BMX rider, Ocoee native Colt Fake featured on X Games

OCOEE  On any given day, you could find Ocoee native Colt Fake performing 360-degree twists, jumping 30-foot gaps or casually jumping his bike off a roof.

That’s because Fake, 28, is a professional BMX rider. 

When he was younger, his dad, Tim, dabbled in bikes, and he taught Fake to ride. Fake got into skateboarding in middle school, but when he was 13, a new friend who also rode BMX bikes moved to his neighborhood, which spurred him to get back into BMX. 

Fake began to take riding more seriously as he neared 18. He and his best friend, Rickey Bates, went on many adventures on on their bikes. Bates always had a camera in hand and filmed whatever they were doing.

“He would talk me into doing things most of the time, and it kind of naturally happened,” Fake said. “It wasn’t like we were going out filming like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna get famous.’ We just wanted to film and make cool videos for our friends.”

ON THE RISE

This was all back around 2006, when YouTube was rising and posting videos on the Internet became more prominent. Fake’s friend put together a video of him adventuring and performing tricks, and the video blew up, even getting on to a BMX website.

Shortly after, Sean Burns, of the company Bone Deth, contacted Fake through MySpace messaging. Since then, Fake’s friend has been documenting him and helping get his name out there. 

Fake is mostly involved in street or freestyle riding because he loves the adventure and camaraderie that comes along with it. While on rides, he and friends will explore and look for staircases, ramps and more to perform tricks on.

“I feel like BMX is the best way to explore a new city because it’s faster than walking, and you can cover more ground than in a car,” he said. “You’re actually out there, you can ride down an alley or through the grass, you’re not contained to just roads or sidewalks. It’s awesome, the thrills of finding something in the street and in the mind seeing something you can do and making it a reality.”

MOTIVATED BY TRAGEDY

The ride hasn’t always been smooth. 

Bates, who started a BMX filming company called Banned 4 Life, was involved in a car crash in Arizona in September 2011. Bates and another mutual friend, Gary Demartine, died.

The loss was tough, but Bates’ father approached Fake about carrying on the company in his memory. He obliged and has been working on the company video since they died.

“I’ve been working on it for five years now, and it’s nearing completion,” he said. “My goal is to get that done and get it out there for the world to see, and just to keep the ball rolling and keep producing new content and staying fresh.”

While he keeps up with Banned 4 Life, he’s also traveling and spending time adventuring and filming. He takes around six trips each year out of state for riding, but several more in state. 

This past weekend he spent time in Austin, Texas, filming. 

BROADENING HIS HORIZONS

It’s paying off, too. Fake was recently featured on the X Games’ Real BMX 2016 segment, where he was voted Fan Favorite and was named a silver medalist. He was also featured on a segment from ABC’s “World of X Games: Real BMX” broadcast.

“It was crazy; it felt good knowing that the BMX community is into what I do and all the feedback from it was amazing,” he said. “It motivated me to ride more because I motivated other people to ride more. I like the fact that somebody can watch my video and that pumps them up to go outside and ride their bike.”

Looking ahead, Fake is excited to complete the Banned 4 Life company video and spend as much time as he can biking, adventuring and filming with his friends.

“My goal is just to keep riding, stay healthy and injury-free, keep filming more videos and keep going on trips with my friends,” he said. “Ultimately, it keeps me feeling youthful and sane. If I didn’t have my bike and couldn’t go pedal around and do what I want to do, I’d go crazy. It’s the biggest stress relief.”

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].