Even though the legend of Fred Blood was a bit before my time, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more fascinating BMX story than that of this ex-pro vert rollerskater.

Here is one of his old pro models on General Bikes. A few of these (a couple years old) were on my local shop’s showroom floor when I was growing up in Michigan, and their $200 price tag was very tempting while I was struggling to save for my $309 1990 Haro Master.

Here is a thread where his history is discussed, the end of which features a post from Blood himself, telling his own version. While most seem to question his talent as a pro Freestyler, there’s also the opinion that Fred utilized more than just his riding skills to be successful. Here’s an excerpt from his rebuttal:

“I worked the magazines everyday because my photo contingency maxed out at $10,000 a month and my contract maxed out at $300,000 a year plus co-sponsors and then show money and appearance money on top of that.”

Pending a little luck and the outcome of my Facebook friend request to Fred, perhaps we could get him on Defgrip to elaborate a bit on his glamourous history in 1980s BMX.