Brian Foster

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Brian Foster
Personal information
Full name Brian Keith Foster
Nickname "Dirt", "The Blue Falcon", "BF"
Date of birth June 29, 1972 (1972-06-29) (age 35)
Country Flag of the United States United States
Height 1.85m (6" 1" Imperial)
Weight 74.8kg (165lbs. Imperial)
Team information
Current team Retired (racing)
Discipline Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
Role Racer
Rider type Off Road
Amateur team(s)
1982-1983
1983-1989
1989
1990
1990-1991		 JF&S Plumbing
Wheel Power
S&M Bicycles
TNT/Goodtimes
Cyclecraft
Professional team(s)
1991-1992
1993
1993-1994
1995-1998
1998-2000
2000-2003
2003-Present		 Cyclecraft
Hyper
Airwalk
Schwinn/Airwalk
Schwinn
Airwalk/Fit Bike Company
Fit Bikes/Fox Racing/Primo
Infobox last updated on:
February 1, 2008

Brian Keith Foster[1] (b. June 29, 1972 in Wilmington, Delaware (later raised in Joppa, Maryland) USA) was a professional American "Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer and Dirt Jumper whose prime competitive years were from 1992-2000. Had the nick names "Blue Falcon", BF" and "Dirt"[2]

Contents

[edit] Racing career

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

Started Racing: April 1981 at eight years old. He started a week after brother Alan because he had soccer practice the weekend Alan raced. Alan described how great racing was and Brian went with him the next week.[3]

Sanctioning Body: ()

First race result: In his first moto the chain came off his bike and he stood in the middle of the track and cried because he didn't know how to place it back on.[4]

First win (local):

First sponsor: 1982 JF&S Plumbing.[5]

First national win:

Turned Professional:

First Professional race result:

First Professional win:

First Junior Men Pro* race result:

First Junior Men Pro win:

First Senior Men Pro** race result:

First Senior Men Pro win:

Retired: 2001. At a La Revolusion freestyle contest he decided to quit racing.[6] According to a defgrip.net interview in 2007 the specific reason he gave up racing to devote full time to dirt jumping is that racing ceased to be fun. "....it becmae less about racing and more about doing squats at the gym."[7]

Height & weight at height of his career (1992-1998): Ht:6' 1" Wt:165lbs.(1992)[8]

*In the NBL "B" Pro/Super Class/"A" Pro/Junior Elite Men depending on the era; in the ABA it is "A" Pro. **In the NBL it is "AA" Pro/Elite Men; in the ABA it is "AA" Pro.

[edit] Career factory and major bike shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are used.

[edit] Amateur

  • JF&S Plumbing: 1982-1983
  • Wheel Power Bike Shop: 1983-1989[9]
  • S&M (Greg Scott & Chris Moeller[10]) Bicycles: 1989
  • TNT/Goodtimes: March 1990-Mid 1990
  • Cyclecraft: Mid 1990-December 1992

[edit] Professional

  • Cyclecraft: 1990-December 1992
  • Hyper: January 1993-April 1993
  • Airwalk: May 1993-1994
  • Schwinn/Airwalk: 1995-1998
  • Schwinn: 1998-November 2000
  • Airwalk/Fit Bike Company: November 2000-2003 Airwalk drops Foster in 2003.[11]
  • Fit Bikes/Fox Racing/Primo: 2003-present

[edit] Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.

[edit] Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • None

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • 1990 18& Over Expert Grandnational Champion
  • 1991 18 & Over Expert NBL National No.1

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • 1988 16 Expert Grandnational Champion

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

  • None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

  • None

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

  • None

*See note in professional section
Championships.

[edit] Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • None (defunct)

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • 1992 Superclass/"B"-Pro Grandnational Champion
  • 1992 Superclass/"B"-Pro National No.1 (Racing)
  • 1994 Summer Spectacular Series Champion
  • 1996 NBL Dirt Circuit Champion (Dirt Jumping)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • 1994 "AA" Pro US Open East Champion
  • 1995 ABA "Pros in Paradise" Champion. (Racing)
  • 1996, 1997 ABA King of Dirt (KOD) Champion (Dirt Jumping)

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None (defunct)

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

  • None

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

  • None (FIAC did not have a strictly professional division during its existence) (defunct).

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

  • None

*Note: Beginning in 1991 the IBMXF and FIAC had been holding joint World Championship events as a transitional phase in merging which began in earnest in 1993. Beginning with the 1996 season the IBMXF and FIAC completed the merger and both ceased to exist as independent entities being integrated into the UCI. Beginning with the 1997 World Championships held in Brighton, England the UCI would officially hold and sanction BMX World Championships and with it inherited all precedents, records, streaks, etc. from both the IBMXF and FIAC.
Pro Series Championships

  • 1998 X-Games Dirt Jumping Champion.

[edit] Notable accolades

  • Named one of the ten hottest and fastest rookie pros of 1992 by BMX Plus! magazine.[12]
  • Voted the "ABA Pro of the Year" in 1995[13]

[edit] BMX Product Lines

  • 1996 Airwalk Foster Bros. Signature shoes.[14]
  • 1997 Schwinn Brian Foster Blue Falcon Frameset[15]
Product Evaluation:
Snap BMX Magazine June 1998 Vol.4 Iss.4 No.23 pg.48
  • 2000 Schwinn Brian Foster Signature Series complete bicycle.
Product Evaluation:
  • 2001 Schwinn Brian Foster Super Stock Signature Series complete bicycle.
Product Evaluation:
  • 2003 Fit Brian Foster Street Frame[16]
Product Evaluation:
  • 2004 Fit Brian Foster Signature Model Bicycle
Product Evaluation:

[edit] Significant injuries

  • Broke collarbone in a race in New Jersey when he was thirteen years old in 1985.[17]
  • Tore ACL ligament & Cartilage in left knee on March 1, 1997 at Sheep Hills.[18] He damaged it after a failed attempt at a mid air "360" and he landed wrong on his left foot[19] The wind blew him off course during the Schwinn photography session. As a result he missed both the ABA Winternationals and the Cactus Cup jumping contest.[20] He was laid up for four weeks after surgery.[21]
  • Hurt shoulder in the Pro Open Main in a pile up crash right in front of a jump in the second straight at the NBL Easter Classic National in Sarasota, Florida during the weekend of April 4, 1999.[22]

[edit] Peccadilloes

[edit] Post BMX career

[edit] BMX magazine covers

Note: (defunct) denotes that the magazine was out of business before the career of the racer started.

Bicycle Motocross News:

  • None (defunct)

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

  • None

Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:

BMX Plus!:

  • March 1991 Vol.14 No.3 in virtual tie in between Dave Cullinan (4) in foreground outside and Christophe Leveque in background inside.
  • March 1993 Vol.16 No.3 (6) with brother Alan Foster (4) In bottom insert Mike King.
  • August 1993 Vol.16 No.8 (1) on the left hand side slightly behind Eric Carter (25). In insert Freestyler Matt Hoffman.
  • May 1994 Vol.17 No.5 in second behind Gary Ellis (1) in the lead and ahead of brother Alan Foster (4) in third.
  • July 1994 Vol.17 No.7. In insert four girls modeling T-Shirts
  • July 1995 Vol.18 No.7. In top insert three girls modeling T-Shirts; in middle left insert a full suspension Mongoose BMX bicycle.
  • August 1996 Vol.19 No.8 In right insert. In main insert Andy Contes (1) along with two unidentifieds (3) & (14).

Total BMX:

  • None

Bicycles and Dirt:

  • None

Ride BMX Magazine: UK & US versions

  • Ride US: February/March 1996 issue 20
  • Ride US: May 2004
  • Ride UK: March 2008 issue 113

Snap BMX Magazine & Transworld BMX:

  • May 2000 Vol.7 Iss.5 No.43 In top insert. In main image Danny Nelson (1) slightly behind Matt Pohlkamp (7) and Eric Abbadessa (9).
  • August 2002 Vol.9 Iss.8 No.70 (TWBMX)

BMX Freedom:

  • October 2002

BMX Rider UK:

  • November 2003 No.16

Moto Mag:

  • None

BMX World:

NBA World: & NBmX World (The official NBA/NBmxA membership publication):

  • None

Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL membership publication under two names):

ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (The official ABA membership publication under three names):

USBA Racer (The official USBA membership publication):

[edit] BMX press magazine interviews and articles

  • "Foster Bros." Go August 1991 Vol.2 Iss.10 pg.52 Two separate interviews of Brian and his brother Alan Foster.
  • "Young Guns II"BMX Plus! June 1992 Vol.17 No.6 pg.27 One of ten rookie pro racers given a short listing profile article.
  • "The Foster Files" BMX Plus! March 1993 Vol.16 No.3 pg.63 Joint interview with his brother Alan Foster.
  • "face: Brian Foster" Ride BMX Magazine December 1993 Vol.2 Iss.6 No.8 pg.30
  • "Double Interview: Christophe LeVeque & Brian Foster"BMX Plus! April 1996 Vol.19 No.4 pg.71 Two separate interviews of the events of the controversial 1995 ABA Grandnational, including Foster's losing his bid for National No.1.
  • "Brian Foster Interview" Snap BMX Magazine March/April 1997 Vol.4 Iss.2 No.15 pg.62
  • "tabletop how-to's:" Snap BMX Magazine September/October 1997 Vol.4 Iss.5 No.18 pg.43 Foster gives a brief description on how to properly execute a "tabletop" maneuver.
  • "Q&A: Have you ever cheated racing?" Snap BMX Magazine May 1999 Vol.6 Iss.3 No.31 pg.24 One of 10 separate interviews of different racers including Matt Hadan and Dale Holmes asking if they ever cheated during a race.
  • "Brian Foster" Snap BMX Magazine May 1999 Vol.6 Iss.5 No.31 Poster back.
  • "Brian Foster" Snap BMX Magazine May 2000 Vol.7 Iss.5 No.43 Poster back. Interview conducted by his brother Alan Foster.
  • "Double Down" Snap BMX Magazine August 2000 Vol.7 Iss.8 No.46 pg.80 Brian discusses his double knee operation in April 2000.
  • "Wasted Land"BMX Plus! October 2000 Vol.23 No.10 pg.78 Foster's editorial article about the paradoxical effects of shrinking areas to dirt jump or to street/freestyle and the increasing popularity of the sport.
  • "Ask Brian" Transworld BMX October November 2002 Vol.9 Iss.11 No.73 pg.40 Foster answers submitted questions by the readers of Transworld BMX.
  • "Four Pros & 3 wishes" Transworld BMX" July 2004 Vol.11 Iss.7 No.93 pg.20 He is one of four whimsical interviews with dirt jumping pros asked what are the three things they would have either inside or outside the BMX world. Brian Castillo, Adam Banton and Todd Walkowiak are the other subjects.
  • "Brian Foster and the TWBMX Ten" Transworld BMX November 2004 Vol.11 Iss.11 No.97 pg.98

[edit] Miscellaneous and Trivia

  • Foster once held a job painting bicycle frames at one of his past sponsors, Cycle Craft. What makes this unique is that Foster is color blind. He explains how he got the job in an interview in the March/April 1997 issue of Snap BMX Magazine:

    Snap Magazine: How'd you get a job painting bikes if you're color blind?
    Brian Foster: (laughter) I don't think they knew. I went there just to help out working with bikes and the next ting you know they're like, "Do you know how to paint?" "Yeah, sure." And I started painting. The only time I ran into trouble was late at night when I was by myself and there was no purple paint--I just mixed some blue and some red and see what I came up with (more laughter).[23]

  • Brian Foster came very close to becoming ABA National No.1 pro in 1995 Despite a significant gap in points between he and the leaders John Purse and Gary Ellis going into the ABA Grandnationals. He closed that gap greatly at the grandnationals with the great aid of both John Purse and Gary Ellis, defying his reputation of being his best at important races high pressure races. Brian handled the pressure better and was able to past the fourth place racer in his semi final and qualify for the main. He had his fate in his hands enough so that in the "AA" pro main he need only a fifth or sixth place finish to win the title. The thinking was that there was no way he would finish in the back of the pack. Foster ended up eighth in his first "AA" pro main after crashing into a pile up ahead of him. In the second run of the finals Foster came in last after getting into a wreck in turn three with Jamie Staff as Foster was in second. Meanwhile Frenchman Christophe Leveque who was in a distant fourth place in points at the start of the Grandnationals. In the third main Foster ended up in sixth position after the first straight, then managed to move up to second place behind Leveque with the other contenders for the Grand National win-but not the title-Matt Hadan and Mike King in the rear. Foster only needed to remain in his position and let Leveque have the Grand National win while Foster took the National #1 title. However, Foster's front wheel slid out and he crashed and the rest of the pack collided into him. After the scramble to pick up their bicycles and head for the finish Foster had came in seventh position. Foster had lost the Number one Plate. In another controversy Gary Ellis was rewarded National #1 instead of Christophe Leveque due to the rule at the time that no foreigner could win the ABA National Number One Pro title.[24]

[edit] Other significant sibling combinations in BMX

[edit] End Notes

  1. ^ BMX Plus! March 1993 Vol.16 No.3 pg.63
  2. ^ Snap BMX Magazine May 1999 Vol.6 Iss.3 No.31 pg.5 (table of contents)
  3. ^ Snap BMX Magazine March/April 1997 Vol.4 Iss.2 No.15 pg.65
  4. ^ Ride BMX Magazine December 2007
  5. ^ Ride BMX Magazine December 2007
  6. ^ Ride BMX Magazine December 2007
  7. ^ defgrip.net June 22, 2007 interview.
  8. ^ BMX Plus! June 1992 Vol.17 No.6 pg.28
  9. ^ Go August 1991 Vol.2 Iss.10 pg.52
  10. ^ BMX Plus! September 1989 Vol.12 No.9 pg.49
  11. ^ 23mag.com Foster bio
  12. ^ BMX Plus! June 1992 Vol.17 No.6 pg.28
  13. ^ Snap BMX Magazine April/May 1996 Vol.3 Iss.2 No.9 pg.20
  14. ^ Snap BMX Magazine March/April 1997 Vol.4 Iss.2 No.15 pg.11 (advertisement in this and subsequent issues)
  15. ^ Snap BMX Magazine September/October 1997 Vol.4 Iss.5 No.18 pg.28
  16. ^ Transworld BMX March 2004 Vol.11 Iss.3 No.89 pg.92
  17. ^ Ride BMX Magazine December 2007
  18. ^ Snap BMX Magazine January/February Vol.5 Iss.1 No.20 pg.37
  19. ^ Snap BMX Magazine August 2000 Vol.7 Iss.8 No.46 pg.80
  20. ^ Snap BMX Magazine May/June 1997 Vol.4 Iss.3 No.16 pgs.14&15
  21. ^ Snap BMX Magazine January/February 1998 Vol. No. pg.37
  22. ^ Snap BMX Magazine August 1999 Vol.6 Iss.6 No.34 pg.30
  23. ^ Snap BMX Magazine March/April 1997 Vol.4 Iss.2 No.15 pg.65
  24. ^ Snap BMX Magazine April/May 1996 Vol.3 Iss.2 No.9 pgs.20-24

[edit] External links