A dirt field of dreams

Jaeden Ferguson, 19, and Chris Desfosses, 20, are the two main diggers from Denver Parks and Recreation responsible for maintaining the city’s bike parks. 

Both started as volunteer diggers while still in high school and learned the ropes from Anaya before filling his position. 

“It’s always been a part of what this park was built on,” Desfosses said about the volunteer effort.

Ferguson lives 15 minutes away from the park and stumbled upon a dig night while exploring the neighborhood on his bike about four years ago. That’s when he met Runes, along with 15 other volunteers, who handed him a shovel and introduced him to the park’s community.

“I think the really cool thing about parks like Ruby Hill is that it's really living, breathing art. Every day you have to go in and work on it and have somebody testing it, understanding how it's riding,” Ferguson said.

“Those same people who are building the jumps and know how they ride are the same people who are going to be teaching the young ones, the next generation, how to get those jumps going. I think it's really important to have that hands-on community feeling where everybody's involved.”

Teaching and uplifting newer riders is a tradition and culture at the park, Ferguson said. Runes served as a mentor for Ferguson, who now passes down advice to younger riders.

Unlike the bike park in Barnum, which has bigger, steeper jumps, Ruby Hill Bike Park is designed to accommodate a range of skill levels. Anaya, a BMX professional, said he can practice his tricks while his son makes laps on the pump track.

The newer riders are inspired by the more experienced riders, and the seasoned riders are excited to see the progress made by the beginners, Ferguson said.

The volunteer Dig and Ride nights start in the spring and continue through mid-October. On volunteer nights, the track is open from 4 p.m. until dark. Ruby Hill Bike Park doesn’t have any lights, so when winter rolls in and the sun sets earlier, there’s no activity at the bike park in the evening.

“I can't think of any parks that have lights in Colorado, as far as bike parks,” Runes said. “Skateparks do, baseball fields do. Once it gets dark early, a lot of people get off work and would love to ride, but they don't have a place to go.”

Earlier this year, Denver City Council asked residents to fill out a survey describing the projects they’d like to see included in the Vibrant Denver Bond, a general obligation bond that voters will see on the November ballot. Runes and other riders submitted several requests for lights at Ruby Hill Bike Park.

The bond’s executive committee chose not to include lights at the bike park on the upcoming bond. Runes said the bike park community doesn’t currently have any plans for another way to secure lights for the park.