That dude who had a part in Seek And Destroy... Brian Iarocci.

If you've ever seen Seek and Destroy, you know who this dude is. If you haven't seen Seek and Destroy, you should probably find it and watch it.


Panamoka last Sunday

Terra photo from Sevs.

fuckbmx: so anyway...
fuckbmx: onto that interview thing

Brian Iarocci: ok, shoot

fuckbmx: how long have you been in bmx?

BI: 20 years. I started racing at Shoreham just before I turned 9.

fuckbmx: over the years you've had alot of team changes, who did you go through, both racing and not?

BI: Ah, the sponsor list....
BI: Well, my first team was the renowned Shoreham BMX Country team. Pretty much anyone who is anyone from LI was on that team at some point. I got to wear that neon yellow and pink uniform for a few years. Then there was Cyclecraft, another team I was very happy to be a part of. Brian Foster, Keith Mulligan, Tim Strelecki were all part of that team before I got on there. All my idols, y'know. I spent 3 or 4 years with them alongside Robbie Miranda and a bunch of other talented guys.
BI: After that I was on Diamondback when they tried to revive their BMX credibility from the 80's in the late 90's. That was fun. My first real "factory" team. I got to go to a lot of places I would not have gone to without the sponsor help. I also went through more frames than they were prepared for. I even had to buy my own bike near the end. Then Standard came along. That was another team of legends I was happy to be associated with. That's also when I started having sponsors for all-around riding, not just racing.
BI: Aside from those teams, I was hooked up with UGP starting at age 11 thanks to Keith Mulligan introducing me to Ron Bonner while i was still racing Novice. I had some other sponsors along the way. Simple Shoes, Victory Records, Profile Racing, GT hooked me up with parts for a while...also Odyssey before they were considered cool.
BI: I think that's about it.
BI: There was also the Super BMX team....i wasn't on the list on the back of the jersey...i had the "other" box checked.

Reppin Shoreham colors, racing cruiser.

fuckbmx: i actually remember those jerseys...
fuckbmx: so thats a pretty long list of teams/companies to ride for, most of that was in the first 10 or so years correct? if i remember in like 98-99 you were already on standard and kinda ended your 'career' with them?

BI: I actually have it about 7 feet away. I just found it in a box and washed it.
BI: Yeah. When i dropped off the map in 2000 or so I was wrapping up riding for Standard. I was racing a lot and not doing great in A Pro/Superclass and then I hurt my knee. They stopped calling me.

fuckbmx: your knees are the thing that kind of ended you right? what's the deal with them? blown acl's or just various problems? any surgeries over the years?

BI: Three surgeries overall. I had blown my right ACL out in 1997 and came back after that. They tell me there's only 10% of my ACL left and that knee is real bad with cartilage loss and bone chips. I was told by more than one doctor it looked like the knee of a 50 year old.
BI: In 2000 i blew out my whole left ACL at Woodward. I've had that one rebuilt but it never healed well. It still blows out if i turn quickly while walking.

fuckbmx: that sucks. so that's a good reason to take it easy with BMX... so with that said, you won't be racing any pro/ams at shoreham in the future?

BI: Let's just say that I'm training a bit for Tuesday nights under the lights.

Biv's might have to watch his back if BI races Shoreham... But biv's has clips and a better looking jersey now and diamondback is a joke now.

fuckbmx: your boy loffredo from the diamond back days won it last week without the use of clip pedals too.

BI: I won't clip in. Period.

fuckbmx: do you clip in on the mountain bikes when you're out riding trails? or do you stay true to your bmx past?

BI: Flat pedals all the way. It's funny, no one called them "flats" until clips came out.

fuckbmx: haha yea, i never actually thought about that...

BI: There were caged and platforms...that's it.

fuckbmx: yea, and now there isnt even caged.
fuckbmx: so 2 more quick racing questions and then let's move on....
fuckbmx: so that year that you won the saturday pro open(1998?) at Egg Harbor that also happened to be your birthday... what happened to you on sunday? did the power hour completely take you out?

BI: That wasn't my birthday. I was just so happy to finally win a Pro race of any kind that I went and got completely drunk on Saturday night.
BI: I was hoping for a Sunday rainout.

fuckbmx: haha, im pretty sure there wasnt a cloud in the sky all weekend
fuckbmx: and now to cap off the race questions... what was the best track/race you've ever been to?

BI: I think you have the video and I've never seen it. Add that to the interview.
BI: Wow...this may take a minute.


BI: Shoreham in 1996-7; South Park, PA; Evansville, IN, Monterrey, CA at the Sea Otter Classic, and there was one year at the ABA Grands on Oklahoma that was one of the wildest tracks i think i ever raced....maybe 96 or 97...The first turn was elevated on top of those cargo containers you see stacked up in port then it had a drop-off. Just a wild track. Way better than any indoor NBL track i ever rode. I never really liked the tracks...i just always found something on each track to make it fun, at least during practice.

Check out those fork legs.

fuckbmx: word, now away from the racing a bit. you "invented" the ruben wall right correct? what year was that? are you pissed that you didnt get any credit for it?

BI: Ha. That was when we had the mini ramp at LIB. I rode it so much I would just try different stuff. I forget what year it was but Terra has the picture to prove i did it about 3-4 months before it was on the cover of RIDE.

fuckbmx: do you feel like you got jipped? you could have won the Xgames with that

BI: Ha. I was always a step behind. All the teams i was on, tricks, etc. I wouldn't have been able to do it on those X Games courses. Those ramps were huge. I did it on a 4 ft. ramp with a really close wall. Besides, that trick mixed with x-ups and turndowns would have gotten me an early ticket home.

fuckbmx: i guess so... that was before style counted...

BI: Don;t get me started on that.

factory Cycle Craft.

fuckbmx: haha alright then, how do you feel "dirt jumping" contests should be judged?

BI: I got to ride one of those big courses once or twice. I rode the Gravity Games course in Rhode Island one year and was sweating bullets just trying to roll in. I couldn't even get over the box jump. I couldn't air out the quarter to get toit.
BI: They shouldn't be judged really. Those Elevation and Empire of Dirt contests are the right way to do it. Still, it's hard to judge a double tailwhip against another double tailwhip.
BI: I think they should get one run...no practice and see who makes it to the bottom. That would really be the only way to "judge" a dirt contest.

fuckbmx: that would actually be wild. based on the redbull videos, gary young would win.
fuckbmx: you use to enter jumping contests back in the day at races, leathers and all. did your killer nac nacs ever get you up to the podium?


BI: Nope. I did a few contest when they held them on some jump on the track. I don't believe I ever won one. I gave the DK Dirt Circuit a run one year and never qualified. I remember it specifically. 13th at the Christmas Classic, 28th in Orlando, 13th at the Ohio State Fair. They took 12 to the finals each time. It's a longer story but I told Steve B. I would never enter again after that season. The judging was BS. Both times I got 13th I was doing lines that no one else was and got no credit because i didn't flip anything.

fuckbmx: so we shouldnt expect to see you making a comeback this year at the DK Dirt Circuit in Ohio, or the belmar contest?

BI: Shit, I haven't even jumped a decent size double in a while.
BI: I'd like to judge though...get on that. You have some pull.

fuckbmx: what if they built a roller pump track and held time trials? i know you've been training on your 3 mile long roller section.
fuckbmx: my only pull is drunk dials...
fuckbmx: i'll get on it tomorrow night

BI: I'm in. I've been wanting to build an entire race series based on that. DC Shoes did something like that a few years ago. I think that's the future of racing.
BI: Racing needs to get smaller or much bigger.

fuckbmx: i disagree. most kids who race and are under 20 years old would rather pedal down landings/through roller sections rather then pump.

BI: It's two different styles of racing.

clicked.

fuckbmx: how do you feel about the direction racing has gone? you kinda got out just as clips were taking over...

BI: The downhill racing was OK, but needed to be refined and slowed down to allow for passing. I never got to race those races but i watched and studied it. That's when I blew my knee out...the first DH race at Woodward. Never even got on the track.
BI: I used to not count the clipped-in guys. I'd say I won the lap even if i got beat by 2 kids in clips.
BI: A short story about that is this...in 95 or so, Ribbie Miranda and I were on Cyclecraft....He shows up in Akron, OH with these pedals where the shoes clipin. He said he used them on his messenger bike in Washington DC and that you could get all this extra power. So i put the shoes on, got on his bike, took about 5 cranks and then leaned on a fence so I could get out of the pedals. Took the shoes off, threw them back at him and said "no one will ever do this, it's sketchy."
BI: 5 years later the only chance I had of winning a lap was if some clipper unclipped after the first turn. It totally ruined BMX racing for me. Tracks got mellow and it became a test of how many pedals you could take instead of actually having to think about where and how to get extra speed.
BI: Basically, I need someone to bankroll my racing idea and I guarantee I'll have 100 people show up to race and it'll be the most entertaining thing ever. The best part is that the best rider will win.

fuckbmx: personally, i'd have my money on tom bivona.

BI: He'd be up there. No doubt about that. I spent many years racing Tom and don't think I ever passed him once he got in front of me. He's on a short list.

fuckbmx: he's got the pump technique.
fuckbmx: who are the top 5 riders, past and present, in your eyes?

BI: Wow, i'm going to blow this one for sure.
BI: Brian Foster, will possibly go down as the best overall rider ever in my eyes or anyone elses.
BI: That Corey Bohan guy makes watching a dirt contest interesting.
BI: Dave Friemuth and Jim Rienstra are a tie for some of the most amazing things i've ever seen on a ramp.
BI: Street-wise...Van Homan pretty much has burnt it to the ground.
BI: I guess for racing I'd say...I don't know. Names come to mind but I'm not sure.

fuckbmx: ok, so break it down, top 5 racers before the year 2000.

BI: Hmmm. Gary Ellis. John Purse. Randy Stumphauser. Matt Pohlkamp. Brian Foster.
BI: Don;t even ask about after 200o. I have no idea. But the best I've seen since those guys is Kyle Bennett.

fuckbmx: yeah, i figured you wouldnt know anyone current

BI: I ran into him at the NORA cup two years ago when he won and felt very proud to have grown up racing with him.

fuckbmx: yea, dude is pretty much the best/most stylish racer out there... sucks that he blew up his shoulder at the olympics
fuckbmx: so here;s the big question. your top 5 trail spots you've ever ridden.

BI: 7-11, Posh, Push, Oak Park, Drexelbrook
BI: Back in the late 90's there were not as many spots as there seem to be today.



fuckbmx: but at the same time, back then it seemed like there were so many more dudes at the trails riding...
fuckbmx: what were your 5 favorite sections to ride?

BI: Everything at Sevs. Jacuzzi to the six at Oak Park, Quali's at Posh. Drexel had a 48 pack or something like that i could ride all day. Hamburger Hill at Nam was awesome. My paradise at Panamoka.

fuckbmx: are you going to come out of paradise at panamoka and hit the rest of the trails? possibly keyko?
fuckbmx: from personal experience this past weekend, i would go keyko first, it's alot less nerve racking

BI: I don't know, really. I'm not about to put any pressure on myself. If I've learned anything from riding/not riding for this many years it's that you have to go at your own pace. I would much rather ride the small stuff all season and maybe look onward to the bigger jumps in the future than feel that I have to jump the bigger stuff and end up getting in over my head.
BI: I'm starting over and I'm not comfortable with the bigger, steep stuff. I have a lot of fun keeping my back wheel on the ground.

fuckbmx: well as long as your riding it really doesnt matter what you're hitting... it's better then a couch

BI: Exactly. If I go to the trails and have 3 or 4 good runs through the rollers and berms and my knees don't hurt or blow up. I'm a happy camper.
BI: Years ago I was having fun pushing myself and trying to be good at hitting everything. These days I'm just happy to be on the bike.

fuckbmx: yea, i hear that, bmx is just bmx in the end.
fuckbmx: so say i was going to the new shea stadium. what spot int he food court would i go to for the best meal?

BI: So far...I highly recommend Blue Smoke. It's the BBQ place by the Shake Shack behind center field. The ribs are good and the pulled pork sandwich is great. I need to get to another game and hit up Catch of the Day. The taco stand there is over-hyped but the corn on the cob there is delicious.
BI: I plan to eat everything that the specialty vendors have by the end of this season.

fuckbmx: haha nice. i think i am out of things to ask, so throw out some thank yous while i steal photos from your facebook
BI: I thank the people at Advil and pretty much everyone who I've come across over the pat 20 years while riding or working in the bike industry. For better or worse everyone has influenced me in some way. And, my dad. He took me to every race i went to for the first 5 years i was racing. If I didn't race as much when I was younger I probably wouldn't have ridden as much overall I probably wouldn't still want to ride today.

95 Grands from tom on Vimeo.

Thanks to biv's for posting this video.

fuckbmx: a dude on spins beat you
BI: Yeah. Kevin Royal.


And I stole this from Darren www.manmadeclothing.com