When motos ruin your dirt jumps

Lee,

Me and my friends found an abandoned DJ spot in a clearing in the middle of a public park. We worked really hard to turn it into a sick DJ/pump track/free ride park with a wall ride ladder bridges and everything.

The problem is these fat kids on dirt bikes (with engines ya know) keep crushing down all of our lips…even filling in our gaps turning them to stupid table tops so they can ride them.

Is there anything we can build or do to prevent or discourage electric or gas powered dirt bikes?

Charlie

Hey Charlie,

This is a tough one.

– On one hand, it’s your spot and you found it first, and you built it, and those jerks should stay away.

– On the other hand, they have a right to ride too, and open spaces like this are a rare commodity. Bike riders and moto riders are in the same boat. I experience this on both sides. We should find a way to coexist.

Here are some options:

My man Tony — athlete, artist and visionary — solved the same problem with Quickcrete.

The law
Chances are motos are not allowed on that land. You can call the authorities and get the moto riders kicked out, but you run the risk of the authorities kicking everyone out. Once public land managers knows about a dirt jump spot, it’s their legal obligation to make it safe or get rid of it. You know which they’ll choose.

If you get your spot closed, you’ll have to find another, and you’ll run into the same problem all over again.

Intimidation
As uncool as this is, intimidation is the most common form of dirt jump law. Basically, if you mess with our jumps we will kick your ass (or at least make things unpleasant for you). This requires a certain personality type — a person I wouldn’t want to hang out with. Do you have any skinhead straight edge hardcore dudes in your crew?

The bully approach has kept me away from a couple DJ spots, and once it almost turned to a fist fight.

We’d been having problems at our local spot for months. This guy was claiming the whole area, and he was actually taking dirt off our jumps to make his own. Once, he dug up a lip while we were riding it. On one Tuesday he was being an extraordinary jerk. It was just the two of us out there. He was blaming me for messing up his jumps (ridiculous), and he said if he found out I did it, he would kick my ass. That was it. I told him, Let’s work this out right now, just the two of us. I was relaxed and smiling, but I was ready to tear the guy apart, and he knew it. He backed down, and I haven’t seen him since.

I am by no means a Tough Guy. Shoot, I don’t even have tattoos. But bullies are used to pushing. When you push back they usually back down.

You don’t have to go all Straight Edge on the guys, but you should be firm. It’s the only way to set boundaries and get what you want.

Tony’s jumps hit perfectly, but they were intimidating. That kept some of the bad apples out of the orchard.

Teamwork
You have to make friends with those guys (you might have to start by being tough), and work something out. Maybe:

– They help maintain the area.

– You set up different lines for different machines.

– If you are really serious about this site, try paving the takeoffs and landings. My buddy Tony Santoro had the same problem in Las Vegas, and he solved it with many bags of Quickcrete: Protect your jumping paradise

If this situation continues to devolve, nobody will get to ride.

Be strong. Be friendly.