Story and photos by Jason Ryan
You
know what? Fuck the motherfucking Fort. That’s what I said last year, but I’m
saying it again. I only went out there this year because it was supposed to be
the last one. The last fucking one, that’s the word Jack Nourse was spreading.
But on the last day of the comp when I talked to Steve Pattea, the main guy in
charge of the Fort BMX Park, he said he didn’t know if this was the last one.
And why wouldn’t he do another one if people will come out? I think the tribe
wants to get as much out of it as they can, and that’s understandable. You
don’t want a ghost course out there. If it’s still standing, they might as well
hold some kind of event on it when the Orme Dam Celebration comes around each
November. A good number of people came out this year to ride, apparently way
more than last year, so I’m guessing Steve will hold it again next year. Why
wouldn’t he? He sold the tribe on the whole thing originally by saying it’s a
positive activity for the kids. BMX is still a positive activity, so if kids
will go out there for the contest, then mission accomplished.
In all my conversations on
that Sunday, I also talked to a guy out there who had come out to watch his son
ride. He had helped do some maintenance to prepare the Fort for the comp as
well. He was saying how the contest could be a lot better if the ramps and dirt
jumps were worked on more before the contest, and if it was ran better. The
reality is, it’s not going to get better. If they even hold another one. A lot
of you new riders are like that kid’s dad—you hardly know anything about the
Fort. So I’ll give you the history.
The Fort originally started
as a dirt jumping contest. In fact, it started as one big-ass dirt jump, with a
smaller rhythm section next to it, but the contest was only held on the bigass
dirt jump. The first Fort, held back in 1996, was the first real dirt jumping
contest Arizona ever had. I had held a box-jump and mini-ramp contest at
Thrasherland before then, but not dirt. Steve’s son TJ got into racing, and
Steve had gotten very involved in racing as well, and he helped out the team TJ
was on quite a bit. TJ got interested in dirt jumping, and that’s why Steve
decided to build a small track and dirt jumps on the fairgrounds and hold little
races and a dirt jumping contest.
The Fort’s street course
was built in 1998, when Jason Davies started talking with Ron Wilkerson about
holding one of his 2-Hip contests out there. Steve decided to build a street
course for the event, and for the kids on the rez to enjoy throughout the year.
The main people that built that course were Steve, Steve’s brother-in-law, a guy
from Ohio named Dave (who had helped build the original Chenga World), myself,
Jose Yanez, and the vert riders Jim Burgess, Jason Davies, and Joe Tecca. We
busted ass and built the course over three weeks time, which, although it didn’t
have as many ramps as today, still had a pretty nice ramp selection. Now Jack
had been running the Fort contest and building the dirt jumps at the fairgrounds
and Steve’s house for Steve since 1997, and he was building the jumps again for
the ’98 contest, but he didn’t want anything to do with the street course. Jack
finally broke down after we had built ramps for two weeks and came over and
started helping to build the street course when it looked like we wouldn’t
finish in time. Nonetheless, the two people who easily put in the most hours
building the street course were Dave and myself.
The Burning Bike 2-Hip contest was insanely good. A bunch of pros including Dave Voelker, Josh Heino, Troy McMurray and Cameron Birdwell came out, BMX Plus! and Ride BMX covered the event, there was overnight camping, tons of great riding, and a killer vibe. Bands played just off the street course’s asphalt, a giant mockup of a BMX bike frame was burned, and the lights were even left on so people could ride all night long on Saturday night.
Now with a contest that good, it made it hard for Jack and Steve to live up to the expectations everyone had in subsequent years. They did, however, still manage to pull off good contests over the next three years. It was at the 2002 Fort contest that many people realized it had hit the wall.
You see, Steve had started
this whole thing because of his kid. When TJ lost interest in BMX, so did
Steve. And although Jack continued to ride, he lost interest in the Fort and
the contest as well. With the trails mostly too burly for his taste, and with a
street course he never really liked and seldom rode in the first place, he
didn’t care about the Fort.
Look, I’ll be the first to tell you that running a contest can be a major pain
in the ass. I give Steve and Jack props for pulling off good Fort contests in
the past. There is usually very little reward for all the effort it takes to
pull off a good comp. I learned this when I held my Thrasherland contest. When
it was time to give out the prizes to the winners, stupid me, I didn’t keep a
close enough eye on the prizes as I was handing them out, and some shady pricks
ganked a bunch of them. After running my first contest, I decided it would also
be my last. But when Randy Russell and Shawn Butler came up with the idea of
holding a Shawn Butler Dirt Jumping contest in Phoenix, and the organizers of
the Cactus Cup Mountain Bike Race hit me up for some kind of BMX event in
conjunction with the race, it was an opportunity too good to pass up. All it
took was Lucas Porzio bitching and nitpicking every single goddamn thing I did
while running the contest (not to Shawn, of course, just to me), to remind me
why I swore off holding another contest in the first place.
But now Jack hasn’t been
feeling this contest for years, and Steve has been completely done with BMX for
a long time now. So why are they still holding this contest? I think it’s
because of the tribe and Steve’s reputation. Steve sold the tribe on the BMX
thing, and they put a lot of money into building the street course.
Conservative estimates are $40,000 just for the original wood and asphalt pad.
As far as I can tell, the tribe has kicked down money every year to help fix the
ramps. The problem is, though, that the money never seems to be enough, and
they can’t get good builders to build for free. Another problem has been the
quality of construction.
When the ramps were originally built, they were straight titties. Steve had his brother-in-law (who builds houses for a living) build the decks and anything that wasn’t transitioned. The rest of us built the trannies. There were over 80 years of combined ramp-building experience that originally built that place. Over the next couple years, however, Steve began to alienate the original builders so badly that none of us wanted to help build or maintain anything out there. So the people that stepped in to help build were very green. Steve’s brother-in-law continued to help, but he still wouldn’t touch transition. Some good ramps and schemes were hatched out there, but most of the stuff was poorly built, and couldn’t withstand the beating that the sun and riders dished out. It wasn’t until 2005 that the new builders’ skills had caught up with the demands of the job, when the new spine, wallride with 8’ quarters on the sides, and hitching post were built. And now they’re starting over again, because it didn’t seem like one ramp on the whole course had been maintained or refurbished this year. I don’t know if there was no money put in, or if no one came out to build, or if they’re coasting to the end, but the condition of most of the ramps were horrific. I even heard Jack announce that no one should go to the top of the old wallride, because there was a giant hole in the deck up there.
A giant hole in the deck? You’re shittin’ me! This is unconscionable and
completely unacceptable! You CANNOT build a giant street course and expect not
to have to maintain it! The asphalt has needed re-coating for some time now,
too, as exemplified in the picture below. You know the mini ramp with the spine
in the middle? The flatbottom of the ramp was made out of 4’x 4’ pieces that
were pretty much just pushed together, with no layer on the top connecting
them! You don’t build ramps that way! Someone will jack their shit on one of
those corners. And sure enough in 2005, Lionel from Flagstaff jacked the shit
out of his knee, surprise, surprise, on a flatbottom corner of the mini.
I’ve heard some talk on the internets that the ramps at the Fort were and have been in bad condition because not enough riders have “stepped up” and helped build. Fuck that. Over the course of thirteen years, I’ve watched Steve and Jack alienate every good ramp building rider in the Valley, not to mention bike shop vendors, bike manufacturer vendors, and sponsors through their unprofessional and unethical behavior. Here’s an example, one of many I could give:
In 2006,
I rode at the Fort. I had paid for my entry fees, and had my bracelet, and I
shot video during the contest. Steve made a point of it afterwards to track me
down, and tell me he was “giving me a break” on shooting video. Then he said
next year I’d have to pay $100 for the privilege of shooting video on the street
course. What the shit is that shit? Dude’s on a serious power trip. Any
pictures and video that come out of that contest just promote it. He acted as
if I was making a bunch of money off shooting at the Fort, which is complete
crap. Stupid. Like he needs my goddamn money anyways.
The onus is on them, not on
us, to bring that place up to snuff for a big contest. When I solicited riders
to help with our bikes in skateparks effort, I asked for free help, too. But
now, everyone that helped (and indeed everyone that didn’t help as well) can go
down and be rewarded for their efforts by getting to ride any of 6 bike-friendly
skateparks in the Valley any day they want. I haven’t been able to go legally
ride the Fort whenever I wanted since, oh, about the year 2000.
There are people out there that think this Fort contest can be fixed and it can be as good as it should be. Possible, maybe, but not probable. It won’t happen unless Steve changes. He headed up the construction of the street course and trails , he runs it, and the tribe isn’t just gonna let someone else take it over, so you have to deal with Steve. The problem is that Steve doesn’t care about it anymore. He’s just going through the motions. There’s no passion there from him or Jack, and though they’ve made attempts to mask it over the last few years, it’s glaringly apparent now.
But enough on them and the Fort. Ultimately, this isn’t a bag on Steve and Jack fest. It’s over, the thrill is gone, and we need to move the fuck on. Steve and Jack are hardly geniuses. Anyone with a decent head on their shoulders and passion for BMX can hold a great contest. And now we’ve got 6 bike-friendly parks that could potentially be used for such a contest. I’ve also seen some cool little street jams pulled off over this past year. With more organization, a small group of riders could pull off contests as good as the Fort used to be. I myself want to hold another contest, but in my profession, the winter is my busiest time. It’s when it gets hot and no one wants to sweat their hairy nads off in a contest that film and video work slows down in Phoenix. And why should I have to do everything anyways? You guys can do it just as well as I could, so get off your asses and contribute! Like I’ve said many times, this scene is only as good as we make it.
