Andy Patterson


Andrew Patterson is an American former professional "Old School" Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years were from 1977 to 1985. His moniker was "Mr. Bigfoot" for his size 13 feet. Patterson was one of the first American racers to compete on the European BMX circuit during its formative years on a regular basis. He developed a large European following.

Racing career milestones

Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.
MilestoneEvent Details
Started racing:At 5 years old in 1969 at a local boys club. but this wasn't the true start of his career. Over five years later when he was 11 years old in late February 1975 was the true start. His father had brought him a Dan Gurney monoshock bicycle for Christmas. Approximately two months later he found a track while riding in his bike in Little Lake Park in Norwalk, California. He told his father and he started taking Andy racing. He raced about once a month for a year, then when the LaMiranda Regional Park open up he started racing twice a month.
Sanctioning body:
Sanctioning body district:
First race bike:A Dan Gurney monoshock he got for Christmas.
First race result:Fourth in 11 Novice. Indeed, he got fourth in his first seven races.
First win :After seven consecutive fourth place finishes he won on his eighth race. Then he got seven consecutive wins and move up to Expert. He then won his first Expert race.
First sponsor:
First national win:In 1979 in 16 Expert at a national in San Antonio, Texas, at the post race. In the National itself the day before he got a fourth.
Turned professional:November 27, 1982, at age 18.
First professional race result:Second in "A" pro at the 1982 American Bicycle Association Grandnationals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on November 28, 1982. He won US$400, the equivalent of US$852.64 in 2007. He also came in seventh in Pro Open. He won US$50, $106.58 in 2007.
First professional win:In "A" pro at the 1982 Jag BMX World Championship of Bicycle Motocross V in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 27, 1982. He won US$750, which is US$1,598.70 in 2007.
First Junior Men/pro* race result:See "First Professional race result".
First Junior Men/pro win:See "First Professional win".
First Senior pro** race result:Seventh in "Pro" class at the 1983 International BMX Federation World Championships in Slagharen, Overijssel, Netherlands. No pro purse was awarded. In the Pro class he raced against Senior pros like Clint Miller. There was no "B" pro or Superclass category at the time. However, this probably didn't count since upon return to the United States he returned to racing in the junior pro class. There his first Senior Pro race was the 1984 ABA Supernationals in late January. He did not make the main.
First Senior pro win:
Height and weight at height of his career :Ht:6'3" Wt:185 lbs.
Retired:Faded out after the 1986 season. He raced a few times after that but not seriously, similar to Stu Thomsen's once or twice a year pro races at nationals after he officially retired early in the 1987 season. In 1990 Andy Patterson had him reclassified as a single "A" junior pro with the ABA and raced the ABA U.S Nationals in Lemoore, California, on April 21, 1990. He won

*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.

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 and 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.

Amateur

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.

Amateur

National Bicycle Association
*The NBA ROC was a yearly one shot Invitational collection of the nation's top amateur 16 Experts chosen through a BMX industry poll who race for the title to nominally to see who is the best older amateur in the country. It was held in conjunction with the NBA Grandnational just as the NBL's Presidents Cup today is held before its Grandnational and the ABA's US Gold/Redline Cup were periodically held before its Grandnational.
National Bicycle League
American Bicycle Association
United Bicycle Racers
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme **
International Bicycle Motocross Federation **
Union Cycliste Internationale **
Independent Invitationals and Amateur Series Championships
* The Anglo/American Challenge Cup II was an Invitational Exhibition race held in Redditch, England at the Hartfords track. It was a way for the English racers to gauge themselves against the Americans. In the second main of a three main final British racer Tim March became the first English racer to beat any American in any head to head race in a moto.
**See note in professional section.

Professional

National Bicycle Association
National Bicycle League
United Bicycle Racers
American Bicycle Association
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
International Bicycle Motocross Federation *
Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme *
Union Cycliste Internationale *
*Note: Beginning in 1991 the IBMXF and FIAC, the amateur cycling arm of the UCI, 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 1996 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.
'''Independent Invitationals and Pro Series Championship

BMX product lines

Significant injuries

One pedal starts involved rearing back with your arms straight out and almost parallel to the ground with one foot behind and to aside the rear wheel. The other foot was on a pedal that was extended forward and the front tire pushing against the starting gate. When the gate dropped a rider would lunge forward placing his weight on the lead pedal, accelerating him out of the gate. If timed right with a quick reaction a racer can get a jump on the others out of the gate called the holeshot. By the early 1980s two pedal starts became the mode in which the vast majority of top racers used. It was almost exactly identical to the one pedal start except the trailing foot was on the trailing pedal as with the leading foot was on the leading pedal. The racer maintained his balance with the friction of the front tire pressed against the gate and the racer subtlety shifting his weight to counteract the imbalance. Getting out of the gate was similar to the one pedal start in that the racer lunged his weight forward against the handle bars while pressing his full weight and leg strength against the lead pedal. Simultaneously you use your upper body strength to quickly pull the bike forward with the handle bars. By the early 1980s most racers felt that this provided a quicker start to the old one pedal start with the advantage of not having to find the rear pedal with trailing foot. Since it is already on the pedal you can concentrate fully on starting and getting out of the gate a second sooner than anyone using a one pedal start technique. Ironically, the sanctioning bodies in the early 80's to cut down on gate jumping by those using the two pedal start who could time the cadence of the gate lights because it fell at a set period of time every time. In 1985 the ABA switched to dead man gates in which the green light didn't light and the gate fall in a predictable fashion making timing the gate difficult. Concentrating on when the light turn green was critical with reaction time to that was critical. This made two pedal starts even more of a premium, making one pedal starts unheard off by the mid to late 1980s.
BMX Plus!: "Did anyone like Haro ever approach you and ask you to tricks for them?"
Andy Patterson: "Not really. I don't really want to get that much involved in it. I didn't even want to get involved when Pepsi called up and wanted me to do demos for them. It's just in my spare time when I'm not in a race, and I can earn some money by doing it--then I go ahead and do it." ---BMX Plus! September 1982.

BMX and general press magazine interviews and articles

Note: Only magazines that were in publication at the time of the racer's career are listed unless specifically noted.
Bicycle Motocross News:
Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:
Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:
BMX Plus!:
Total BMX:
Bicycles and Dirt :
BMX Weekly & BMX Bi-Weekly
BMX Action Bike :
Australian BMX Pancake :
NBA World & NBmxA World :
Bicycles Today & BMX Today :
ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer :
USBA Racer :