East Texas Woman Recalls BMX Glory Days

LUFKIN (AP) — Patti Gammill was 10 years old when her family went to Wheel World in Lufkin in 1976 to buy her brother a bike for BMX racing. “My brother wanted a bike and we went to Mike Maberry’s shop, Wheel World, that was there in Angelina Mall, and we ended up with a $99 Mongoose,” Gammill said. “They were having BMX cheerleaders and Mike asked me to try out.” During Gammill’s first trip to the Lufkin BMX racetrack, it was her intention to try out to be a member of the Lufkin BMX Cheerleaders. She ended up racing instead.

Gammill raced until she was 14, then hung up her bike and starting doing what most East Texas teen girls usually do, driving cars and dating boys. Now a home health nurse and mother of four, the Diboll woman recently re-experienced a part of her childhood that she almost forgot about. She became the first female inducted in the Texas BMX Hall of Fame during a ceremony in Pearland in August.