Influence vs. etiquette? Lew Buchanan Meets Szymon and Brendog’s Battleship from Rampage – The Hub – Mountain Bike Forums / Message Boards
20 hours ago, Lew Buchanan posted a video on Instagram showing a POV perspective of him jumping the new Battleship feature on the Red Bull Rampage track. The battleship was carefully constructed by crews Szymon Godziek and Brendan Fairclough during the multi-day excavation phase of this year’s Rampage. Szymon scored first, followed by Brendan and the rest is history. Lew credits Szymon and Brendan in his caption and goes on to explain that he and his excavation team spent time getting it up and running again.
My understanding from over 25 years of mountain biking, filming and photography experience is that the general consensus among builders and riders who create trails and features not intended for public use is this: If you didn’t help build the feature you may not use them without permission. The unwritten code is even more critical of a poacher who capitalizes on a lead or stunt he didn’t do by showing the act via photo or video.
This Rampage Zone and accessing its features is a completely different matter. I was told (but haven’t confirmed) that anyone can go into the zone and ride whenever they want. It is different from a secret location or stunt hidden in the forest to some extent. Most riders with a talent level high enough to ride the Battleship feature should be aware of the “code” or etiquette when setting up freeride trails and stunts. Poaching someone else’s stunt without asking and publishing it for personal gratification is behavior outside of this etiquette. However, just because someone knows the code doesn’t mean they have to follow it.
The first comment I see on Instagram is from Ben Deakin (@deakinator), a member of Brendan Fairclough’s excavation team and social media celebrity. Deakinator says, “My check better come in the mail!!!!”, followed by a bag of money emoji. Lew replies with: ““I appreciate the work you, Olly Bren, and everyone else have done to move this thing forward,” followscourtesy of three muscle arm emojis.
I don’t know if Deakin was bitter or funny, but I would imagine he was bitter. I would be. Lew’s positive responses to Deakin’s comment and the caption with references to the original excavation teams strategically position him to avoid being the villain. I don’t know if it’s possible to control comments on Instagram, but apart from Deakin’s comment, EVERY comment from Lew’s fan is positive. I couldn’t find a single comment that questioned the ethics of hitting and posting the gap to The Battleship.
Although I don’t want to admit it, I’m an old person. And as an old person, my first reaction to Lew’s move is disgust, but mostly disappointment. Having grown up in the MTB community, I believe that such a stunt is hallowed ground for the original builders and riders… at least for a mysterious, indeterminate period of time known only to the “code”. Seeing Lew pull the stunt a few days after the pioneers were baptized saddens me. It feels disrespectful, even if the “code” is completely arbitrary and elitist. Seeing the overwhelmingly positive response from commenters makes me sad. Now I understand that not everyone on Instagram saw Szymon or Brendan pull this stunt, but I have to imagine that almost all of Lew’s fans did. Without question, Lew pulling this stunt is ridiculous. But in my irrelevant opinion, striking wasn’t his ploy.
I like holy things. I like the idea of a mountain bike stunt being so serious that it will be revered as untouchable forever, or for a significant portion of time. At least long enough for the pioneers to be celebrated for their courage for a few weeks.
It’s tough out there for an old person, I guess. Yesterday, as I hit the rutted track at the local bike park in prime condition, I heard an even older man pedaling a gravel bike up a nearby singletrack and chatting with his friend. They watched groms do massive gap jumps on freeride bikes. The friend was in awe of the flying fetuses, but the older man replied, “Yes, those jumps are impressive, but they.” press their damn bikes up the hill.” So hey, at least it’s not me The old.
