star Morning Briefing<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Kurtis acknowledged it will not be all smooth sailing. He said he is ready for a few cuts and bruises.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are going to be mistakes,\u201d he commented.<\/p>\n Gorham was emotional as she thanked the community for its support.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m relieved, mainly, because this didn\u2019t start as entertainment. It started as a safety concern,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m glad that we gave our youth an option for a meeting place, for something fun to do, and just to get off the roads.\u201d<\/p>\n Gorham said during her remarks that she decided to take action after seeing children doing wheelies and bike tricks along Municipal Road 8, the main thoroughfare that runs from Highway 144 through Levack. She knew they needed a safer option.<\/p>\n It took more than four years, but with a little help from the community, the funding came together.<\/p>\n The city contributed $68,000 to the $140,000 project through the Healthy Community Initiative fund; however, several businesses and groups also came forward, including Desjardins Ontario Credit Union, which donated $50,000; the Sudbury Credit Union; the Day Group; Glencore; and the Sudbury Community Foundation.<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cI got emotional talking about it, because literally when Desjardins phoned, I couldn\u2019t speak because the tears were just flowing,\u201d Gorham told The Star. \u201c(Tears) don\u2019t come easily to me, but it meant that maybe, finally, this could come to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n Gorham is used to planning community events, but she normally works solo. This time, she said she could not have done it alone.<\/p>\n \u201cI had no idea how long it would take,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was a community-led initiative. I might not have fully understood it, but the gist of it is that the community has to come up with the bulk of the funds, and that\u2019s kind of a daunting thing for somebody who\u2019s done community events for 20 years and never asked for outside help until now.\u201d<\/p>\n Gorham said without the donation from Desjardins, \u201cit could very well have been another four years.\u201d<\/p>\n There were synergies at play. Gorham said other, smaller contributions created leverage and helped encourage the Desjardins contribution.<\/p>\n \u201cA $5,000 or $10,000 donation is significant, but when you\u2019re looking at a $125,000-plus project that kept growing \u2014 the more time passed, the more expensive the project became \u2014 I just never felt we would quite get there,\u201d she commented. \u201cSo I put in an application to Desjardins and I didn\u2019t think too much of it until they called, and then the waterworks started flowing, because I thought we\u2019re finally there. But they may not have contributed that amount had the previous sponsors not been on board. If this had just started, things might have looked very different, but they knew it would complete the project, and it did.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Mayor Paul Lefebvre and Ward 3 Coun. Michel Brabant attended the ceremony. Lefebvre said it was a celebration of community, as well as sport.<\/p>\n \u201cA community came together. When community comes together and asks the city for something, it\u2019s much more powerful, right?\u201d Lefebvre commented. \u201cIt\u2019s important that we invest everywhere. But I think it\u2019s a testament \u2014 a community coming together and saying, how can we benefit everybody? And that\u2019s what it\u2019s about. It\u2019s about everybody benefiting, and now the kids in this area have a very unique pump track.\u201d<\/p>\n The track in Levack is the first of its kind in Greater Sudbury, Lefebvre said. He expects it will draw visitors from other areas of the municipality. A pump track is a purpose-built track for cycling. It has a circuit of rollers,[a] banked turns and features designed to be ridden completely by riders \u201cpumping\u201d and generating momentum by up-and-down body movements, instead of pedalling or pushing.<\/p>\n Brabant said the tot lot attached to the pump track was also recently refurbished as part of the playground revitalization plan.<\/p>\n Advertisement 6<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n While the pump track had been installed for more than two weeks, Brabant said hosting an opening ceremony during Bike Month was \u201cbeautiful and a great idea.\u201d<\/p>\n The pump track is a step in the right direction, but there is more work to be done, Gorham said. Greater Sudbury\u2019s outlying communities are still routinely overlooked, in her opinion.<\/p>\n \u201cOutlying areas still deserve to be properly funded<\/a>. While we\u2019re grateful to have it, I don\u2019t know if it would have taken four years if it was an inner city project,\u201d she said. \u201c(Outlying communities) need to be properly represented. It\u2019s a lot, but I guess that\u2019s what was taken on during amalgamation.\u201d<\/p>\n Gorham said the disparity between the inner city and outlying communities is still a problem. She would like to see more equity, so that residents do not \u201cneed to claw for every bit of funding.\u201d<\/p>\n But she is pleased her community has a new asset that will keep kids entertained, busy, active and safe.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at the way the money\u2019s being spent in Sudbury, they don\u2019t do community-led projects for their arenas. The money is just found,\u201d she said. \u201cI wish this could have gone differently, that there didn\u2019t have to be the fight, but it\u2019s done now.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 7<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n As mentioned, June is Bike Month<\/a> in Greater Sudbury \u2014 the perfect time to unveil a bike park. Cycle North<\/a> has organized a number of activities and initiatives to celebrate two wheels, including weekly community rides, a Father\u2019s Day ride and a bike exchange.<\/p>\n John Lalonde, president of Cycle North, said he was \u201cvery excited\u201d to learn Levack would be getting a pump track.<\/p>\n \u201cOur community needs more initiatives like these, and places for youth to ride their bikes. A pump track, like they\u2019ve created, makes a safe space for kids to cycle, a place to hang with their friends and a place to build a community,\u201d Lalonde said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a ton of places in town that are accessible to youth \u2014 where they can ride their bikes in a safe environment without risk of cars. We\u2019re extremely happy for the community of Levack for creating that space for their cycling community.\u201d<\/p>\n Lalonde said he hopes the track in Levack will set a precedent.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope this inspires other communities to look into initiatives to build their own safe spaces for cyclists,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it be trails, pump tracks or cycle tracks \u2014 it\u2019s about having a place where someone can bike to, and use their bike, without having to transport the bike. This removes barriers for youth and we will see more future cyclists and a healthier community for it.\u201d<\/p>\n To learn more about Bike Month, please go to tinyurl.com\/mrypfvse<\/a>.<\/p>\n mkkeown@postmedia.com<\/a> Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links NewsLocal News The track, which cost $140,000, is the first of its kind in Greater…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715862,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-715861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715861"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715861\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Pump](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260603jl21781.su_.jpg\")
Chantelle Gorham, of the Levack CAN, makes a point to the crowd at the official opening of the Levack bike park on Wednesday. The pump track came to fruition as a result of community and city support. Photo by John Lappa \/Sudbury Star<\/p>\n![\"Pump](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260603jl21780.su_.jpg\")
Greater Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre said Wednesday the bike park is a testament to the power of community. Photo by John Lappa \/Sudbury Star<\/p>\n![\"Pump](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260603jl21772.su_.jpg\")
Jaxson Overvelde, 7, tries out the pump track at the Levack bike park on Wednesday. A ceremony was held to mark the official opening of the track. Photo by John Lappa \/Sudbury Star<\/p>\n
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