How often do you get to become friends with your heroes? BMX is small enough that it happened for me. I first saw Scot Breithaupt in Minicycle/BMX Action magazine in 1976 where they mentioned that he was called the "Old Man" of BMX, (even though he wasn't yet 20 years old). A couple years later, when I was fully engaged in BMX, Scot was one of the first pros I ever met, when he brought Stu Thomsen and Rod Beckering all the way from California to our track in Michigan, for the "SE Classic" race. Rod was my same age, so I drove him nuts with endless questions and badgering, Stu was already becoming a superstar and doing his thing, but Scot had time for everyone. He talked a mile a minute, with the same cadence as his "Scotomania" articles in Bicycle Motocross Action. He remembered your name (and quickly tagged on a nickname), he looked you in the eye when he spoke to you, he gave you specific pointers about your riding and he just made you feel awesome. He boosted my always volatile self-esteem in so many ways. The guy was just so enthusiastic and stoked, and his energy was infectious. As the years went on, I got to know him better, even rode for SE for a short time, and maintained a love/hate/love relationship with him through the highs and lows, always heartbroken to hear about him going down the same dark roads over and over again. Through it all, Scot's fire always burned bright (even when he was burning bridges) and I truly believe that he wanted to make everyone happy, despite his own lack of ability to come through at times. Beyond what he did for the early days of BMX, bringing legitimacy to this oddball activity, to SE Racing and everything else he put his heart into, Scot was just an extraordinary human being. I've never met anyone like him and I'll never forget him, he helped to shape my life in countless ways, and steered the bus, literally, for bicycle motocross. This is my tribute to my hero, 7/4/2016. OM Flying. #scotbreithaupt #omflying (at Signal Hill, California)
