Dirt Devil

Meet the BMX professional who is tearing up not only the X-Games but the art world as well

- Hayley Kathleen Toth

Broc Raiford is a 24-year-old professional BMXer, originally from Destrehan, Louisiana, who moved to California to pursue his career. Placing sixth in his first-ever X-Games, then taking home a bronze medal at his second, Raiford is rapidly making his name known in BMX street culture. But his talents don’t cease at BMX. With an artistic mind, Raiford got into tattoo art at a young age. Since then he has begun painting tattoo flash and plans to take his artistic abilities to the next level by becoming a tattoo artist when his BMX career slows down.

How did you first get into BMX? I was first exposed to BMX through my dad. He rode BMX, skateboards and motocross, and I followed in his footsteps. It was cool because we shared a passion for these sports and that brought us closer as father and son. Turning pro was a childhood dream for me and I’m thankful for every day I get to live my life as a professional BMX rider.

How old were you when you got your first bike? I was two when I got my first bike. All I really remember was that my bike was blue and had training wheels. My parents say that after the first few days of riding the bike, I started wheeling it over to them and throwing a tantrum to have the training wheels taken off. They were skeptical of it due to my safety, but after a few wobbly passes up and down the driveway under their supervision, I was cruising on two wheels at two years old.