John George (BMX rider) explained

John George
Fullname:John George
Birth Date:20 May 1958
Birth Place:Canoga Park, California, United States
Currentteam:Retired
Discipline:Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
Role:Racer
Ridertype:Off Road
Amateuryears1:1974–1975
Amateurteam1:Canoga Cycle Center
Amateuryears2:1975
Amateurteam2:Canoga Schwinn
Amateuryears3:1975–1977
Amateurteam3:Shimano
Proyears1:1977–1978
Proteam1:Shimano
Proyears2:1978–1983
Proteam2:Mongoose

John George (born May 20, 1958, in Canoga Park, California United States) was a professional American "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from (1972–1978).

Racing career milestones

Note: In the early days of professional racing, 1976 and prior, many tracks offered small purse prize money to the older racers of an event, even before the official sanctioning bodies offered prize money in formal divisions themselves. Hence early professionals like Stu Thomsen turning "pro" in 1975 at 16 years old racing for small amounts of money at track events[1] when offered even before the NBA, regarded as the first true national BMX sanctioning body, had a professional division. The NBA started the first pro division Class in 1977 called Open Pro a pro/am class in which racers 14 and over could race in. For the sake of consistency and standardization noted professional first are for the first pro races for prize money offered by official BMX sanctioning bodies and not independent track events. Professional first are also on the national level unless otherwise indicated.Started racing: September 1972[2]

Sanctioning body: None. This was the era before official sanctioning bodies and individual tracks had their ownrace series and championships.

First race result: Unknown, but over the first two years of his career he won 40 trophies of which 36 were for first place[2]

First win (local): See above.

Home sanctioning body district(s): National Bicycle Association (NBA) District "X" (Orange/Los Angeles County);

First sponsor:

First national win: He won the very first official National in BMX history in both his class and overall, the National Bicycle Association (NBA) Winternationals held in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 29, 1975. He won both 14 & Over Expert and the Trophy Dash, which made him the overall event Champion.[3]

Turned professional: 1977

First professional race result:

First professional win:

Retired: The May 1976 issue of Bicycle Motocross News implies he retired around March 1976.[4] However, George would frequently come out of "retirement" after not racing for a few months and compete in large races. He retired from active competition for good after the 1978 NBA Grandnational getting a first in Open Pro winning USD$180 and a second in Trophy Dash[5] but even then in 1980 and a few years after that he raced once a year being employed by Mongoose as a Plant Manager and representing Mongoose at races they sponsored once a year.[6]

Height & weight at height of his career : Ht:" Wt:lbs.

Career factory and major bike shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever-changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are used.

Amateur

Professional

Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.

Amateur

Non Sanction titles*:

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

National Bicycle League (NBL)

National Pedal Sport Association (NPSA)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

The RC Cola/Two Wheelers Race of Champions was a seven-race NBA series sponsored by RC Cola and Two Wheelers. Racers raced six regional qualifying races in California and Arizona. Only racers who made at least the semi-finals or mains (if the class was too small for a semi final) were invited to race the Championship event held on May 15, 1977, in Gardena, California, at Ascot Park.[8]

National Bicycle League (NBL)

National Pedal Sport Association (NPSA)

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA)

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

Pro Series Championships

Notable accolades

Racing traits and habits

Miscellaneous

Post BMX career

BMX press magazine interviews and articles

BMX magazine covers

Note: Only magazines that were in publication at the time of the racer's career(s) are listed unless specifically noted.Bicycle Motocross News:

Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:

Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:

BMX Plus!:

Total BMX

Bicycles and Dirt:

NBA World & NBmxA World (the official NBA/NBmxA membership publication under two names):

Bicycles Today & BMX Today (The official NBL membership publication) under two names

ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer (the official ABA membership publication under three different names):

External links

Notes and References

  1. Bicycle Motocross News January/February 1978 Vol. 4 No. 1 p. 22
  2. Bicycle Motocross News December 1974 Vol. 1 No. 7 p. 17
  3. Bicycle Motocros News May 1975 Vol. 2 No. 4 p. 16
  4. Bicycle Motocross News May 1976 Vol.3 No.5 p. 9
  5. Bicycle Motocross Action March/April 1979 Vol. 4 No. 2 p. 23
  6. Bicycle Motocross News March 1982 Vol. 7 No. 3 p. 40
  7. Bicycle Motocross News March 1978 Vol. No. p. 12
  8. Bicycle Motocross News June 1977 Vol. 3 No. 6 p. 10
  9. Bicycle Motocross Action August 1977 Vol.2 No.3 p. 25
  10. BMX Action December 1986 Vol.11 No.12 p. 30 (photo caption)
  11. BMX Plus! March 1982 Vol. 5 No. 3 p. 27
  12. BMX Action August 1982 Vol. 7 No. 8 p. 14
  13. Bicycle Motocross Action March 1982 Vol. 7 No. 3 p. 40