Richard Long — Co-Founder of GT Bicycles
BMX Racing History · Founder Profile · Legend Bike Co
Richard Long
Richard Long ran a bike shop and a BMX track before he ran the biggest bicycle company in the sport's history. He's the business half of the GT Bicycles story — the man who picked up the phone, called a welder named Gary Turner, and turned a garage operation into a company that would eventually claim half the BMX market in America.
Anaheim Cycles and the Azusa Track
Before GT, Long owned and ran Anaheim Cycles, a bike shop in Orange County, California. On weekends he ran his own BMX track too — Azusa BMX, out near Azusa Canyon Road. That track earned a real spot in the sport's history: in February 1978, barely three months after the American Bicycle Association was founded, the ABA put its very first national there. Shop owner all week, track operator on race day — Long was already deep in the business of BMX before GT ever existed.
The Phone Call
Long noticed Gary Turner's hand-welded chromoly frames moving off his shop shelves faster than almost anything else he stocked. So he called Turner directly and asked if he could stock and sell them. That conversation turned into a full partnership. In 1979 the two men incorporated GT Bicycles, Inc. Turner brought the welding and the engineering. Long brought the business sense — sales, marketing, distribution, the parts of running a company that a garage welder doesn't automatically know how to do. By GT's own 1987 catalog, Long was listed as President, Turner as Vice President.
Running the Company
Long ran GT as it grew from a garage operation into the biggest brand in BMX — a full race line, the Pro Performer freestyle bike, and a string of acquisitions that folded Dyno, Robinson, Auburn, and Powerlite into the GT family. By 1995 the company was claiming roughly half the U.S. BMX market across those brands. In 1993 Long and Turner sold a majority stake to Bain Capital while keeping an 18 percent interest each, and in October 1995 the company went public. The full brand story lives in GT Bicycles: The Biggest Brand BMX Ever Built.
A Legend Bike Co footnote: when SE Racing went bankrupt, Richard Long and Gary Turner came to the building at 6801 Paramount Boulevard and bought SE's equipment to get GT running at full strength. Legend co-founder Bill Ryan — then a teenager working at SE Racing — was in the building that day, and walked out of SE into a job at GT.
July 12, 1996
On Friday, July 12, 1996, Richard Long was killed on a mountain road on his way to watch the NORBA National off-road race at Big Bear Lake, California. He was riding his motorcycle and collided with a truck on the twisting mountain grade. He was 46 years old. He was survived by his wife Wanda and his sons Jeff and Chris.
One week later, the GT-built Superbike — the carbon track bike Long's company had engineered for the U.S. Olympic effort — rolled out under the U.S. Olympic cycling team in Atlanta and won two silver medals. Long never saw it race.
Mountain bike Hall of Famer Hans Rey has said that if it weren't for Richard Long, there would be no Hans Rey — a measure of how far Long's reach went beyond BMX and into cycling generally.
What we don't know: we don't have a confirmed mile marker or exact stretch of road for the accident, and a few secondhand accounts differ on small details of that day. What's consistently documented across period news coverage and BMX community records is the date, the destination, the cause, and his age. If you have more to add to the record, let us know.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Richard Long?
Owner of Anaheim Cycles and operator of the Azusa BMX track, who co-founded GT Bicycles with Gary Turner in 1979 and served as its President, later Chairman and CEO.
What track did Richard Long run?
Azusa BMX, the track that hosted the ABA's first national race in February 1978.
How did Richard Long die?
He was killed on July 12, 1996, in a motorcycle accident on a mountain road on his way to a NORBA National race at Big Bear Lake, California. He was 46.
What happened to GT Bicycles after Richard Long died?
The company he and Turner built kept growing for a few more years before passing through a series of owners. The full story is in GT Bicycles: The Biggest Brand BMX Ever Built.
Sources: bmxmuseum.com reference 7360, Craig Turner's account (Richard Ward Long, April 18, 1950 – July 12, 1996), corroborated by a Findagrave memorial record; Los Angeles Times, "Crash Kills Bike Firm's Chief," July 16, 1996 (John O'Dell) — accident details, survivors, funeral; New York Times, "Richard W. Long, 46, Builder Of Bicycles for Olympic Team," July 20, 1996, as cited by Wikipedia; 23mag.com GT Bicycles company history, quoting a February 2009 bmxsociety.com forum post; Wikipedia, GT Bicycles. Richard Long's ownership of Anaheim Cycles, his running of the Azusa BMX track, and the SE Racing equipment purchase at 6801 Paramount Blvd are confirmed firsthand by Bill Ryan, who worked at both SE Racing and GT in those years.