The Foster brothers were born at Wilmington Hospital. They spent most of their childhood in Elkton, Md., until their parents Linda and Dave moved the family to Joppa, Md., in 1983.
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1976; we had a gravel driveway, so I had to learn on my neighbor's driveway. The second time I ever rode, when I was done, I tried to ride back to my house through the grass and I learned what kind of speed a hill could generate. I got speed wobbles and had my first good high-speed crash.
FIRST BMX RACE.
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: April, 1981; My first moto ever and my chain fell off and I didn't know how to put it back on, so I stood in the middle of the track and cried. Like a true champion, I picked up my bike and walked it across the finish line
FIRST SPONSOR.
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1982. JF&S Plumbing; I'm not sure what they gave me, but my orange and black uniform was pretty cool.
FIRST TIME YOU MET A REAL PRO...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1982, I met Eric Rupe at a race at my local track. He gave me some stickers and I was psyched. Later on, this meeting taught me to be cool to kids, because although you only meet them for a few seconds, it makes a lasting impression.
FIRST GOOD BMX BIKE...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1983; Powerlite with 1 3/8" wheels, Dura Ace cranks, Race Inc. bars, [Shimano] DX pedals. That thing would do good on eBay today.
FIRST TRICK YOU LEARNED...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1984; Pop-a-wheelies, turn bars, and one-handers aside, I remember doing a no-footed can-can out of a flyout at the local cement park when I was twelve.
FIRST BAD INJURY...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1985; I broke my collarbone at a race in New Jersey I was thirteen and my brother had just gotten his license and it was one of the first times we got to go to a race that was far away with no real supervision. I rode home laying down in a sleeping bag in the bed of his truck and halfway home it started to rain. I was loaded on pain killers and didn't even notice. The next morning my mom woke me up to go to school and I tried to give her the "but I'm hurt" story and she replied with, "If riding bikes is going to cause you to miss school, then maybe you shouldn't ride." So I grabbed the pain killers and went to school. I probably didn't learn anything at school that day. but at least I showed up.
ROBBIE MORALES.
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: First time I met Robbie Morales was 1986; Charlotte, North Carolina. We were 13 years old and racing at a National at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The top four qualified for the next round. He was in fourth and I was in fifth. going into the last turn I passed him on the outside. I love this story and I usually bring it up every time that I see him.
FIRST PHOTO IN A MAGAZINE...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1988; I got a picture in BMXAction for winning the ABA Grands-quarter page black and white.
Dig, september 2012: November 1988, Thanksgiving weekend. The biggest BMX race of the year, the ABA Grands. Thousands of racers from all over the country attend, primarily from the West Coast. The 16 Expert main event lines up; an unknown East Coaster makes up one of eight on the gate. From start to finish, a skinny kid in the Wheel Power jersey takes home the win, stylishly beating the other squirrely, muscle-head factory team stars. It was at that point this rider would get his first taste at national attention from the BMX media, which included scoring a photo from that race in the world-renowned BMX Action magazine.
Power wheelie at 11 years old.
Go june 1990: You may have heard that Maryland's Brian Foster was riding for Coca Cola. Well, he's not. He is riding for TNT/Goodtimes though...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: The team manager for TNT/Goodtimes used to give me $30 for first, $20 for second, and $10 for third.
FIRST BAD TREND YOU FOLLOWED...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1990; I got a photo in Go; The Riders Manual with a headband on my head and one around my neck. One of the things that I am most proud of in my riding career is that I was offered money to ride Pro Forx (suspension forks) and spin wheels (threespoke mags) and declined on both.
Brian: I painted bikes at Cycle Craft for three years.
BMX PLUS! COVER.
Robinson's Dave Cullinan takes first place ahead of CycleCraft's Brian Foster and Sunn's Christophe Leveque at the ABA's Grand Nationals on the cover of BMX Plus! march 1991.
INTERVIEW.
Foster bros interviews in Go august 1991.
FIRST TRAVEL OUT OF THE COUNTRY...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1991; I went to Spain and France for some races. I got second in Spain and did bad in France.
FIRST FREESTYLE CONTEST...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1991; went to a contest at Rampage. was a full-on racer then and did a bunch of wallrides and jumped the box a lot, either got third or fifth, I don't remember.
Brian Foster is winning NBL Grands and getting #1 superclass plate for 1992.
FIRST TIME YOU CLICKED A TURNDOWN...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1992. had been trying these wrong for about five years and one day at "the dip" in Tennessee someone told me to kick out the other way and the next try got it. That was a glorious day.
FIRST SIGNATURE PRODUCT...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1992, when I worked at Cyclecraft we made some forks with no bends-just a steer tube, a tube going across, and two legs. They were called Dirt Legs.
Cover and interview in the march 1993 issue of BMX Plus!
AIRWALK.
Brian Foster start riding for Airwalk.
Brian Foster, www.ridebmx.com, march 2003: Back then Vans was the only (shoe) company, and Airwalk was starting things up. Kim Boyle (who now works for DC Shoes) worked there. We were friends with him and he just got it going. Airwalk was my first paying sponsor. Then when I got on Schwinn, Airwalk was like a co-sponsor… It changed things for me because I was just getting my entry fees paid and would just drive to races and they were the first (to pay for) hotels, expenses, and it made things a lot easier.
INTERVIEW.
Interview in Ride BMX US december 1993.
POW.
POW house experience... 1993-1995.
Brian Foster, www.ridebmx.com, march 2003: A book could be written with all of the stories about the house P was only there for the last two years, but if you ask me when were the good ol' days, that was it. Eight dudes living in a four-bedroom house, but there were always visitors on the couches Ramps filled the entire backyard. Rent was usually about $120 each (depending on the number of visitors). We rode every day and got loose every night-good ol days indeed.
Alan and Brian Foster are co-sponsored by Fox.
SCHWINN.
Brian Foster is riding for Schwinn.
BMX PLUS! COVER.
Brian Foster testing the ultimate BMX bike on the cover of BMX Plus! july 1994.
INTERVIEW.
Interview in Props #3 july 1994.
BS.
In november 1994, Brian entered the BS contest in Chicago.
RACE.
#6 in NBL and #4 in ABA.
FAT COVER.
X-up on the cover of FAT zine #31 (center)
First clip in a video...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1995; Dirty Deeds. I had a part in this video that I am proud of to this day. The half barspin was hot.
BMX PLUS! COVER.
Brian Foster in Phoenix on the cover of BMX Plus! july 1995. Photo by John Ker.
DIG COVER.
No foot cancan at Sheep Hills on the cover of Dig #5. Photo by Bart de Jong.
Brian Foster, Dig september 2012: I remember shooting the photo. Nowadays when you do a photo shoot, a photographer comes, sets up, and has an idea what you want to do. Back then the photographer would just stand on the jump, and people would just session. He (Bart de Jong) was just blowing through film. I remember it was a right hip, and I didn’t know how to do no-foot cans on right hips. I kind of did one, and it end up getting used.
INTERVIEW.
Interview in Ride BMX UK #18 august 1995.
AIRWALK.
Sponsored by Airwalk.
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: Airwalk was my first steady check in 1995.
Brian is riding for Schwinn.
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: First corporate sponsor... Riding for a big company is a catch-22. You have to put up with all sorts of BS and deal with people who know nothing about BMX, but the checks are pretty good.
RIDE BMX US COVER.
Invert on the cover of Ride BMX US #20 february 1996.
BMX GRIND COVER.
Brian Foster at Sheep Hills on the cover of BMX Grind.
1996 X-GAMES.
3rd place pro dirt @ 1996 X-Games, Newport, Rhode Island.
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: First time I rode in the X Games.I got third, with a one-handed table 360, 360 turndown. and a truck driver.
INTERVIEW.
Props #17 november 1996.
Brian Foster gets an interview and is on the cover of Snap march april 1997.
AMERICAN MUSCLE.
Schwinn American Muscle video.
BLUE FALCON.
Brian Foster is getting a signature bike from Schwinn called Blue Falcon.
MTV SPORTS.
1st place pro dirt @ MTV Sports and Music Festival, Austin, TX.
DIRT CIRCUIT.
1st place pro dirt @ Dirt Circuit round 3, july 5, 1997, Pittsburgh, PA.
1998 X-Games dirt gold medal.
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1999, I wasn't sure what I was doing. I was done racing and was trying to see where I belonged in the BMX world. I never felt comfortable with those things on my bike.
INFLUENCIAL.
Brian Foster is one of the 25 most influencial riders of the 90's in Ride BMX US june 1999.
1999 X-GAMES.
2nd place pro dirt @ 1999 X-games, july 1999, San Francisco, CA.
FIRST LEGIT HANDRAIL YOU GRINDED...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 1999? Van. Wiz, and I were in Boulder, Colorado, for some kind of Schwinn meetings, and afterwards we were riding around and found a monster four-stair. I had pegs on and they convinced me to do it. It wasn't beautiful, but I got it done To this day, I am more comfortable going pedal/crooked than straight double-peg grinds.
Interview in Ride BMX US #49 june 2000.
INTERVIEW.
Brian Foster, dealing with dual knee surgery, interview in Snap august 2000.
Brian: When I got in for surgery, I wasn't really psyched on what was going on. It was one of those things that I didn't want BMX to become, something that I didn't look forward to doing. There were weekends where I didn't want to go to races.
FIT BIKE CO.
It's official in november 2000. Robbie Morales has teamed up with S&Ms Chris Moeller to form the Fit Bike Co. In the company's short life, they have already been able to put together an all stars team consisting of Nate Hanson, Mike Aitken and Brian Foster.
Brian Foster, www.ridebmx.com, november 2000: It was a super tough decision to leave Schwinn because I had been with them for over six years and the deal I'm doing now isn't a sure thing. It's kind of shady. I felt like Schwinn kept going further and further away from me. I really don't know that many people down there anymore, so many things had changed. It was really hard to leave, they had been really good to me, but it was just one of those things. I'm totally excited about what's coming up; I get to do a lot of new things. I'm still scared that I made the wrong decision, but we'll see. (...) When you ride for Schwinn you don't ride for anyone else; they choose all of your sponsors. You don't have control in what you do. With Fit I can do whatever I want. It was easier, the bikes are being made down the street, and I can go get my own parts sponsors and clothing sponsors, and do my own deals without having anyone to answer to. (...) I've been friends with Robbie since we were 15, so that made it easier. They don't pay me a whole lot, but because I am allowed to go and get other sponsors... Schwinn has a parts company. Schwinn has a clothing line. Schwinn has everything, so you can't go and get your own stuff. It wouldn't be possible without Airwalk. Airwalk stepped up and took care of some of the things that Schwinn used to take care of as far as travel and stuff like that. So Airwalk is my main sponsor.
Small interview in Ride BMX UK #52 april 2001.
ULTIMATE BMX.
Featured rider in TJ Lavin Ultimate BMX video game.
2001 X-GAMES.
2nd place downhill and 18th place pro dirt @ 2001 X-Games, august 2001, Philadelphia, PA.
QUIT RACING.
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: I made a Pro fInal at a La Revolution and decided i it was time to quit racing.
FIRST TIME YOU DID A TAILWHIP...
Brian Foster, Ride BMX US december 2007: 2001; In an effort to stay relevant in an ever-progressing contest scene. I learned whips at the Real Ride park I put a couple loads of dirt on the landing to make it soft and started going for it A couple weeks later I did one at a contest at Woodward East on a monster of a set. This was before I learned what happens when the bike doesn't make it around. In the last few years I've gotten broke off on a few and don't do them very often.
Wall tap on the cover of Transworld BMX august 2002.
2002 X-GAMES.
6th place pro dirt and 7th place pro park @ 2002 X-Games, august 2002, Philadelphia, PA.
BMX FREEDOM COVER.
Brian Foster is on the cover of BMX Freedom october 2002.
Fit video. Barcelona BMX vacation.
OFF AIRWALK.
Brian Foster got dropped from Airwalk.
NEW JERSEY.
After ten years on the West Coast, Brian Foster relocated back to the Northeast (New Jersey) this past August.
Brian Foster, www.ridebmx.com, december 2003: It’s only been three months and I’ve ridden more trails than I have in the last two years. The trails, along with the cement park, have improved my flow and I care less about learning tricks.
BMX RIDER UK COVER.
Brian Foster at the Gravity Games on the cover of BMX Rider UK #16 november 2003.
Brian Foster on the cover of Ride BMX US may 2004.
2004 X-GAMES.
9th place pro dirt @ 2004 X-Games, august 2004, Los Angeles, CA.
TWBMX TEN.
Brian Foster and the TWBMX ten in Transworld BMX november 2004.
POSTER.
Brian Foster poster in Ride BMX US november 2004.
SETUPS.
Brian Foster setups in Ride BMX US december 2004..
Tip plus. The family video.
INTERVIEW.
Interview in Ride BMX US january 2005.
X-GAMES.
7th place pro dirt @ 2005 X-Games, august 2005, Los Angeles, CA.
PRO Q&A.
Pro Q&A with Brian Foster in Ride BMX US october 2005.
STEPS.
Ruben Wallrides with Brian Foster in Ride BMX US december 2005.
Then and now with Brian Foster in Ride BMX US august 2006.
POSTER.
Fox Poster with Brian Foster in Ride BMX US september 2006.
35 firsts with a 35 year-old; interview in Ride BMX US december 2007.
The man, the legend: Brian Foster. That's right Foster is on the cover with a nosedive 360 shot by Rob Dolecki for his interview in Ride BMX UK march 2008.
Brian Foster on the cover of Dig #90 september 2012. Photo by Rob Dolecki.
BF-IT.
Bart de Jong, www.fatbmx.com, december 2012: The BF-IT documentary is a video produced by Stew Johnson that I simply had to see. Thanks to Ben Ward I got a copy in the mail last week and waited for a good moment to watch it. With no distractions around I put the DVD in the player and hit the triangle. I got sucked into it from the start as I remembered many photos that BF had in the magazines. BF was a racer first and did both for a while. He simply liked to ride his bike and preferred that over spending time in the gym getting bulky and strong. A big thing for BF was missing the ABA #1 title in Oklahoma. I happened to be there and remember it well. The transition that Brian made afterwards to the dirt jump / freestyle side of BMX kicked off strong when he had moved to the POW house in Westminster, California. It didn't take long for BF to transplant his natural style to the ramps or the dirt jumps. His racing skills sure helped getting over jumps. Foster's life gets displayed well in the video because of the interviews with people that played a big role in his BMX career such as his brother Alan, John Paul Rogers, Chris Moeller and Harold McGruther. They have stories from beginning till the end which entertained me as I watched the DVD. Simply put, the BF-IT DVD is a must have for all who have ever rode with BF, hung out with him or raced with Brian. Find a Fit Bike Co. dealership. They're your best chance of getting a copy. Props to Stew for getting this done. It's a keeper.
