GARY'S BIKE MART

Editor’s Note Much of the history presented in this article comes from the firsthand recollections of Tom Hand, an original member of the Gary’s Bike Mart Team. His memories, photographs, and research provide one of the most complete surviving accounts of Kansas City’s earliest BMX years. Where Kansas City BMX Became a Team Sport Before factory sponsorships and organized BMX programs, Gary’s Bike Mart in Raytown assembled one of the earliest organized BMX teams in the Kansas City area. The team represented riders, families, and a local bicycle shop working together to help build a new sport. The Team According to Tom Hand, the Gary’s Bike Mart Team existed from approximately 1975 through early 1976 and consisted of: Tom Hand Mark Poole Kyle Mallot More Than Sponsorship Tom Hand recalls: “Gary sponsored us by selling us parts for barely over his cost, and we helped him do whatever it took to have the races.” This cooperative relationship reflected the spirit of early BMX. Sponsorship was not simply about wearing a shop jersey. The riders supported the shop, and the shop helped provide the equipment and resources needed to keep them racing. Together with their families, they also supplied the labor required to hold the races themselves. Early Innovation Tom recalls that Mark Poole became one of the first riders in the Kansas City area to own a WEBCO frame. Mark was also the first known local rider to race with a Sachs Duomatic automatic two-speed rear hub—an unusual and innovative piece of equipment during BMX’s earliest years. Building the Sport From Farley Fields to Gary’s Bike Mart and Kernodle’s Park, the riders and their families helped build tracks, organize races, and establish one of Kansas City’s earliest BMX communities. They were not merely participants in an established sport. They were helping create the places, events, and community that allowed the sport to exist. Historical Significance The Gary’s Bike Mart Team helped establish a model that would define Kansas City BMX for years to come: local bicycle shops supporting racers, families volunteering, and riders helping perform the work necessary to build and sustain the sport.