The Gulf Coast Bicycle Club was founded in the early 1980s by an Episcopal minister from Pascagoula named Paul Crosby. He and a handful of other road riders would ride local routes and meet regularly. Two local bike shops were very supportive of the club in the early days; “The Bicycle Center” in Biloxi on Porter Avenue near where the public safety building is now, and "Spike's Bikes" on Pass Rd outside of Keesler Gate 7. A few years later Ocean Springs resident Mike Craft served as club president and worked with a Gulfport attorney to incorporate the club. The club in the '80s did a lot of local rides and was a member of the League of American Wheelmen (now the League of American Bicyclists). The club did "patch rides" where riders would earn a league patch, including a century ride every spring and fall. Through the ‘80s there was a core group of 20-30 riders, mostly recreational and touring, but a few raced also. Club members did rides in Florida, cross-state rides, and other events. Regular local rides almost every weekend, and informal meetings about once a month at a restaurant. One regular loop was from Ocean Springs on Old Spanish Trail, up to Vancleave, and back on Old Fort Bayou, areas with hardly any traffic at that time. Another ride on Old River Road met at the library in Vancleave. Regular members would often bring someone new, and a lot of Keesler folks would come and go. Rides met regularly and word-of-mouth coordination in those days before the internet. Other ride areas were up into Stone County, Dauphin Island every year, around Mobile Bay with the Mobile club and another group from the north shore.

The early ‘90s saw the establishment of off-road trails for Mountain Bike riders in the DeSoto National Forest. As the start of MTB riding on the coast, the group started out riding cow paths on private land, horse trails & some hiking trail. By 1990-91 they had worked out an agreement with the US Forestry Service & Sand Blasters (motorcycle club) to adopt approx. 40 miles of fallow trails between Bethel Rd & Hwy 15. By 2002 that was downsized to the current 20 miles of trail.

By the late ‘80s and around 1990 the GCBC as an organization had dwindled, but an Air Force sergeant from Keesler AFB named Dan Hastings got things fired back up again. Dan collaborated with the City of Ocean Springs to map & sign bicycle friendly routes through Ocean Springs. Over the next few years, the club met at places like Bernie’s in Edgewater Mall and the Wheel House in Edgewater Village. In '92-'93 the Tato Nut Run started; riders would meet at the Wheel House on Saturdays & ride to the Tato Nut donut shop in Ocean Springs, and ride. The start location moved to Hiller Park in the mid-90's and is still going strong today as an Ocean Springs recreational ride.

During this same period in the early ‘90s with the club going full steam, the MTB contingent continued to meet every Sunday morning & ride the Bethel MTB Trails. Many rides had over 20 MTBers chewing up the singletrack. The president of the Sand Blasters, Paul Peterson, was instrumental in helping the club rebuild the old motorcycle trails & form a strong partnership with US Forestry Service. Many members served as club president during the ‘90s. Also during this time, a GCBC MTB race team formed and raced all over Mississippi, Alabama, an d Louisiana. Several organized races were held, including a downtown Gulfport Criterium and two "Lost Trail Challenge" Cross Country MTB races in the DeSoto National Forest. From the late 90's to early 2000’s the club took on a more loose organization, but members kept riding and moving things along; the first website and forum were started, which were extremely important in keeping club members together and up to date.

From 2002 to 2004 the club reorganized, published the current constitution and by-laws, and grew in size to 150 members (including families). Members did many charity rides and century rides, and also during this time a well-organized road race team led by Danny Cook gained a lot of publicity in the local media. With seed money from John "Day" Mckee, MD and Brent Futrell as club president and race director, the club put on the Mad Potters Road Race that ran for 3 years. This was to promote cycling on the coast & raise much needed funds for the club & local charities, including the Ohr-Okeefe Museum of Art & the Alzheimer's Foundation of the South. The first year was a point series criterium at the Coast Coliseum with over 150 racers participating and a payout of $2,500. In 2005 for the final Mad Potters Race the event had become quite large with a criterium, road race and time trial, with a $5,000 payout. Also in 2005, the first Briar-Badland-Battle MTB/Cross country race was held. This race ran for 4 years through 2009.

In 2008 the club’s Vice President Jeff DeLuke organized the club’s premier event in recent years, the Southern Magnolia 100. This century event features distances of 100, 62, 50, and 25 miles to attract riders of all different abilities. For three years running, this event starting at Latimer Community Center has grown each year, last year to over 200 riders, and each year has donated $500 in proceeds to Bike Walk Mississippi. Important advocacy work took place in the years since Hurrincane Katrina as the Mississippi Gulf Coast rebuilds, seeking to become a progressive and bike-friendly region.

The Gulf Coast Bicycle Club with its rich history of road and mountain biking, racing and recreational riding, regular rides and events, will continue to be the well-rounded group representing all types of cyclists in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area, promoting the interests, safety, and popularity of bike riding in all forms.

Ron Hagen, owner of Hagen’s Biloxi Bike Center, was the president of the club in the early 90’s and revived the club after several years of being dormant, it was primarily a mountain bike club back then. Joe Lyons, owner of The Wheel House, was the president after Ron, they served a year a piece, a woman named Dianna Borders created the first GCBC logo in the late 90s. Brent Futrell served as president starting in 2003 when the club had no money and no members. By the end of his term, they had more than 125 members and money in the bank. John McKee served a term following Brent. Duncan Perkins, owner of Tri Hard Sports, served as president following John, and finally Eddie Holmes served for more than the past decade with the club reaching between 250-300 members, and as of January 14 of 2025 it will be Apryl Handy, personal lines insurance broker by trade, mother of three, and fitness enthusiast.