Toby Henderson

Cyclist infobox
ridername = Toby Henderson


fullname = Tobias S. Henderson
nickname = "Coca-Cola Cowboy"
"The California Kid"
dateofbirth = birth date and age |1961|10|10
height = 1.83m (6'0" Imperial)
weight = 78kg (172lbs. Imperial)
country = USA
currentteam = Retired
discipline = Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
role = Racer
ridertype = Off Road
protourrank =
europetourrank =
amateuryears = 1974-1976
1976-1977
1977-1978
amateurteams = Bottema
Ralph's Bicycles
Hiatus from racing
proyears = 1979
1979-1981
1981-1984
1984-1985
1986
1986-1987
1988
proteams = DG
Raliegh
Hutch
SE Racing
Father
BMX Action
GT Racing
majorwins =
updated = July 22, 2008

Tobias S. ["Super BMX" December 1983 Vol.10 No.12 pg.60 (results)] Henderson (b. October 10, 1961 in La Mirada, California USA) was a professional American "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from (1979-1985) He was given the nickname"Coca Cola Cowboy" by Bob Osborn, publisher of "BMX Action" magazine but the reason for it was unknown even by Henderson. He himself regard it as "lame". [ [http://users.pandora.be/jjrbmx/inter-test/HUTCHTobyHendersonInterview2003.html Toby Henderson 2003 interview] ]

Racing career milestones

Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

----Started Racing: In 1973 at 12 years old. ["BMX Plus!" October 1982 Vol.5 No.10 pg.54] at Hollyfield Park in Norwalk, California [ [http://bmxactiononline.com/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itemid=26&func=view&id=9899&catid=13&limit=10&limitstart=0 bmxactiononline 2007 interview] ] In a September 1982 "BMX Action" his first race was at Scot Briethaupt's B.U.M.S track. ["BMX Action" September 1982 Vol.7 No.9 pg.34]

First race bicycle: Schwinn Stingray

Sanctioning Body: Independent.

First race result:

First win (local):

First sponsor:

First national win:

Turned Professional: Late 1978 ["BMX Plus!" October 1982 Vol.5 No.10 pg.54]

First Professional race result:

First Professional win:

Retired: 1987 at 26 years old. His last national race as a serious competitor appears to have been the United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA) Grandnational in Dallas, Texas on November 11, 1986. He came in seventh in "A" pro, the senior pro level. ["BMX Action" February 1987 Vol.12 No.2 pg.49 (results)] It was the last USBA sanctioned raced before it merged with the American Bicycle Association (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 Irvine, California on June 21, 1987 He didn't make any mains. ["BMX Plus!" October 1987 Vol.10 No.10 pg.34] ) Height & weight at height of her career (1981-1984): Ht:6'0" Wt:172lbs.

Career factory and major bike shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are used.

----

Amateur

*Bottema: 1974-1976 The first sponsor Henderson ever had was Jeff Bottema's uncle. ["BMX Plus!" October 1982 Vol.5 No.10 pg.54]
*Ralph's Bicycles: 1976-Mid 1977
*"Left BMX to race motorcycles for a year and a half" ["BMX Action" September 1982 Vol.7 No.9 pg.34] Mid 1977-Late 1978

Professional

*D.G. Performance Specialist (The initials stood for "D"an Hangsleben, "G"ary Harlow): ["BMX Plus!" July 1988 Vol.11 No.7 pg.26] April 1979-June 1979
*Raleigh Cycle Company of America: July 1979-Mid January 1981. The ABA Summernationals in Amarillo, Texas was very likely his first race for Raliegh since it was for Jeff Bottema. ["Bicycle Motocross Action" October 1979 Vol.4 No.8 pg.41 (photo caption)] They had joined the team together leaving DG. ["BMX Action" September 1982 Vol.7 No.9 pg.35] Raleigh dropped its racing team in January of 1981. ["Bicycle Motocross Action" February 1982 Vol.7 No.2 pg.80] According to Henderson Raleigh allegedly strung himself and Jeff Bottema along with false promises of a new contract for the 1982 season only to abruptly dropped by Raleigh:

Toby Henderson: "...I was getting a couple of good contracts coming up, and I turned them all down, because I kept calling Raleigh, and saying, "Well, are we going to do something next year?" "Oh yeah, oh yeah, we're really going to be full force next year." [Raleigh's alleged response-"ed."] "So I turned some good contracts down, and I let it all slide, until the middle of January, when I called them up and said, "Well, where's the contracts? Let's get some contracts going," and they said, Well, we decided we're going to go TV advertisement," and that's all they said, like "Click." [imitating a phone hang up-"ed."] "And we" [Henderson and Bottema-"ed."] "said, "Huh?" Here we turned down like three or four good contracts in October, when all the other teams were setting their budgets up and looking for their riders for the next year"." ["BMX Plus!" October 1982 Vol.5 No.10 pg.54] ---"BMX Plus!" October 1982

:Ironically, Raleigh would restart its BMX sponsoring program a year later. Toby rode sponsorless for six months util June of 1981 ["BMX Plus!" October 1982 Vol.5 No.10 pg.54]
*Hutch Hi-Performance BMX/Products: Early June 1981-January 29, 1984. Henderson's last race for Hutch was the ABA Supernationals in Burbank, California on January 29, 1984. ["Super BMX" May 1984 Vol.11 No.5 pg.32] Henderson left Hutch for SE Racing because they offered to pay him three times the money Hutch was offering but ultimately he decided it was a bad move:quote|Toby: "I left Hutch for SE racing. They paid me 3 times what Hutch offered. It was a mistake on my part. I should have stayed at Hutch."
JJR: "Can you explain that?"
Toby: "SE paid me a lot more money than Hutch to switch, but were unable to promote me as much as Hutch therefore in the long run it was a bad move. SE did however buy my first house for me!" [ [http://users.pandora.be/jjrbmx/inter-test/HUTCHTobyHendersonInterview2003.html January 2003 Interview] ]

*SE (formerly Scot Enterprises, now called Sports Engineering, Inc.) Racing: Late January 1984-December 1985. It appears that the ABA Winternationals on February 26, 1984 was the first event Henderson raced in SE Racing colors.
*"DAD": January 1986-February 1986. After Henderson was either dropped by SE Racing or as Henderson himself put it "deleted himself", ["BMX Action" April 1986 Vol.11 No.4 pg.61 (photo caption)] his father supported him on the race circuit for a couple of months. On his uniform he had "Thanks Dad" sewn on in appreciation. ["May 1986 Vol.11 No.5 pg.16]
*BMX Action Magazine: February 1986-March 1987. After his father financed him to get to a few nationals after he quit SE Racing, the became the test rider for the BMX periodical "BMX Action" and was also sponsored by them. He would retire from active competition after leaving "BMX Action" .
*GT (Gary Turner) Bicycles: April 1988-. This was primarily his Mountain Bike racing sponsor but he did race BMX on occasion, including the NBL Snipes National in Norco, California on June 19, 1988, the first BMX race since his last one at the Vision World Cup in Irvine, California on June 21, 1987 (he didn't make any main at that time ["BMX Plus!" October 1987 Vol.10 No.10 pg.34] ). He came in eighth place last in "A" pro and seventh place in Pro Cruiser at Snipes. ["BMX Action" October 1988 Vol.13 No.10 pg.66 & 68(results)]
*Balance: 1993
*Iron Horse: 1994-

Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National and International titles. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career.

----

Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)
*1978 16 Novice Grandnational ChampionNational Bicycle League (NBL)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)
*NoneFédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
*NoneInternational Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*
*NoneUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*
*None

*See note in professional section

Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)
*NoneNational Bicycle League (NBL)
*1983 "A" Pro Grandnational Champion
*1984 Pro Cruiser Grandnational Champion
*"1984 Pro Cruiser National No.1"American Bicycle Association (ABA)

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)
*1986 National No.3 ProInternational Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*
*None (FIAC did not have a strictly professional division during its existence) (defunct).Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

*Note: Beginning in 1991 the IBMXF and FIAC had been holding joint World Championship events as a transitional phase in merging which began in earnest in 1993. Beginning with the 1996 season the IBMXF and FIAC completed the merger and both ceased to exist as independent entities being integrated into the UCI. Beginning with the 1997 World Championships held in Brighton, England the UCI would officially hold and sanction BMX World Championships and with it inherited all precedents, records, streaks, etc. from both the IBMXF and FIAC.

Pro Series Championships
*1981 Pro Cruiser International Grand Championship Champion

Notable accolades

* [http://www.ababmx.com/index.php?page=default/halloffame&year=1994 Henderson is a 1994 ABA BMX Hall of Fame Inductee.]
* [http://www.usbhof.com/inductees/2000.cfm Henderson is also a 2000 Inductee of the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame.]

BMX Product Lines

*1985 SE Racing "SE Hauler Toby Henderson Signature Model" aka "Henderson Hauler":Product Evaluation:::"American BMXer" January/February 1985 Vol.7 No.12 pg.10] ::"BMX Plus!" Februray 1985 Vol.8 No.2 pg.56

ignificant injuries

*Broke Collarbone at the NBL North Park National in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 9, 1981. He crashed in his first Pro Trophy qualifying moto when his front wheel did not 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, injuring him. ["Super BMX" December 1981 Vol.8 No.12 pg.46&71] ["BMX Action" September 1982 Vol.7 No.9 pg.35] He was laid up for approximately six weeks until the 1981 NBL Grandnational in St. Louis, Missouri held on September 26, 1981. He didn't make it out of his Senior "A" pro quarter semi finals, but he did come in third in, ironically, Pro Trophy. ["Super BMX" January 1982 Vol.9 No.1 pg.22]

Racing habits and traits

Miscellaneous and Trivia

*His pants had the slogan on the seat of it that said "No Way" in 1983. ["BMX Action" May 1983 Vol.8 No.5 pg.66 & 98]

Post BMX career

BMX press magazine interviews and articles

*"Henderson & Hutch" "BMX Action" September 1982 Vol.7 No.9 pg.35 Combined article about Henderson and product evaluation of the Hutch XL24 Cruiser.
*"Toby: Confessions from the 'California Kid'" "BMX Plus!" October 1982 Vol.5 No.10 pg.52
*"Toby Henderson" "BMX Action" August 1983 Vol.8 No.8 pg.44
*"Toby Henderson" "American BMXer" January/February 1985 Vol.7 No.12 pg.12]

BMX magazine covers

Note: (defunct) denotes that the magazine was out of business before the career of the racer started.

----"Bicycle Motocross News:"
*None"Minicycle/BMX Action" & "Super BMX:"
*July 1983 Vol.10 No.7 (SBMX) in centerfold poster Henderson poses with actress and Miss Ohio 1969 [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0062233/bio Katherine Baumann] ."Bicycle Motocross Action" & "Go:"
*November 1979 Vol.4 No.9 (300) with teammate Jeff Bottema (195) (BMXA)
*September 1982 Vol.7 No.9 (BMXA)
*April 198 Vol.8 No.4 behind Brent Patterson (2). (BMXA)
*July 1983 Vol.8 No.7 (2) in the lead ahead of Dave Marietti (Torker) racer in second, Brent Patterson in third; Jeff Bottema in fourth. (BMXA)

*September 1986 Vol.11 No.9 (BMXA)"BMX Plus!:"
*March 1982 Vol.5 No.3
*June 1983 Vol.6 No.6 ahead of Harry Leary.
*December 1983 Vol.8 No.12 (BMXA) This is the famous cover of Henderson jumping his bike into a lake.
*"BMX Racer" December 1983 (7) in upper left insert doing one footer. In upper right insert Freestyler Mike Dominguez; in lower right insert Brian Patterson (1) leading Brent Patterson (2); in lower left insert Eric Rupe (9) leading Stu Thomsen (1); in center insert Greg Hill (3). This magazine was a special edition printed by Daisy Hi-Touque, the publishers of "BMX Plus!."
*February 1984 Vol.7 No.2 in lower right insert. Main image freestyler Mike Dominquez.
*August 1984 Vol.7 No.8. In lower left insert. In upper left insert racer Clint Miller. In upper right insert Freestyler Woody Itson. In lower right inser racer Mike Miranda.
*February 1985 Vol.8 No.2 in main image. In insert Eric Rupe. "Total BMX"

"Bicycles and Dirt:"

"Ride BMX Magazine:"

"Bicross Magazine:" (French Publication)

*Juillet (July) 1985 Vol. No.34

"Snap BMX Magazine" & "Transworld BMX:"
*None (retired)"BMX World"

"NBA World" & "NBmxA World" The official membership publication of the NBA:

"ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer" (the official membership publication of the ABA under three different names):

"Mountain Bike Action:"
*1991 Buyer's Guide with female model

References

External links

* [http://www.ababmx.com/ The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.]
* [http://www.nbl.org/ The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.]
* [http://users.pandora.be/jjrbmx/inter-test/HUTCHTobyHendersonInterview2003.html Toby Henderson interview January 2003]
* [http://www.descent-world.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=81 Decent World.com Interview]
* [http://espn.go.com/xgames/winterx99/bikerace/bios/henderson.html espn.com 1999 profile.]