BMX Interviews

Videos: Francis Castro

Photo: Chris Eiland

If you have been riding BMX for a while now, you have undoubtably have seen plenty of BMX videos from the up and coming riders that are starting to make their way into the pro ranks on a number of teams all around the world. There’s one crew in particular that have been plowing their own trail that go by the name, Common Crew. This crew, which is stacked with talent with riders like Jacob Cable, Ethan Corriere, Devon Smillie, Travis Hughes and more have been on fire for quite a while now and it’s safe to say they haven’t slowed down since laying their foot on the gas pedal. One recurring name that we see popping up in the filmer and editor credits time and time again, Francis Castro, has been expanding his work beyond just this crew, handling some heavy projects for brands like Fit Bike Co., Fly Bikes and more as of late. We’ve been real stoked on Francis’ work, so we figured it would be a good time to get ahold of him to find out just what his story is, what he’s working on these days and what he hopes the future has in store for him. Ready? Let’s do this.

Name: Francis Castro
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Quicky: Adam Banton

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Photo: Arvada

If you follow Adam Banton on any of the social networks, there’s a good chance that you have noticed he has been a very productive guy, as always, over the course of the past year. Between riding BMX, completing his 4th album, snowboarding and more, there’s always something that he’s getting into. With his latest album just being released and him picking up a new sponsor, we figured there would be no better time than now to catch up and talk about what he has been up to lately. So, let’s get into it! There’s a lot of ground to cover…

Name: Adam Banton

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Pascal Lafontaine and the Battle with Osteosarcoma Cancer

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There are a lot of things in this world that are unfair and less than ideal situations to be in. A few months ago, Pascal Lafontaine found that out the hard way when he was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer in his leg. With few options, the doctors and Pascal decided to amputate his leg to prevent the cancer from spreading.
When it comes to BMX, being healthy and having your body working properly is very important and as many of you know, having two legs is ideal. It might be ideal, but one thing you need to remember is that it takes A LOT to stop a BMX rider from riding.
Pascal recently picked back up where he left off thanks to a prosthetic leg and a lot of ambition to get back the riding that plays a huge role in his life. Between chemo therapy, he has been working on getting dialed again, and that alone is beyond impressive since that stuff will kick your ass.
We caught up with Pascal to talk a little bit about his battle with cancer, what it’s like to ride with a prosthetic leg and what his plans are now that he’s about to get the all clear from his doctors… Check it!

Name: Pascal Lafontaine
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On The Horizon: Brotherhood BMX

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If you haven’t caught on by now, we’re huge product nerds here at The Union and we’re always keeping our eye out for new and interesting products that are worth getting a look at. About a year ago, we caught wind of a company out of Russia called Brotherhood (or BRZRHD) that are producing a few products that are not only unique, but high quality. With that being said, their product line is a pretty small, but quality and one we have been really impressed with. We were very curious to know just what this brand was all about, so we got ahold of one of the brothers from Brotherhood to find out just what they are about and what they have planned. Let’s take a look!

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Paddy Gross Interview

It’s funny how BMX works. If you ride long enough, travel and go to a bunch of events, you’ll undoubtably meet a lot of people, and also end up meeting people you never expected to meet. The other weekend in the middle of Wisconsin during the Baco-A-Go-Go jam, I had the chance to meet one rider in particular that I’ve known of and watched ride since I was a kid, but never quite expected to meet. That rider is Paddy Gross. Paddy has been a front brake legend for years and continues to blow peoples minds to this day. After watching him ride in person and finding out a little more about him, I knew there was no way we couldn’t do an interview with him. So, today, were stoked to drop this interview where we find out a bunch of stuff about him that you probably had no idea. So, let’s get into this already!

Name: Liam Patrick Wyatt aka Paddy Gross
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Jed Mildon Interview

If you haven’t heard the name Jed Mildon before, you’re completely blowing it. Jed has been one of those riders that is all about pushing boundaries and setting records for years now and it’s been hard to not take notice. A few months back he was the first guy to pull a quadruple backflip on a BMX bike (and the video has nearly 11,000,000 views!) to go along with a handful of other firsts he has already done. With the Nitro Circus crew about to kick their world tour back up, we figured it would be a good time to catch up with Jed and find out a little bit more about him. Let’s see what he had to say!

Name: Jed Mildon
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Larry Edgar Interview

Photo: Kyle Carlson

Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of riders that bring something very unique to their riding that really make them stand out. Whether it’s a crazy bag of tricks or style, there’s always that thing that burns a name into your memory. Over the course of the past year or so, Larry Edgar is a name that has been BLASTING his name into our memory with some of the biggest airs and a ton of style. Recently, Larry has been popping up more and more between contests and edits and was recently added to the Fly Bikes team, so we figured there was no way we could wait to get to know this guy better. Let’s see what he had to say!

Name: Larry Edgar
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Matt Nordstrom Interview

All photos by Walter Pieringer

Anyone that has been riding BMX long enough has seen how different generations come and go and it seems like with each generation we get a whole new level of riding that we never expected to see. We’ve been seeing a number of new riders starting to really make a name for themselves lately and it’s safe to say that Matt Nordstrom is one of those guys who has really been on fire lately and really pushing BMX to new levels. After seeing him in countless videos, getting super stoked on his riding and just seeing how much traveling and crazy stuff he has going on, we knew it was time to get ahold of him to find out a little more about him! Let’s see what he had to say!

Name: Matt Nordstrom

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