Harry Leary

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Harry Clarence Leary Jr. (b. February 22, 1959 in West Covina, California, USA) is an "Old School" professional bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.

Nicknamed "Scary Harry Leary", and later "Turbo", the former for his aggressive racing style,[1]. the latter was a moniker coined by Bicycle Motocross Action magazine when he "Turboed" himself into finishing National No. 2 in both the American Bicycle Association (ABA) and the National Bicycle League (NBL)) in 1981 after being relatively far back in the national standings during that year. His prime competitive years were from 1978-1985. He officially retired from BMX Senior pro ("AA" in the ABA and "A" (Elite Men) in the NBL) racing in 1989, and for the previous three years he was largely inactive and served as Diamond Back's factory team manager. He came out of "retirement" in the early 1990's to race in the ABA's Veteran Pro class and is still racing at 46 years of age.

One of the most respected racers in BMX history, his career was not as laden with titles as many of his contemporaries. His career was plagued by many injuries, in particular his knees which cut many promising seasons off and required surgery. Also, he had trouble dealing with the fame, as limited to the BMX world as it was, that his career brought. He went as far as to attend a sports medicine clinic for stress management in July of 1984.[2] He met many stars of the more established sports at the facility. The stresses that come with the burden of fame was and is a widespread if little discussed aspect in the career of a top amateur or professional athlete.

Perhaps despite his attendance of the clinic, Harry Leary could never really get the psychological aspect of the sport, similar to Tommy Brackens but even more so. In addition, while Tommy had a problem with attitude but remained physically healthy for the vast majority of his career, Harry had both mental attitude and physical injury to contend with. His physical misfortunes often happened when he was on a streak of doing well, cutting promising seasons off, perhaps a No. 1 season.

His difficulty in being able to cope with the mental aspects of the sport led him to attend a sports medicine clinic in July of 1984 to help with stress management.

He never won a major title as a top amateur or professional, his biggest win being the $5000 first place award at the 1982 Murray World Cup. He won a measure of redemption when he won back to back ABA Veteran Pro No. 1's in 1993 & 1994 against many of his 1980's peers. He later raced well into his 40's in The Veterans Pro class (which is similar in concept to golf's Champions Tour).

Contents

[edit] Racing career

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

Started Racing: 1973 Age 14.

First race result: First place, 14 & over Open.

First local win: See above.

Sanctioning body: National Bicycle Association (NBA).

First National win:

First sponsor: Coates Schwinn Bike Shop 1973-1975.

Turned Pro: 1977 Age 18

First Pro race result: Third.

First Pro win:

Height and Weight at peak of his career (1983): 5' 6", 167lbs[3]

Retired from A/AA* senior pro circuit: Officially after the 1989 ABA Grand Nationals at age 30. He had not raced much in the preceding three years due to injuries and commitments as Diamond Back's Team manager which he began in early 1988. Like a lot of notable retired pros, they didn't stop racing completely. He raced the two day, two event 1991 ABA Fall Nationals with a fourth in Pro Cruiser and a third in Pro Open on Saturday. While he was retired from the top competition in the "A" pro class ("AA" in ABA parlance) point and money chases, he was reclassified as an "A" pro (in ABA parlance) and later as a Veteran pro in the 20" class and raced competitively well into his mid 40's.

*"A" (Elite) Pro in the NBL; "AA" Pro in the ABA.

[edit] Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsor. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors.

[edit] Amateur

  • JMC (Jim Melton Cyclery): 1975-February 1980. Turned professional while with this sponsor.

[edit] Professional

  • JMC (Jim Melton Cyclery): 1975-February 1980. Harry quit JMC because he felt they had no confidence in him as a racer past being a regional pro.[4]
  • Diamond Back (Centurion Bicycle Company): February 1980-1993.
  • Balance Sports: 1993-1996.
  • Leary Dirtwerx: 1996-2000.
  • Marzocchi: 2001-2003.
  • Specialized: 2004-
  • SPR Schwinn: 2006

[edit] Career Bicycle Motocross titles

[edit] Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • None

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • None

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • None

[edit] Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • 1978 16 & Over Expert Western States Champion.*

*During this era with the NBA, professionals could and did race with the amateurs and earn amateur titles even though they had their own class called "Open Expert". This was because the pro class was still relatively small.

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • None (Best finish Nat. No. 2 pro in 1981 in "A" (Elite Men's) pro. Stu Thomsen was NBL No.1 pro for 1981.)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • None (Best finish Nat. No. 2 pro in 1981 in "AA" pro. Kevin McNeal was ABA No.1 pro for 1981.)
  • 1993, 1994 National No.1 Veteran Pro.
International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)
  • 1985 winner of the Canada Cup in "A" Pro.

[edit] Notable Accolades

A BMX jumping style he invented is named after him, a "Leary". It involves launching a bicycle to a great hight off a ramp or dirt berm. Near the apex of the jump, the rider turns the handlebars of his bicycle until they is practically facing backwards. He also kicks the rear portion of the bicycle to the side until it is 90 degrees to the direction of travel. As he does this his upper body twist to follow it around as he maintains his grip on the bars his back almost completely pointing toward his direction of travel and his face almost completely pointing rearward, as if he was trying to execute a very sharp 180 degree turn in mid air. At this extreme position lower the shin of his leg, either his left or right depending in which direction he turned the bars, is resting on the top tube of the frame of his bicycle. His feet ideally stay in contact with the pedals. He maintains this position for a second at most and then uncoils himself before landing. The whole maneuver takes about one to two seconds.

Many have claimed credit or were given credit for the invention of this jump, including Tim Judge and Jeff Utterback, but a photo in a October 1976 issue of Bicycle Motocross Weekly confirms that Leary was the first documented case of anyone doing a "Leary".[5] At the time of the controversy the maneuver was generically and neutrally known as a "Helicopter". Today, the modern variation of the "Leary" is called a "Lookback". This is an extreme version of the "Leary" in which when executed perfectly the knees are locked with the legs completely parallel with the ground, as is the bicycle, with the bicycle's head tube pointing straight at the rider's crotch. The rider's feet are perfectly flat on the pedals with the crank arms perpendicular with the ground. Another variation is the "Turndown". The rider has the bicycle pointing up, i.e. the front end of the bike pointing toward the sky with the rider twisted around and facing toward the back wheel with the bicycle's head tube pointing toward the rider's chest. An even more extreme variations is the "Turndown Flip", which is a "Leary" with the rear wheel almost completely pointing toward the sky at as much as a 70 degree angle.

  • Harry Leary was a founding member of the Professional Racing Organization (PRO) racers guild in 1977.[6]
  • Harry Leary is an 1986 Inductee of the ABA BMX Hall of Fame

[edit] Significant injuries

  • Tore the medial meniscus cartilage in his left knee when fellow pro Clint Miller ran into him in a race at the July 24, 1982 NBL/IBMXF Huffy World Championship in Dayton, Ohio.[7]It laid him up for ten weeks, cutting off a promising racing season. Unfortunately he re-injured the knee at the ABA North Bergen, New Jersey East Coast Nationals in the following October. He was laid up for a further two months, not racing again until December 20, 1982 on the local level.[8] He was not back up to race form until mid 1983.[9] The two injuries effectively put him out of contention for almost one full year.
  • Severely bruised a shoulder in a crash at an ABA national in Shreveport, Louisiana in February 1984. He sat out a few nationals.[10]
  • Ruptured a ligament in his knee in the Norco, California NBL National on Sunday June 19, 1988 and was laid up for approximately four weeks.[11]

[edit] Post Racing Career

  • Doesn't have a post racing career. As is the norm with BMXers, despite "officially" retiring after the 1989 ABA Grand National and after a short layoff he started what amounted to a second BMX career in Veteran Pro. Also as is the norm with many BMXers he also races mountain bikes, earning a Silver Medal in the 1989 Mountain bike World Championship in the dual Dual Slalom class. In the next year he won a 1990 Bronze Medal, again in the Mountain Bike World Championship/Dual Slalom Class. He still races competitively in his first love of BMX, albeit in the Veteran Pro Class in the ABA. He is banging handlebars with fellow long time pros like Eric Rupe and Terry Tenette as of 2006.
  • Mister Leary started and owns Leary Dirtwerx, a BMX component company that makes and sells BMX bicycle parts.
  • He also is a BMX track operator.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Considered generally a good example of the sport, he does have a volatile side. In mid 1980, just after he was picked up by Diamondback he received a one month suspension at his local track in West Covina, California for striking a fellow racer in which he got into an altercation with. It was apparently not without provocation. Leary and this local pro racer were at odds with each other for actions on the race course for their mutually aggressive style of racing.[12]

[edit] BMX magazine covers

Bicycle Motocross News:

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

Bicycle Motocross Action:

  • July 1979 Vol.4 No.7. Famous cover of Harry doing his "Leary" in JMC livery.
  • August 1980 Vol.5 No.8
  • November 1981 Vol.6 No.11
  • January 1982 Vol.7 No.1
  • August 1983 Vol.8 No.8 with Clint Miller trailing.
  • July 1984 Vol.9 No.7 Harry executes a classic "Leary".
  • February 1985 Vol.10 No.2
  • May 1985 Vol.10 No.5
  • September 1985 Vol.10 No.10 with Greg Hill & Pete Loncarevich

BMX Plus!:

  • February 1982 Vol.5 No.2
  • August 1983 Vol.6 No.8 with Charlie Williams, Eddie Fiola & Kevin Keller.
  • June 1985 Vol.8 No.6 with Eddy King.
  • August 1985 Vol.8 No.8 with Mike Miranda, Scott Clark, Pete Loncarevich, Robert Fehd & Billy Griggs.

BMX Action Bike:

  • October/November 1982 Issue 4

Bicycles and Dirt:

[edit] BMX magazine and general media interviews and articles

  • "Pictorial: Scary Harry Leary" Bicycle Motocross Action August 1980 Vol.5 No.8 pg.46 Several shots of Harry.
  • "Front Brake Secrets" Bicycle Motocross Action October 1981 vol.6 no.10 pg.90 Tips on how to use a front brake effectively.
  • "From has-been to HERO: Harry Leary" BMX Plus! February 1982 Vol.5 No.2 pg.18
  • "Top Pros Speak Out" BMX Action April 1982 Vol.7 No.4 pg.62 Joint interview with Stu Thomsen, Greg Hill, Kevin McNeal, Eric Rupe, Brent Patterson, and Scott Clark, speaking about various issues facing the racing world.
  • A Harry Leary sidebar. BMX Action September 1982 Vol.7 No.9 pg.53
  • "Leary Flies" BMX Action Bike October/November 1982 Issue 4
  • "Turbo Harry Leary" BMX Action May 1983 Vol.8 No.5 pg.35 Résumé/Curriculum Vitae (CV) type article of accomplishments and vital statistics.
  • "Diamond Back's Pro, Harry Leary" Super BMX June 1983 Vol.10 No.6 pg.22
  • "Harry & Eddy" BMX Action February 1984 Vol.9 No.2 pg.46 Joint Harry Leary and Eddy King interview.
  • "Crankin' Conversations With The Turbo Hisself, Harry Leary." BMX Action February 1985 Vol.10 No.2 pg.44
  • "The Kellogg's Pro Series" BMX Plus! October 1985 Vol.8 No.10 pg.61 Harry Leary himself wrote this account of his and other racers for this invitational race series in Birmingham, England.
  • "Home Starting Gates" BMX Plus! July 1986 Vol.9 No.7 pg.39 Article about a home electronic starting gate product with Harry Leary testing.
  • "Coming Back: Diamond Back's Harry Leary" BMX Plus! June 1992 Vol.15 No.6 pg.22 Sidebar mini-interview on Harry Leary's comeback in pro racing.

[edit] End Notes

  1. ^ BMX Action Bike October/November 1982 Issue 4
  2. ^ Super BMX November 1984 Vol.11 No.11 pg.5
  3. ^ BMX Action May 1983 Vol.8 No.5 pg.35
  4. ^ BMX Plus! February 1982 Vol.5 No.2 pg.18
  5. ^ BMX Action December 1983 Vol.8 No.12 pg.10
  6. ^ BMX Action December 1986 Vol.11 No.12 pg.30
  7. ^ BMX Plus! December 1982 Vol.5 No.12 pg.19
  8. ^ BMX Plus! February 1983 Vol.6 No.2 pg.13
  9. ^ Super BMX June 1983 Vol.10 No.6 pg.27
  10. ^ BMX Action May 1984 Vol.9 No.5 pg.18
  11. ^ BMX Plus! October 1988 Vol.11 No.10 pg.34
  12. ^ BMX Action Bike October/November 1982 Issue 4.

[edit] External links

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