Who is Rich Bartlett in BMX history?

Rich Bartlett, known as "The Butcher," is a Southern California BMX racer, jumper, and vert rider who built some of the sport's earliest dirt jump trails in Palmdale and Quartz Hill, California, then founded the first King of Dirt jam in 1987.

What did Rich Bartlett invent in BMX dirt jumping?

According to eyewitness accounts from the first King of Dirt jam in 1987, Rich Bartlett built the first rhythm section in BMX — a connected line of jumps riders could clear without pedaling between them, which became the standard way trails were built afterward.

What was Rich Bartlett's connection to Block Bikes?

After building the U-Local and Block clothing brands, Bartlett founded Cycle Craft and released the Block, one of the first bikes purpose-built for dirt jumping, with a production run of roughly 100 frames.

Is the dirt-jumping pioneer Rich Bartlett the same person listed as a European BMX racing champion on other sites?

That is not established. Some BMX history sites list a "Rich Bartlett" under European and world championship team honors, but nothing ties those results to the California-based dirt-jump pioneer documented here, and the claim is not corroborated elsewhere. It is treated as an unresolved namesake question, not fact.

Richard "Rich" Bartlett — The Butcher Who Invented the BMX Rhythm Section

Richard "Rich" Bartlett

The Butcher Who Invented the BMX Rhythm Section

A Legend Bike Co. rider page · sources: Steve Emig's first-hand account of the 1987 King of Dirt, Sugar Cayne's 2016 profile, and BMXmuseum.com's Cycle Craft company history

At a glance

Level Pro racer, jumper, and vert rider
Scene Palmdale, Quartz Hill, and Lancaster, California (Antelope Valley), late 1970s–present
Brands U-Local wear, then Block wear and Block Bikes (built under his company, Cycle Craft)
Known for Building BMX's first rhythm section and founding the first King of Dirt jam in 1987

Rich Bartlett never needed a national number plate to change how BMX riders build and ride dirt. Riders in the Antelope Valley called him "The Butcher," and through the late 1970s and 1980s he turned his own backyard into one of the sport's proving grounds — first as a place kids came to jump, then as the site of a single day in 1987 that changed how trails everywhere would be shaped.

Palmdale U and the Backyard Trails

In the 1970s, Bartlett helped build a dirt jumping mecca at the once-famous Palmdale U, then kept building in his own backyard in Quartz Hill, California. Riders came from across Southern California and beyond to session his trails, and the guest list over the years ran from local kids to future pros — Tim "Fuzzy" Hall and Gary Ellis among them, according to Bartlett's own biography published alongside a 2016 bike check on Sugar Cayne.

The Day That Invented the Rhythm Section

In the summer of 1987, BMX Action editor Craig "Gork" Barrette and Bartlett put together a BMX dirt jumping jam at Bartlett's trails — the first King of Dirt. Filmmaker Steve Emig, who rode up from Los Angeles with a video crew from Unreel Productions, wrote the only detailed eyewitness account of that day still online. At the time, BMX jumping split into two camps that mostly ignored each other: racers who jumped at speed over big doubles, and freestylers who preferred flyout jumps with no gap to clear. Bartlett's trails brought both groups together for the first time in a big way.

What made the day matter wasn't just who showed up — though S&M Bicycles' Chris Moeller (then panhandling for breakfast money before he bought out his partner and built S&M into a real company), Dave Clymer, John Paul Rogers, future DIG BMX publisher Will Smyth, and a 15-year-old Utah kid named Tim "Fuzzy" Hall were all there. It was how Bartlett had built the jumps. He laid out a big tabletop followed by a connected line of jumps riders could clear without pedaling between them if they cleared the first one — a completely new idea at the time. According to Emig, "To the best of my knowledge, Rich Bartlett built the first rhythm section in BMX." Riders spent the day figuring out how to string the jumps together, and that layout became the standard way trails were built for years afterward.

A year later, Bartlett competed in the first ABA-sanctioned King of Dirt contest at the 1988 ABA Grands, carrying the format he'd invented at his own house into organized competition.

Touring, Fashion, and a Bike of His Own

Through the 1980s, Bartlett promoted bicycle ramp and box stunt shows and toured the United States, Canada, and Europe putting on BMX and bicycle stunt exhibitions. His "Northern Hemisphere Tour" ran from 1987 to 1991 and produced one of the first videos dedicated entirely to BMX dirt, trails, ramps, and street riding, featuring Fuzzy Hall, Richie Anderson, Dave Cullinan, Billy Harris, Chris Daley, Brian Foster, and Travis Chipres.

He was also one of BMX's earliest clothing entrepreneurs, launching U-Local wear and later the Block brand. Bartlett then put his name behind an actual frame: under his company Cycle Craft, he released the Block, one of the first bikes purpose-built for dirt jumping, with a production run BMXmuseum.com's Cycle Craft company history page puts at roughly 100 units. He also worked as a test rider for BMX magazines during this period.

Still Riding

Bartlett never left the sport he helped shape. In July 2016, he flew from California to Long Island, New York, to tour with the FBM crew celebrating Block Alternatives' 25th anniversary, stopping at the Mirracle Jam at Shoreham BMX Track for a bike check with Sugar Cayne — riding a custom Fit build with Fit bars, forks, and cranks, an Animal rear hub, a Colony front hub, and Alienation rims. A 2017 post on Freestyle BMX Tales shows him still out on a mountain bike that year. He has continued to appear at BMX trail events into the 2020s.

Where the public record runs thin

Rich Bartlett's birth details, full competitive results ledger, and the exact closing date of Cycle Craft are not documented in the sources checked for this page. He does not appear in the USA BMX National Hall of Fame. A separate "Rich Bartlett" is listed on the fan-run site universityofbmx.com under European Champion and World Championship Team honors; nothing in the sources checked here connects that record to the California dirt-jump pioneer, and it reads as a likely namesake collision rather than the same rider — it is not included as fact on this page. oldschoolmags.com and bmxsociety.com were checked directly for period coverage of Bartlett; both returned general magazine-archive and forum material but no dedicated profile.

Where Rich Bartlett fits in the bigger story

The bigger arc of BMX's early dirt jumping and freestyle culture is in our History of BMX series.

Sources

Steve Emig, "People who changed BMX that you forgot about: Rich Bartlett," Freestyle BMX Tales, freestylebmxtales43.blogspot.com, March 18, 2017 — first-hand eyewitness account of the 1987 King of Dirt jam, written by the filmmaker who was there (primary source). Sugar Cayne, "Rich Bartlett's Fit Brian Foster Custom BMX Bike Check," sugarcayne.com, July 27, 2016 — biographical profile including "The Butcher" nickname, Palmdale U, the Northern Hemisphere Tour, U-Local/Block, and Block Bikes. BMXmuseum.com Forums, "Cycle Craft made Block bmx bikes" and "1992 Cycle Craft," bmxmuseum.com/forums — Cycle Craft company history and Block frame production numbers. oldschoolmags.com and bmxsociety.com were checked directly by site-restricted search for independent period coverage of Bartlett; neither returned a dedicated profile beyond general BMX magazine-archive and forum material at the time of research.

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