Drew Hosselton, 24, shows off his BMX moves in a parking lot near his home in Tempe. (Photo by Ana Ramirez)BMX rider Drew Hosselton said he plans to attend ASU after he spends a few more years riding and traveling.
Hosselton graduated from Mesa Community College last fall with an associate degree in secondary education. He wanted to continue his schooling but was unable to balance riding professionally and going to school.
“I wanted to teach high schoolers history,” Hosselton said.
Hosselton is a part-time cook at the Cornish Pasty Co. and is gone several weeks out of the month for his BMX career.
If he had signed up for classes this semester, he’d be failing half of them, he said.
BMX started becoming a part of his life in third grade, he said. His elementary school required the students to visit the library daily and he found books on BMX and began reading them.
“They had to be from the 1970s,” he said. “I would just read them from cover to cover.”
He didn’t get a BMX bike until he was about 10 years old.
“The day I got my BMX bike, that’s all I did,” Hosselton said. “It’s seriously all I could think about since I got into it.”
Hosselton grew up in the “farm country” of southern Illinois. He lived in north Phoenix since he was a teen and moved to Tempe three years ago.
When he was 19 years old, his bike was stolen and he needed a sponsor to afford a new one. His first sponsor, MirraCo, stepped in.
That only lasted a few months. Soon after, Demolition Parts and Volume Bikes began sponsoring him. He’s been riding for them ever since.
Hosselton has traveled all over for his career, mostly in California. He was recently in Europe for a month shooting videos and getting his picture taken. He said he loves the traveling part of his job.
“(I go) anywhere where there’s something good to ride,” Hosselton said.
Hosselton has been dating co-worker Hannah Jacobs for more than a year. Jacobs said she wishes he wasn’t gone so much, but she’s an artist and it gives her a chance to work on her illustration and designing furniture.
“I miss him but at the same time we both have stuff going on,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs and Hosselton met at the Cornish Pasty Co. and have been dating ever since.
“He’s an artist and I’m an artist, we’re just creative souls,” she said.
Hosselton looks at BMX as more than a sport.
“It’s the perfect combination of art and sport,” he said.
Hosselton said he prefers riding street than in a skate or BMX park because he gets bored easily. He said it’s about finding a weird ledge or bank to ride.
“For me it’s the challenge of trying to figure out how to ride something,” he said. “At a skate park there’s no challenge, it’s perfect for riding.”
Business senior Bobby Kanode, also a sponsored BMX rider, is Hosselton’s roommate.
He said he looked up to Hosselton when he was younger.
“I remember geeking out to Drew on the internet,” Kanode said.
On his 16th birthday, Kanode ran into Hosselton riding, and they’ve been friends ever since.
Kanode said he likes living with Hosselton because it’s nice to always have a friend around.
Hosselton is good at BMX because he’s artistic, creative and has the work ethic of a farm boy, Kanode said.
Hosselton said there’s adventure to riding BMX.
“You feel like a kid exploring,” he said. “I’ll have days where I put my bike in my car and I’ll spend the whole day looking for a spot and that’s just as fun.”
Hosselton wants to ride BMX for a few more years, and then he plans on finishing school. He said he wants to have his act together and be a “grown-up” by the time he’s 30.
“ASU is definitely where I’ll be going,” he said. “I don’t see myself moving out of Phoenix anytime soon.”
Reach the reporter at amrami13@asu.edu
