Mike King (BMX racer)

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Micheal Allen King (b. June 30, 1969 in Maryland USA) is an "Old School/Mid School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1984 to 1998.

Mike King is the younger sibling of one of the most respected brother combinations of BMX racing: Eddy & Mike King. They were at least on the par with the famous Ronnie and Richie Anderson brothers and second only to the best sibling combination of all the Brothers Brian and Brent Patterson. Of the two King brothers Mike had a more dominating career in terms of national titles he won as an amateur and professional. As with most brother combinations the younger brother often live in the shadow of the elder and Eddy King was a well respected racer with a long career. Perhaps this is why that unlike many BMXers Mike King never had a popular nickname, unlike for example Stu Thomsen who was know throughout his career as "Stompin' Stu" or Greg Hill as "The Businessman". As a counterpoint, Charles Townsend had a plethora of nicknames. Mike came out of his brother's shadow when he won his first national title when he became the American Bicycle Association's national number one amateur for 1984, still without a nickname.

Contents

[edit] Racing career

Started Racing: June 29, 1975, one day shy of his sixth birthday. Went on a one and a half year hiatus from National racing for most of the 1981 season (he raced at least in one national event, the National Bicycle Motocross Association (NBmxA) 1981 Rancho National near El Cajon, California on August 16th[1]) and into the first half of 1982 sticking to only racing on the local level.[2] He returned to National level racing during the 1982 season.[3] Dropped out briefly again for six months in 1983 but returned permanently for the November 1983 ABA Fall Nationals.[4]

Sanctioning Body:

First race result:

First win (local):

First sponsor: Wheels 'n' Things

First national win:

Turned professional: December 27, 1987

First Professional race result: Second in "B" Pro at the National Bicycle League (NBL) Christmas National in Columbus, Ohio on December 27th 1987. He won US$325.[5]

First Professional win: At the American Bicycle Association (ABA) Ozark National in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on January 27, 1988 in "A" pro. He won US$435.[6]

First Senior Pro* race result: First in "AA" Pro at the ABA Great Northwest Nationals in Vancouver, Washington on March 27, 1988. He won all three runnings of the "AA" Pro main, the first racer to do so on his first outing as a "AA" pro. He won US$870. He won Pro Open that day as well, doubling. He won US$315. Indeed, he also scored a rare double-double that weekended winning "A" pro and Pro Open on Saturday and then after transferring to the senior "AA" pro class won it and Pro Open again[7]

First Senior Pro* win: See above.

Retired: 2002

Height & weight during height of his career (1984-1989): Ht:5'9"-11" Wt:~182lbs.

*Senior Pro in the NBL is "A" pro or "Elite"; in the ABA it is "AA"

[edit] Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors

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

[edit] Amateur

  • Wheels 'n' Things: 1979-December 1979
  • Torker Inc. (Johnson Engineering): January 1980-December 1981
  • Bicycle Parts Pacific: 1983
  • Redline Engineering: March 3 to March 10, 1984. Very briefly with Redline and only on the support team at this time.[8] He never got a chance to wear the Redline uniform however before accepting a better offer from Huffy Corporation.[9]
  • Huffy Corporation: March 11, 1984-April 1986
  • Haro Designs/Bicycles: April 1986-November 30, 1990. Mike King would turn pro with this sponsor.

[edit] Professional

  • Haro Designs/Bicycles: April 1986-November 30, 1990. Left under very bad circumstances. It even got personal with Bob Haro himself beginning in May of 1990. He even contemplated quiting BMX after the 1990 ABA Grand National.[10] However, by 2000 he would mend fences with Bob Haro and would be sponsored by them again by then.
  • Redline Engineering: January 1, 1991-December 1992
  • Balance Cycles: January 1993-
  • GT (Gary Turner) Racing: 1994-1996
  • Haro Designs/Lee Pipes: 2001

[edit] Career bicycle motocross titles

[edit] Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • 1984 15 Expert National No.1
  • 1985 16 Expert National No.1
  • 1986 17 Expert National No.1
  • 1987 18 & Over Expert National No.1

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • 1984 National No.1 Amateur
  • 1985 National 16 Expert No.1*
  • 1987 National No.1 Amateur

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)

  • 1981 11 Expert International Champion
  • 1987 Supercross World Champion**

*Beginning in the 1985 season the ABA made it possible to earn an amateur national no.1 plate in the age group of the racer, similar to NBL practice. However, the ABA still had an overall National no.1 amateur, which in 1985 was Brent Romero.

**In Europe, Supercross is a pro/am class in which armatures could win a limited amount of money but still retain their amateur status. Eddy King's amateur status in the NBL and ABA was unaffected in part because no prize money was awarded. However, this class is different from the Pro World Championship which was held by Gary Ellis in 1987.

[edit] Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

  • None

National Bicycle League (NBL)

  • None

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

  • 1988 National No.1 Pro

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

  • None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)

  • None

Pro Series Championships and Invitationals

  • 1988 Bicross International de Paris Bercy Champion (King of Bercy).

The International BMX Race of Bercy Paris was an invitational race sponsored by the Association Francaise de Bi-Crossing (AFB), the French BMX sanctioning body and was held in Bercy an eastern area in the city of Paris, France north of the river Seine. It was sponsored by the Yoplait Yogurt company. As such it was also known as the Bicross de Paris Challenge Yop Champion (The Paris Yoplait BMX Challenge) in which American and English pros as well as French pros were brought together to compete in a single race. As with the 1985 addition, which Tommy Brackens won, it was a hit in France with tickets sold out three months in advance.[11]

[edit] Notable accolades

  • Named the fifth of the 25 Hottest amateurs in BMX racing by a 1984 survey conducted by BMX Plus! for the opinions of four prominent figures in BMX: Two racers, Brent Patterson and Mike Poulson; and two team officials: Dr. Gary Scofield of GT, Howard Wharthon of Diamond Back.[12]
  • Named one of the new BMX Action's "Terrible Ten" top amateurs and future professionals for 1986.[13]
  • Named number three of BMX Action magazine's "The Terrible Ten" of 1987 of top amateurs and future professionals.[14]
  • Named BMX Action's Rookie of the Year (ROY) for 1988 due to his outstanding first professional season in 1988.[15]
  • Mike King is a 1999 ABA BMX Hall of Fame Inductee. His brother Eddy King is a 1989 Inductee.

[edit] Significant injuries

  • Broke right hand on Saturday, March 16th at the 1991 ABA Supernationals in El Paso, Texas in his first Pro Open moto. Said he would be back racing at the ABA US Nationals in Lemoore, California race four weeks later.[16] He was.[17]
  • Injured right knee on June 19th at the 1991 European Challenge Cup VIII in Slagharen, Holland. Laid up for three weeks.[18]
  • Broke ankle at the 1992 ABA Supernationals.[19]

[edit] Peccadilloes

[edit] Post BMX career

  • Began MTB in 1993 but raced BMX into 2002. He now races exclusively MTB and currently he owns a restaurant bar according to BMX News.com. [20]

[edit] BMX magazine covers

Bicycle Motocross News:

  • None

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:

  • September 1988 Vol.13 No.9 with Rick Palmer, Greg Hill & unidentified on the gate. (BMXA)
  • August 1989 Vol.14 No.8 (BMXA)
  • May 1991 Vol.2 No.7 with Billy Griggs (Go).

BMX Plus!:

Bicycles and Dirt:

Snap:

[edit] BMX press magazine interviews and articles

  • "Mike King: From BMX dropout to ABA National Number One." BMX Plus! March 1985 Vol.8 No.3 pg.50
  • Two of a Kind" Super BMX & Freestyle November 1985 Vol.12 No.11 pg.30 A duel interview with Huffy teammate Brent Romero.
  • "Bros. Eddy & Mike" BMX Action January 1988 Vol.13 No.1 pg.30 Joint interview with his brother Eddy King.
  • "The Champs: Mike King" BMX Plus! April 1988 Vol.11 No.4 pg.32 One of six mini articles of the six ABA National No.1 winners of 1987.
  • "Mike King: ROY" BMX Action February 1989 Vol.14 No.2 pg.40 Interview on Mike King becouming BMX Action's professional Rookie of the Year for 1988.
  • "Mikey's Ride" BMX Plus! June 1989 Vol.12 No.6 pg.75 Description of Mike King's BMX racing bicycle as well as brief biograph.
  • "On the Cover: Mike King" BMX Action August 1989 Vol.14 No.8 pg.52
  • "Fast Talk: Mike King" BMX Plus! October 1989 Vol.12 No.9 pg.61 Mini two question interview on the differences between the amateur and professional classes.
  • "Trading Places: Mikey King and Billy Griggs tell all!"BMX Plus! June 1991 Vol.14 No.6 pg.62 A joint interview with Billy Griggs.
  • "Faster Talk: Redline Pro Mike King" BMX Plus! June 1992 Vol.15 No.6 pg.21 Short sidebar interview about his training and a new Redline suspension bicycle.

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] Other significant sibling combinations in BMX

[edit] End Notes

  1. ^ BMX Plus! December 1981 Vol.4 No.12 pg.61
  2. ^ BMX Plus! June 1989 Vol.12 No.6 pg.75
  3. ^ BMX Plus! March 1985 Vol.8 No.3 pg.50
  4. ^ BMX Plus! April 1988 Vol.11 No.4 pg.32
  5. ^ BMX Plus! April 1988 Vol.11 No.4 pg.62
  6. ^ BMX Plus! May 1988 Vol.11 No.5 pg.57
  7. ^ BMX Plus! July 1988 Vol.11 No.7 pg.48
  8. ^ Super BMX May 1984 Vol.11 No.5 pg.5 "Comings/Goings" chart.
  9. ^ Super BMX July 1984 Vol.11 No.7 pg.16
  10. ^ BMX Plus! June 1991 Vol.14 No.6 pg.70
  11. ^ BMX Action March 1989 Vol.14 No.3 pg.12
  12. ^ BMX Plus! November 1984 Vol.7 No.11 pg.48
  13. ^ BMX Action May 1986 Vol.11 No.5 pg.72
  14. ^ BMX Action August 1987 Vol.12 No.8 pg.38
  15. ^ BMX Action February 1989 Vol.14 No.2 pg.40
  16. ^ BMX Plus! July 1991 Vol.14 No.7 pg.10
  17. ^ BMX Plus! August 1991 Vol.14 No.8 pg.34 (results)
  18. ^ BMX Plus! October 1991 Vol.14 No.10 pg.9
  19. ^ BMX Plus! July 1992 Vol.15 No.7 pg.8
  20. ^ BMX News.com posting about Mike King post BMX doings by poster fallbrookfatty

[edit] External links

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