Remembering "Xandre" Thomas

Alexandre Anakin Thomas, “Xandre” or “A-bomb” as he was affectionately known in the BMX community, was born in January of 2000. He lost his life on June 8th, 2022, due to a tragic motorcycle accident that occurred two days prior. He touched many people’s lives in his short 22 years on this earth. It wasn’t until he passed that we realized just how big of an impact he made. As a young man, he had overcome many adversities. He was an underdog of sorts, always beating the odds and persevering. He began riding dirt bikes at the tender age of 3 after his father promised him he would get a dirt bike when he could ride a bicycle without training wheels. He accomplished this at the age of 2. We knew then that there was no stopping him or holding him down. By the age of 8, he had won an entire seasonal championship on his KTM SX50 with 8 out of 9 first-place finishes. He was given the microphone at the final and proudly thanked Jesus and his family for his success.

As fate would have it, he entered the BMX community shortly after turning 16. He had dabbled in other sports as a youth, like soccer and baseball, but nothing kept his adventurous spirit alive. He had a freak accident at the age of 15 where he suffered a major knee injury where the orthopedic doctor told him, “If you were a professional football player, this would be a career-ending injury.” As a very active youth, this, of course, upset him, but he didn’t let it stop him. After two successful surgeries and months of physical therapy, he was given the green light to participate in sports sans restrictions. It was a visit to a local bike shop where fliers were placed regarding Sports Park BMX that piqued his curiosity. He went to the local track to check it out and was intrigued. We purchased his first USABMX license and a cruiser bike, and he was hooked. He was awkward at first, but once he got the hang of it, he flourished in the sport. After turning intermediate, we asked the Vaughns, track operators of Sports Park BMX, to build him a custom 20” Ssquared CEO, and that was his first introduction to the class bike. He hung in the intermediate class for a while, earning 2 Gold Cup Championships for his age group before he decided one season that he was going to push himself to turn expert.

He enjoyed mentoring youth. He rode for a few teams, including HOF Debbie Kaslow’s Tuff Guys, before he joined the Ss Arizona State Team. He flourished in the sport, and everywhere we went, people knew the “A-Bomb”. He was such a humble and genuine young man with a heart of gold, a personality larger than life, and an infectious laugh, that he didn’t realize the love the BMX community had for him. He just wanted to help people no matter their age or circumstances and went out of his way to do so any chance he got. Losing him last summer left a huge hole in our souls. He loved everything about BMX; the traveling, the comradery, the feeling of extended family, and the sense of belonging to something larger than himself. For this very reason, a charity has been started in his honor to help the BMX community. We want to give back to the environment he loved so much. Our goals are to take this charity beyond a local level by sponsoring athletes on a needed basis to achieve their goals of State, GC, National, and eventually Worlds. We also want to assist financially and work with track operators for whatever their needs may be to stay open and provide a safe and fun environment for riders and their families. We are happy to announce that we are officially accepting donations. Please follow our FB page Xandre “A-Bomb” Thomas Charity. In the very near future, we will have his branded dark roast coffee and scented candle, plus t-shirts and other A-Bomb swag for sale as well in order to supplement the charity needs.