Greg A. Hill
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Gregory Alan Hill |
| Nickname | "The Businessman" "The Machine" |
| Born |
October 27, 1963 Santa Ana, California, United States |
| Height | 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 74.8 kg (165 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Bicycle Motocross (BMX) |
| Role | Racer/Manufacturer/Teaching Pro |
| Rider type | Off Road |
| Amateur team(s) | |
| 1976 | Pedals Ready Pro Shop/GT |
| 1976 | Webco |
| 1976-1977 | FMF |
| 1977-1978 | SE Racing |
| 1978 | Schwinn |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1978 | Schwinn |
| 1978-1980 | Redline |
| 1980 | Shimano |
| 1980 | Bobby Encinas |
| 1980-1981 | Mongoose |
| 1981-1983 | GT Racing |
| 1983-1984 | CyclePro/GHP |
| 1985 | GHP |
| 1986 | Redline |
| 1986-1991 | Robinson |
| 1992 | Ironhorse |
| 1993-1994 | Balance/Answer |
| 1994-1998 | Redline |
| 1999-2000 | Sinister/Marzocchi |
| 2000 | Kona BMX |
| 2003-2004 | Haro Designs |
| 2005-Present | GHP |
Gregory Alan Hill (b. October 27, 1963 from Santa Ana, California U.S.) is a former professional bicycle motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1977 to 1989. He retired from the top competitive "AA" pro circuit after the 1998 season.
He was known to be very outspoken, a rider who had a bit of a temper on the track, and his nicknames were "The Machine" and "The Businessman", for his very serious, focused attitude toward racing even as a 14-year-old amateur, and also his willingness to speak his mind including being critical of sanctioning bodies and their policies and rules. "The Businessman" moniker in particular was coined by Bob Osborn, owner and editor of Bicycle Motocross Action magazine. Greg personally boycotted the ABA for almost a full season in 1980 beginning with the Winternationals and ending with the Vans 5000 Pro Spectacular. He later led an informal pro boycott with numerous respected top pros against the ABA in 1983 over the method of how the ABA national number one was decided. Hill was also involved in a number of business ventures, such as motivational and how to books and video tapes; running a short lived BMX bicycle company, Greg Hill Products (GHP) during the 1980s which he later revived in the early 1990s and is still going strong, and teaching seminars instructing children on how to race. These are but a few examples of the drive to promote himself and BMX in the public eye.
He is the brother in law of Stu Thomsen, who married Hill's sister, Tanya, in 1979. Greg Hill's first son, Gregory Jonathan Hill, was born five hours after his father won the ESPN Pro Spectacular Series.
|*Retired: He retired from frontline Senior pro (AA) competition in 1998 at the age of 35. However, like it seems with the majority of BMX racers they can't stay away from it. After a four-year lay off Greg Hill started racing in ABA's Vet pro class at the age of 40 in 2004.
This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous 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.
*GT would be a co-sponsor when he raced with Shimano. The frame fork and handlebars were of GT manufacture while Shimano provided the major components such as the caliper brakes pedals, cranks, chainwheels, sprockets etc.
*Pros could race with the Expert amateurs at the time, there was a separate Pro class but not a separate Pro No.1 title. ‡Last known date of sponsorship but not necessarily the actual last date.
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.
...
Wikipedia