2025 INDUCTEE PAT ABENDROTH

Pat Abendroth was an active part of the BMX racing scene from 1980 to 1989.

His first exposure to BMX was passing the Omaha Standard trails via car on I-680 and seeing riders absolutely launching and with such style! He didn’t know how, but he knew that he had to be one of those guys.

As providence would have it, Tim Lillethorup was a family friend and, to make a long story short, Tim steered Pat in the right direction and continued to support him throughout his racing career.

Pat’s bikes have included Schwinn, Redline, GT, Reach, Free Agent, Race Inc, Revcore, and Air.

Pat’s greatest racing memories include turning expert after winning two double-points races in the same weekend as well as making the main at his first grand national as a pro. None of this would have happened if local track operator Chris Hayden hadn’t allowed Pat to race for free in exchange for helping to prep Gnarlsbad for race days.

As far as inspiration goes, Pat recalls a specific Saturday at Gnarlsbad when Greg Grubbs (having just signed with Redline) and Joe Baumert were in town. Their riding and style were mesmerizing. From then on, Pat never jumped, wheelied, or dressed the same again!

The ultimate BMX highlight for Pat has been the camaraderie and shared love of the sport. He sought to help others as he was helped. Someone described him as the Pied Piper of his era, and this makes him smile. The neighborhood “kids” like Chris Rowlette hopefully learned a thing or two from doing “starts” in his driveway as if it were military boot-camp and we won’t even mention the hill repeats.

Pat has gone on to successfully race road bikes and credits his wheelieing and bunny-hopping skills on a skinny-tired ten-thousand-dollar road bike to his BMX roots (and maybe Greg Grubbs!).

Pat continues to ride road, gravel, and mountain bikes.

Today, Pat is an author, host of The Pactum podcast, and pastor of Omaha Bible Church. He has been married to Molly since 1991, and they have five bike-riding children!