Palms has a long and exciting history with the humble bicycle. At the end of the 19th century, bicycle use had exploded to the point where races that put the modern CicLAvia to shame were conducted annually on the 4th of July. Racers from Los Angeles would ride through “...the little village of The Palms'' beneath the railroad tracks, up and over dirt hills and empty tracts of land to the finish line in Santa Monica.
Bicycle usage was so high in Palms that one of the first dedicated bicycle and repair shops was established on Venice and Motor in the early 1900’s. It still operates today.
In 1959, the City of Los Angeles finalized the purchase of the 4.7 acre Rainey property from Garnet and Marjorie Rainey for the use of a public park. Marjorie Rainey’s father was Ralph Hamlin, the famous Los Angeles car dealer who got his start racing bicycles at 16, using the prize money from his races to establish a bicycle repair shop, which grew to a motorcycle showroom to an automobile empire. The park was christened Palms Park.
Ten years later, a group of local children came to Palms Park with the intention of racing their bicycles as their elders had done decades before. A park attendant, Ronald Mackler, got them organized. Mackler’s experience with motorcycle motocross helped them develop the humble bicycle races into an organized sport, complete with off road trails and mounds for dirt jumping. The sport became known as Bicycle Moto-Cross: BMX.
The first sanctioned race of this new sport took place on July 10th, 1969 at Palms Park. The sport’s popularity exploded and sanctioned races became a regular event for local children and their families. Later Mr. Rich Lee took over the organization of the races, leading them for the next 20 years. By 1977, the sport had spread far and wide, and the American Bicycle Association was organized with the mission of “fostering competition and fair play in the sport of BMX racing.” BMX was a staple in the founding of the X Games in 1995, and became an official Olympic Sport in 2008.
Today, top athletes from around the world compete with each other in various BMX competitions, going for the gold in a sport that began in our local park in 1969.
“Palms Park became to BMX as Elysian Fields is to American baseball, for at that moment Bicycle Motocross racing was born.”
For more information about BMX in Palms Park, or to share memories that you have of the races at Palms Park, please visit the Palms Park BMXers Facebook Page.
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