Toby S. Henderson (born October 10, 1961) 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, United States. The population was 102,773 at the 2020 census. Founded in the late 19th century, Norwalk was incorporated as a city in 1957. It is located southeast of downtown Los Angeles a ...

. 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 The Schwinn Bicycle Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets bicycles under the eponymous brand name. The company was founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895, and in the 20th century became the domi ...

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 BMX, Bicycle Motocross (BMX) sports Sports governing body, sanctioning body originally based in Soledad, Californ ...

(NBA) Supernationals in Saddleback Park in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

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 (USBA) Grandnational in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

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 racing governing body in Gilbert, Arizona. In 2011, the ABA merged with the former National Bicycle League and became the present-day USA BMX: The American Bicycle Association. The ABA wa ...

(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 (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'' United States Bicycle Motocross Association (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 Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

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 ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

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 American BMX riders Cyclists from Indiana 20th-century American sportsmen