Toby S.Henderson (born October 10, 1961, in

La Mirada, California La Mirada (Spanish for "The Look") is a city in southeast Los Angeles County, California United States, and is one of the Gateway Cities. The population was 48,527 at the 2010 census, up from 46,783 at the 2000 census. The La Mirada Theatre for ...

United States) is a former professional American "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were between 1979 and 1985. He was given the nickname "Coca Cola Cowboy" by Bob Osborn, publisher of ''BMX Action'' magazine, although the reason for it was unknown even by Henderson. He himself regard it as "lame".

Racing career

Henderson started racing in 1973 at the age of 12 at Hollyfield Park in

Norwalk, California Norwalk is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 105,549 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated 103,949 in 2019. It is the 58th most densely-populated ...

. In a September 1982 ''BMX Action'' his first race was claimed to be Scot Briethaupt's B.U.M.S track. He rode a Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycle at that time. He turned professional in December 1978, and came in third at the Pro Class at the

National Bicycle Association The National Bicycle Association (NBA), later known as the National Bicycle Motocross Association (NbmxA), was a United States-based Bicycle Motocross (BMX) sports sanctioning body originally based in Soledad, California that was created by Ernie ...

(NBA) Supernationals in Saddleback Park in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

on April 8, 1979. He retired in 1987 aged 26. His last national race as a serious competitor appears to have been the

United States Bicycle Motocross Association The United States Bicycle Association (USBA) was a short-lived Bicycle Motocross (BMX) national sanctioning body based in Tempe, Arizona. It was founded in March 1984 by five former members of the American Bicycle Association (ABA): Rich Mann, Dave ...

(USBA) Grandnational in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

on November 11, 1986. He came in seventh in "A" pro, the senior pro level. It was the last USBA sanctioned raced before it merged with the

American Bicycle Association The American Bicycle Association (ABA) was a US-based BMX sports governing body in Gilbert, Arizona. In 2011, the ABA merged with the former National Bicycle League and became the current USA BMX. The organization was founded by Merl Mennenga ...

(ABA) in 1987. Henderson then pursued a Mountain Bike racing career. He would later race at least one BMX race in 1987 at the Vision World Cup in

on June 21, 1987. He didn't make any mains. During his career, he was sponsored by Jeff Bottema's uncle (1974 to 1976), then by D.G. Performance Specialist (late 1978 to June 1979), and finally by Raleigh Cycle Company of America (July 1979 to January 1981). Other sponsors included SE Racing (January 1984 to December 1985), "DAD" (January 1986-February 1986), BMX Action Magazine (February 1986-March 1987), and GT Bicycles (April 1988 – 1991).

Titles

National Bicycle League The National Bicycle League (NBL) was a United States–based Bicycle Motocross (BMX) sports sanctioning body originally based in Deerfield Beach, Florida, but after several moves it was based in Hilliard, Ohio. It was created by George Edward Ess ...

(NBL) *''1980 National No.3 Pro'' *1981 Pro Cruiser Knott's Berry Farm Grand National Champion (NBL, United Bicycle Racers (UBR) & World Wide Bicycle Motocross Association (WWBMXA) sanctioned.) *''1982 National No.2 Pro Cruiser *1983 "A" Pro Grandnational Champion *1984 Pro Cruiser Grandnational Champion *''1984 Pro Cruiser National No.1''

(USBA) *1985 National No.2 Pro and National Pro Cruiser No.2 *1986 National No.3 Pro Pro Series Championships *1981 Pro Cruiser International Grand Championship Champion

Injuries

Henderson broke his collarbone at the NBL North Park National in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

on August 9, 1981. He crashed in his first Pro Trophy qualifying moto when his front wheel failed to clear adequately and struck the second of double moguls, breaking the front end of the Thruster frame he was racing and catapulting him at high speed into the ground head first. He was laid up for approximately six weeks until the 1981 NBL Grandnational in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

held on September 26, 1981. He didn't make it out of his Senior "A" pro quarter semi finals, but came in third in the Pro Trophy competition.''Super BMX'' January 1982 Vol.9 No.1 pg.22

Accolades

Henderson was inducted to the ABA BMX Hall of Fame in 1994. He was inducted into the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.

References

External links

The Old School BMX Toby Henderson interview

The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.

The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.

Decent World.com Interview

Box Components
{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Toby 1961 births Living people American male cyclists BMX riders Cyclists from Indiana