Friends and family remember a BMX legend Scot Breithaupt

A BMX legend is remembered Sunday by family, friends and admirers.

Scot Breithaupt was 57-years-old when he died last Saturday in a tent in a homeless camp in Indio.

He was one of the first to organize bicycle motocross races and was inducted into the national BMX hall of fame.

Now, his memory lives on in those who knew him best.

“It was amazing what came out of a guy who would go race in a vacant lot and turned it into an Olympic sport,” said Jerry Dye, a friend of Breithaupt.

Breithaupt was among the first to organize bicycle races on dirt motorcycle courses in the early 1970s.

Through the years he worked as a commentator for ESPN, started his own company, SE racing, and touched the lives of many right here in our valley.

“He walked over to my brother who was about 11-years-old and said here you go hammer and I watched my little brothers face light up like a Christmas tree and it was for that smile that Scot did it,” said Javier Lopez, a friend of Breithaupt.

His mother Carole was among those who gathered to paid tribute to the athlete.

“It’s almost hard to describe, it’s explosive. It’s unbelievable. But I knew him to be a person who always encouraged other people and he just had a knack for inspiring,” Carole Breithaupt said.

Despite his fame and fortune, Breithaupt suffered from drug addiction and lived homeless until he died.

“I think there were some natural diseases and sicknesses that made him weak. Then some of the other stuff that isn’t so natural took its toll on him,” Lopez said.

“He tried to get the message out that drugs has ruined his life and that he could be Scot Breithaupt at times and then the drugs would take over,” Breithaupt said.

But those who knew him best said his legacy out shines his inner demons, specially through his work with children.

“He would go to schools and talk to the young people about the dreads of drugs. He just hated drugs but they were his master,” Breithaupt said.

“He did a race against drugs around ’86 or ’87, something like, that he brought in a whole bunch of pros in the day, pro BMXers, and the local kids got to meet all the pros,” Lopez said.

Some of the people there Sunday were in Los Angeles Saturday, where a memorial ride was held in Breithaupt’s honor.

They said around 500 to 600 BMXers were all there to honor this legend.