Wednesday, June 19, 2019

A Brian Foster video to suck you in so we can take your money


The guy who put Fit Bikes on the map, my roommate once upon a time at the P.O.W. (Pros Of Westminster) House, and one of the most stylish riders to ever ride on two wheels.  And now he's becoming a doctor, a physical therapist, to be exact.  Brian Foster, living the dream and riding beyond most of our dream levels.

When I first met Chad at Powers Bikes in Richmond, VA, shortly after landing there last August, we got talking about BMX, and eventually about Brian Foster, Chad's favorite rider.  He asked me to do a drawing of Brian.  Like most people, I imagine Chad was thinking of some time he'd seen Brian ride, the huge air, the smooth, effortless looking style, the epic table 3's.

But the first thing that popped into my mind, thinking about Brian, was sitting in the dingy P.O.W. House living room, where the drapes were always closed, with 7 or 8 other guys.  Dave Clymer, Alan Foster, Lawan Cunningham, Jay, Sales, Bill, Scotty, maybe Todd Lyons, and John Salami.  I don't remember exactly who was sitting on the 3 or 4 couches on that particular day.  Several guys had just come back from a national race, and Brian and a couple others had won some money.  That meant a lot of $5 pepperoni pizzas from What a Lotta Pizza down on Westminster Boulevard.  I was broke, so I didn't have a pizza that night.  In the P.O.W. House, we were all living cheap, so if you ranout of money, you learned to cook ramen.  Everyone one of us could make at least a few different meals out of a pack of ramen and random items laying around the kitchen.

At any given time in the P.O.W. there were a few guys who were doing alright money wise, and three or four who were scraping by.  I was scraping at that point.  I think it was the time I was working as a furniture mover, and the federal government was two months behind in paying Mayflower, so they were two months behind in paying me.  Whatever the case, food money was scarce.  I remember Brian finishing his own pizza, lifting up the box, and saying "Pizza bones."  That was the signal he left the crusts for someone else.  I launched off the couch about three people away, and snatched the box form Brian's hand.  And I was stoked.  After 2 or 3 days of straight ramen, pizza crusts were a delicacy.

Things changed regularly, and maybe a few days later, I'd be the guy with the pizza.  But I ate my crusts, when I had a pizza.  I would hook the roach d'jour up with a slice now and then.  There were 8 to 12 of us living in a 4 bedroom house for a reason, rent was $90 to $120 a month in Southern California.  That meant a lot less time spent working lame jobs in the tough recession years of the early 1990's.  One week one guy would be living high, eating $5 pizzas, and the next week that same guy might be waking up early, picking up all the beer bottles in the living room, and recycling them for ramen money.  And beer money, of course.  Gotta have a couple Mickey's Bigmouths when possible.

So while I've always been a fan of watching Brian Foster ride, my first memories aren't those of him doing a no-footed can-can over the huge Dover Cliff Jump, or a one handed table 360 at Sheep Hills.  When you wind up roommates with an amazing rider, it's the stupid shit that always seems to pop in your head first.

In any case, Brian put Fit Bikes on the map in its early days, when Chris Moeller and Rob-O got that idea going.  Who better to write about when I'm trying to suck you into checking out the discounted Fit Bikes in the Block Bikes Online BMX Store.  There's a lot more stuff for sale, but these are some good deals on new , but previous year, bikes.  If you or a friend are in the market, give them a look, and see if we got what you need right now..

 The new 2020 Fit Bikes are getting built right about now, and will be hitting the store soon, that means the Block Bikes Online BMX Store has some great deals on a few 2017 and 2018 models.  Prices are as of this writing on 6/19/2019, and subject to change.  For most of these, there's only one available, so hop on it fast if there's one you need.

2017 Fit Dugan 1 LSD - $320.95

2017 Fit Begin 1 FC - $352.95

2018 Fit Mac -$432.95

2018 Fit Spriet - $360.95

2018 Fit TRL - $342.95

2018 Fit STR - $342.95

2018 Fit PRK - $342.95

2018 Fit Nordstrom - $342.95

2018 Fit Long - $432.95

2018 Fit Hango - $360.95

2018 Fit Dugan - $360.95

2018 Fit Corriere FC - $486.95

2018 Fit Begin FC - $486.95 

I've got a new blog going, it's about building a art or creative business, or building small businesses in general.  You can check it out here:
WPOS Kreative Ideas
And check out my new mash-up book/blog thing about the future:
Welcome to Dystopia: The Future is Now

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