Eddy King
photo by Patty Whisenhunt
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Edward King |
| Nickname | "King Edward", "Eddy the King" "Silver Bullet" |
| Born |
October 9, 1964 Philippines |
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) |
| Weight | 65.8 kg (145 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Bicycle Motocross (BMX) |
| Role | Racer |
| Rider type | Off Road |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 1975-1976 | S & W Bike Shop |
| 1976-1977 | The Bike Shop of El Cajon |
| 1977 | D.G. Performance Specialties |
| 1977-1978 | Wheels N' Things/R & R Racing |
| 1978 | Wheels N' Things/Torker |
| 1978-1980 | Torker Engineering |
| 1980-1983 | Diamond Back |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1983-1989 | DiamondBack |
Edward King (born October 9, 1964 in the Philippines (in 1970 his family settled in Chula Vista, California)) is an "Old School" former professional Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1977 to 1985.
Eddy King is the elder of a sibling combinations of Mike & Eddy King in BMX racing. Only the brother combinations of Ronnie & Richie Anderson and Brent & Brian Patterson were more successful. His best known nickname "King Edward" is an obvious play on his name feeding off of the cultural knowledge of famous British kings named Edwards. Other nicknames included "Silver Bullet" "Eddy the King" and "The Dynamic Duo" which he shared with Diamondback teammate Harry Leary. He was particularly dominant as an amateur winning most of his racing titles at that stage of his career. He would go on to be a professional for the remaining six years of his 14-year career. King would stay his entire professional career with Diamondback and would be associated with that company.
Note: Professional first are on the National level unless otherwise indicated. Included under the title of "National" are American Bicycle Association (ABA) Gold Cup Qualifiers.
Retired: In February 1989. He was 24 years old. He retired after his contract with Diamondback expired. He was basically burned out of the sport and felt it was time to do other things:
Sparky: "Most of us from time to time decide to more on from companies of employment, but was there any particular reason for leaving DB, was it simply to progress your career?"
Eddy: "I was tired and my body was tired. I had just purchased a new home and I wanted more time to pursue other interests and move forward in a different direction in life. Racing left little to no time for anything but racing, training, traveling, product development, and photo shoots. That is why I retired."
The 1988 ABA Grandnational in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma for Eddy King represented a changing of the guard. It was the same race in which his younger brother Mike King won the 1988 ABA National No.1 pro title. Eddy himself came in sixth place in Pro Open, winning US$210 (US$367.99 in 2007).
Eddy King's last race as a Senior Pro was the ABA Winternationals on February 19, 1989. He came in eighth place last in "AA" pro. He would race on at least two more occasions post retirement. He raced in the ABA Springnationals in Bakersfield, California on March 20 & 21, 1993 in the new Veteran Pro class with fellow retired pros including Tommy Brackens, Perry Kramer and Rod Beckering. He came in fourth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday. His old teammate Harry Leary won both days. He also raced Veteran Pro at the ABA Fall Nationals in Burbank, California on October 22, 1994, coming in sixth with Brian Patterson winning the event.
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Wikipedia