Brent Patterson (BMX rider)

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Brent Hathaway Patterson (b. April 9, 1961 in Oakland, California USA. Moved to Hayward, California when he was four months old.[1]) is a former American "Old School" bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.

Brent Patterson is the elder of what was the most potent sibling combinations that bicycle motocross has ever seen. With Brian, the Brothers Patterson are the only brothers to both hold the National No.1 Pro title in any major BMX sanctioning body; Brent in 1980 and Brian in 1982 and 1983 in the American Bicycle Association.

Contents

[edit] Racing career

Note: Professional first are at the national level unless otherwise indicated.

Started Racing: Early 1976 at 14 years old in Hayward, California.

First race result: First Place in 14 "Expert". However, at the time classes were determined by size and weight and not proficiency. Brent Patterson, being big for his age was placed with the experts.[2]

First local win: See above. It was the beginning of a three race winning streak.

Sanctioning body: None, unaffiliated track.

First sponsor: AAA Fire Control, his father's company.[3]

First National win:

Turned Pro: 1978 aged 17

First Pro race result:

First Pro win:

Height & weight at height of his career (1981-1984): Ht:6'1" Wt:~200lbs.

Retired from the senior pro* circuit: Mid 1986, 25 years old. As is usual, many former top pro BMXers do not retire completely but race for fun or if there is a particularly large pro purse, such as the 1987 NBL World Cup.[4] Brian and Brent occasionally raced in several large races for both reasons in 1987, but their days of seriously contending for No.1 racer title in any sanctioning body were over. Brent retired fully from BMX after not making the main at the World Cup and concentrated on Motorcycle Motocross. Patterson Racing Products went out of business in the summer of 1986 due to production problems.[5]

*In the NBL "A" Pro/Elite; in the ABA "AA" Pro.

[edit] Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsor. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors.

[edit] Amateur

  • Speedo Racing Products: 1976-Late 1977.
  • Patterson Racing Products: Late 1977-1986. Brent and Brian would turn pro with Patterson Racing. Detailed below.

[edit] Professional

  • Patterson Racing Products: Late 1977-1986. This was the family owned BMX bicycle firm started by their father Vance Patterson in late 1977 after Speedo, who Vance Patterson had invested in, showed no signs of progress toward developing a BMX racing frame, the original reason why Vance Patterson invested in the first place.[6] It was his and his brothers only factory sponsor in their Senior pro careers (discounting AAA Fire Control.). That Speedo team, despite getting offers from other firms to join their factory teams, they opted to stay together and the original Patterson team of Brian, Brent, Kevin Riding, John Crews, and Mike Koron was formed. Vance Patterson started Patterson racing also in part to fulfill his original intent with Speedo to come out with a BMX bicycle frame and signed up the ex Speedo Team and added Richie Anderson to it.[7] Richie would virtually become part of the Patterson family and stay with Patterson for many years, much longer than the average stay a top amateur would stay with one team. In contrast, Richie Anderson would not stay long with any one sponsor after Patterson Racing.

[edit] Career Bicycle Motocross titles

[edit] Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • 1976 15 Expert Grand National Champion

National Bicycle League (NBL)


American Bicycle Association (ABA)


Other Titles

  • 1976 California Cup 15 year old class Champion

[edit] Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)


National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • 1981, 1982, 1983 National No. 1 Pro Cruiser
American Bicycle Association (ABA)
  • 1980 National No. 1 Pro

Brent came in ABA No. 2 pro in 1982 when Brian became No. 1 pro for that year, the only sibling combination to do so.

United Bicycle Racers (UBR)
  • 1981 National No. 1 Pro Cruiser
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)
  • 1982 Pro Cruiser Champion
Other Titles
  • 1983 Jag Pro World Champion (Non sanctioned)

[edit] Notable Accolades

  • Brent won Bicycle Motocross Action's Number One Racer Award (NORA) for 1980.*[8]
  • He was the first to win a National No.1 plate, amateur or professional, three consecutive times and to do so consecutively in any sanctioning body (Pro cruiser 1981,'82,'83 ABA).
  • Brent Patterson is a 1988 ABA BMX Hall of fame inductee.

*In the early years of the NORA cup the year the balloting was done and tallied was the year it was considered awarded. In 1983 it was switched to when the winner of the cup was presented to the public in BMX Action magazine of the following year (usually in the February or March issue) it was considered awarded and not during the closing months of the previous year when the voting and tally takes place. This was done to give the rider (and the winners of No.1 bicycle and No.1 Factory Team) maximum publicity and advantage financially. Therefore under the new system Brent Patterson was awarded NORA in 1981.

[edit] Significant injuries

  • Broke his ankle in late 1979 that had him laid up for three and a half months. He was able to win the 1980 ABA no.1 pro title anyway.[9]
  • Injured shoulder in late 1980 that kept him out of the 1980 NBA Grand National.
  • Injured knee at a Howell, New Jersey NBL race on July 15, 1984. Laid up for approximately four weeks. Brother Brian broke his arm at the same race.[10]

[edit] Peccadilloes

[edit] Events and interest outside of BMX

[edit] Post Racing Career

Like a lot of BMXers, Both Brent and his brother Brian returned to the Motorcycle Motocross roots. Both of them did rather well, with Brent rading professionally. They also raced occasionally in large BMX races in the late 1980's. Brian raced in the ABA Veteran Pro class in the mid 1990's

[edit] Other significant sibling combinations in BMX

[edit] BMX and general press magazine interviews and articles

  • "Speedo's No.1 Man: Brent Patterson" Bicycle Motocross Action August 1977 Vol.2 No.3 pg.10
  • "Brent Patterson" BMX Plus! February 1981 Vol.4 No.2 pg.18
  • "Brent on Psyching" BMX Action April 1982 Vol.7 No.4 pg.35 sidebar on maintaining your psychological edge at races.
  • "Brent on Cruiser Racing" BMX Action April 1982 Vol.7 No.4 pg.37 sidebar about the new Cruiser classes.
  • "Top Pros Speak Out" BMX Action April 1982 Vol.7 No.4 pg.62 Joint interview with Stu Thomsen, Greg Hill, Kevin McNeal, Eric Rupe, Harry Leary, and Scott Clark, speaking about various issues facing the racing world.
  • "Devonshire" BMX Action July 1984 Vol.9 No.7 pg.33. One of eight mini-interviews with other racers held during the 1984 Devonshire Downs NBL race.

[edit] BMX Magazine covers

Bicycle Motocross News:

0

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

Bicycle Motocross Action:

  • December 1977/January 1978 Vol.1 No.6
  • November/December 1978 Vol.2 No.2
  • Februrary 1980 Vol.5 No.2
  • September 1980 Vol.5 No.9
  • April 1983 Vol.8 No.4 with Toby Henderson.

BMX Plus!:

  • January 1982 Vol.5 No.1
  • September 1983 Vol.6 No.9 with Stu Thomsen

Bicycles and Dirt:

Go:

0

Snap:

0

[edit] End Notes

  1. ^ BMX Plus! February 1981 Vol.4 No.2 pg.18
  2. ^ Bicycle Motocross Action August 1977 Vol.2 No.3 pg.11
  3. ^ BMX Plus! February 1981 Vol.4 No.2 pg.18
  4. ^ BMX Action November 1987 Vol.12 No.11 pg.24
  5. ^ BMX Plus! April 1988 Vol. No.4 pg.16
  6. ^ BMX Plus! February 1981 Vol.4 No.2 pg.18
  7. ^ Bicycle Motocross Action April 1982 Vol.7 No.4 pg.33
  8. ^ Bicycle Motocross Action February 1981 Vol.6 No.2
  9. ^ BMX Plus! February 1981 Vol.4 No.2 pg.18
  10. ^ BMX Plus! November 1984 Vol.7 No.11 pg.10

[edit] External links

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