Van Homan

Van Homan is an American BMX rider from New Jersey, regarded as one of the most important street riders of the late 1990s and 2000s. He became known for riding bigger gaps and longer rails than almost anyone of his era, and his section in Criminal Mischief (2001) is widely considered one of the best street video parts ever made. He was long associated with Fit Bike Co and with the East Coast clothing brand Little Devil.

Early life and background

Homan grew up in southern New Jersey, in Pennsville, across the Delaware River from Wilmington, Delaware. He started riding BMX as a teenager in the mid 1990s, when street riding was growing fast and the East Coast scene was producing a wave of hard-charging riders. He rode street spots in New Jersey and Philadelphia and also spent a lot of time on trails, which gave him a comfort in the air that showed in his street riding.

He came up through the East Coast jam and video scene rather than through contests, and his first coverage came from magazines and independent videos.

Career

Homan's professional career began in the late 1990s. He became associated with Little Devil, a Pennsylvania clothing brand that also produced videos, and with Fit Bike Co, the street-focused brand launched by Robbie Morales alongside S&M Bikes. He stayed with Fit for most of his career, and the company released a series of signature frames carrying his name.

His breakout came with Little Devil's Criminal Mischief in 2001. His section, placed at the end of the video, was a run of enormous gaps, long handrails and heavy drops filmed across the East Coast. It changed the expectation of what a street part should look like and was referenced by riders for years afterwards. He followed it with parts in later Little Devil videos and in Fit team videos, including Fit Life (2007).

He was also a regular on Road Fools trips, the Props tour videos that brought riders together on the road, and appeared widely in Props Video Magazine. Riders voted him street rider of the year at the NORA Cup during the early 2000s, and he was a regular on the awards shortlist for much of the decade.

Homan did not build his career on contests, though he entered some. His reputation came from video parts, magazine photos and the word of riders who watched him in person. Through the 2010s he filmed less but remained involved with Fit and the East Coast scene.

Riding style

Homan's riding is about scale and commitment. He rode the same kinds of obstacles as other street riders, rails, ledges, gaps and banks, but bigger. Handrails that other riders considered the limit were his standard, and he regularly gapped distances that looked more like trails than street.

He was not a trick-heavy rider in the technical sense. His grinds were mostly straightforward, such as double pegs and feebles, done on rails that made them hard. His gaps were often simple jumps or 180s, made notable by their size. The difficulty was in the setup, the speed and the consequence, not the trick.

His trails background showed in his air control and in his willingness to ride fast. Watching his parts, the overriding impression is of a rider going harder than everyone around him.

Video parts and notable moments

Homan's career is defined by video. Key parts and moments include:

• Criminal Mischief (Little Devil, 2001), the ender section that made his name and set a new standard for hammers in street riding.
• Later Little Devil videos in the early 2000s.
• Fit Life (2007), the Fit Bike Co team video.
• Appearances across Road Fools trips and Props coverage.
• NORA Cup street rider of the year recognition in the early 2000s.

Legacy and influence

Homan's influence on street riding is about raising the ceiling. Before his Criminal Mischief part, the biggest rails and gaps in BMX videos were outliers. After it, they were the benchmark. A generation of riders, particularly on the East Coast, measured themselves against what he had done, and the "go big" ethic of 2000s street riding owes a lot to him.

He also helped establish Fit Bike Co as a core street brand. His signature frames were among the company's most popular products, and his presence on the team gave Fit credibility with street riders at a time when the brand was still new. Riders such as Mike Aitken and Chase Hawk came through the same Fit team in later years.

Among riders, he is remembered as much for his attitude as his riding: quiet, committed and unconcerned with contests or self-promotion. That approach became part of the identity of core street riding.

Related

• Fit Bike Co
• Criminal Mischief
• Fit Life
• Road Fools
• Street
• Trails
• Mike Aitken
• Edwin De La Rosa