Gary Davis

Early BMX Sponsor • Community Builder

Before there were factory teams, national sponsorships, or organized BMX sanctioning programs throughout the Kansas City area, there was Gary's Bike Mart.

For countless young riders, Gary Davis was not simply selling bicycles. He was helping introduce an entire generation to a new sport that few people yet understood. In 1972, while still attending high school, Gary purchased a bicycle shop in Raytown, Missouri. It was an ambitious move, but one that would eventually place him near the center of Kansas City's emerging BMX community.

Gary later relocated the store within Raytown and opened a second location in Olathe, Kansas. Rising fuel costs and the difficulty of operating two stores eventually led him to consolidate the bicycle business at 10505 Blue Ridge Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri. As BMX began spreading from Southern California into the Midwest, Gary recognized that something new was happening and embraced it.

Seeing the Future

Gary's Bike Mart became one of the first bicycle shops in the Kansas City area to actively support BMX. As early as 1973, the shop carried products supplied by D&L Trickray in California. By 1974 and early 1975, Gary was stocking WEBCO frames and forks, CYC Products, and an expanding selection of BMX-specific components that were otherwise difficult for local riders to obtain.

Mark Poole became one of the first local riders with a WEBCO frame. His bicycle also used a Sachs Duomatic automatic two-speed rear hub—an unusual and innovative component during BMX's earliest years.

Long before BMX equipment became commonplace in traditional bicycle stores, young Kansas City riders could walk into Gary's Bike Mart and see the kinds of bicycles and components helping shape the new sport. More importantly, Gary understood that BMX needed more than parts and bicycles.

It needed riders. It needed places to race. It needed a community. One of Kansas City's First BMX Teams

Gary became the first known Kansas City-area bicycle-shop owner to sponsor BMX riders. Although Gary's Bike Mart had supported the emerging sport since approximately 1973, Tom Hand recalls that the organized Gary's Bike Mart Team was active from approximately 1975 through early 1976.

The Gary's Bike Mart Team Tom Hand Mark Poole Kyle Mallot Gary's sponsorship did not resemble the factory contracts and formal race programs that would emerge later. According to Tom Hand, Gary helped the riders by selling them bicycles, components, and equipment for little more than his own cost. At a time when young racers and their families were assembling BMX bikes from whatever suitable parts they could locate, that assistance made racing more affordable and gave the riders access to equipment that was otherwise difficult to find.

“Gary sponsored us by selling us parts for barely over his cost, and we helped him do whatever it took to have the races.” — Tom Hand Gary also gave the riders something bigger than a discount. He gave them a team identity. For some young racers, wearing a shop name and becoming part of a team was the first indication that what they were doing might grow into something larger than neighborhood riding.

More Than a Race Team

Tom Hand worked for Gary from approximately 1972 through 1974, before moving to JC Penney. His firsthand recollections provide much of what is currently known about Gary's Bike Mart and its early BMX team. According to Tom, the riders were involved in nearly every aspect of the sport. They raced, built bicycles, helped develop tracks, organized events, and promoted BMX throughout the southern Kansas City area.

Their involvement extended from early riding locations such as Farley Fields through Gary's Bike Mart and later to Kernodle's Park. Nick Sistrunk and his parents, Jim and Jane Sistrunk, became active volunteers, helping around the shop and at Kernodle's Park. Their involvement demonstrates that Gary's Bike Mart was not built around three racers alone. As with nearly every successful early BMX effort, riders, parents, volunteers, and a neighborhood bicycle shop worked together.

Gary's Bike Mart helped turn BMX from something children did on vacant lots and improvised courses into an organized community effort.

The Neighborhood BMX Headquarters

To many racers, Gary's Bike Mart was far more than a bicycle shop. It was where riders gathered. It was where bicycles were built and repaired. It was where new parts were admired, tracks and races were discussed, and weekend plans were made.

Long before social media connected BMX riders, neighborhood bicycle shops such as Gary's Bike Mart served as unofficial headquarters for the local BMX community. The shop gave riders a place to exchange information, compare equipment, find help, and become part of something larger than themselves.

The relationships formed there carried outward to the tracks, teams, families, and volunteers helping establish BMX across the Kansas City area. Gary's Bike Mart was therefore more than a retail business that happened to sell BMX products. It became one of the foundational organizations of Kansas City BMX.

A Business in Transition

During the 1975–1976 period, Gary transitioned away from the bicycle business and into selling import auto parts. Gary sold Gary's Bike Mart to Rick Smedley. Anticipating a possible change to the shop's name, Tom Hand, Mark Poole, and Kyle Mallot added Nick Sistrunk to the team and had new jerseys made featuring H & S Racing Team, representing Hand and Sistrunk.

Under new ownership, the bicycle business relocated to the Birchwood Shopping Center near 105th Street in Grandview, Missouri, and eventually became The Bicycle Shack. The tradition of supporting Kansas City BMX continued through Rick Smedley, Chris Smedley, and later Jason Starforth. Although Gary owned the original Gary's Bike Mart for only a few years, the foundation he established continued long after his departure.

The Legacy of Gary's Bike Mart

Gary Davis helped demonstrate that a successful BMX community required more than tracks and talented riders. It also needed people willing to invest in young racers before anyone knew what the sport might become.

Gary stocked BMX equipment years before it became mainstream. He made parts more affordable for young riders and their families. He supported one of the area's earliest recognizable BMX teams and provided a place where riders could gather, build bicycles, exchange ideas, and help organize the emerging sport.

Like many of the businesses that supported BMX during its infancy, Gary's Bike Mart helped provide part of the foundation upon which Kansas City BMX was built. Today, the shop's legacy lives on through surviving photographs, bicycles, components, and memorabilia. More importantly, it lives through the riders and families whose first experiences with organized BMX began at tracks connected to Gary's Bike Mart and its team.

The history of Kansas City BMX was built not only on small, flat tracks and exciting “semi-downhill” tracks. It was also built inside neighborhood bicycle shops where lifelong friendships were formed, dreams took shape, and a community began to grow. Gary's Bike Mart was one of those places.

Gary Davis was one of the people who helped make it possible.

Gary Davis and Gary's Bike Mart KANSAS CITY BMX HISTORY | LEGENDS ARCHIVE

Career at a Glance

Role Bicycle-shop owner, early BMX sponsor, and Kansas City BMX pioneer Business Gary's Bike Mart

Original Location 6133 Blue Ridge Boulevard, Raytown Plaza, downtown Raytown, Missouri

Additional Locations Olathe, Kansas; later 10505 Blue Ridge Boulevard, Kansas City, Missouri

Years Associated With Early BMX Approximately 1973–1976 Gary's Bike Mart Team Approximately 1975–early 1976

Sponsored Riders Tom Hand, Mark Poole, and Kyle Mallot

Early BMX Products D&L Trickray, WEBCO, CYC Products, and many others

Historical Contributions First known Kansas City-area bicycle-shop owner to sponsor BMX riders; early supplier of BMX-specific equipment; supported riders, tracks, races, and the development of Kansas City's grassroots BMX community