AUSTIN, Texas — Being on a bike is where Brad Simms is most comfortable. He’s been riding since he was pretty young and turned that love of BMX into a career. Simms has been able to ride in over 100 countries around the world and has competed in the X Games. But in 2019 it looked as if his career might have been coming to an end.

What You Need To Know

  • Brad Simms is a pro BMX rider

  • He was named the 2020 BMX rider of the year

  • Has almost 400,000 followers on Instagram
  • Landed major sponsorship deals with companies like Adidas

“I was down to my last $40 in my account,” says Simms. “I said, 'It’s got to happen.' You can be grinding for 10 years straight but if you don’t see it through to the 11th you’ll never know.”

That 11th year for Simms was 2020. The world was dealing with a pandemic and mostly stuck inside. That’s when Simms saw an opportunity. 

“I knew people were inside looking at their phones,” says Simms. “People were bored out of their minds.”

It also meant the streets of Austin, Texas were as empty as they’ve ever been. Simms decided to get out on his bike and try new tricks that might not have been possible before. He would take videos of those tricks and send them straight to Instagram.

“Where do I go if I want to create the most noise,” Simms thought. “We just started going out and filming clips. Every day we were dropping new clips. People were jumping out of their seats.”

Those videos took off on social media and grew his following almost instantly. His videos were providing entertainment and inspiration to those who waited around to see what Simms would do next.

“It is inspiring when you become like a shaping force in somebody’s life,” says Simms. “All the the people sending me their stories and talking about their struggles and how my riding and what I was doing motivated them was also helpful and benefited me in the same way because it kept me going.”

“It’s been pretty amazing watching your friend just skyrocket,” says Drew Pickell, one of Brad’s best friends. “It’s about as good as it gets.”

The social media success led Simms to being named the 2020 BMX rider of the year. It also opened the door to some major sponsorship deals with companies like Adidas and put his career back on track.

“Now I’m in a position where I can invest in my future,” says Simms. “I can take care of myself. I can help other people better their situations. This is like the dream.”