Greg A. Hill
Gregory Alan Hill (born October 27, 1963 in Santa Ana, California) is an American 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. Racing career milestones. Career factory and large bicycle shop sponsors. 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 . ‡Last known date of sponsorship but not necessarily the actual last date. 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. National Bicycle Association (NBA) National Bicycle League (NBL) United Bicycle Racers (UBR ) American Bicycle Association (ABA) Professional. 1979 NBA National # 1 Champion National Bicycle Association (NBA) National Bicycle League (NBL) United Bicycle Racers (UBR) American Bicycle Association (ABA) United States Bicycle Motocross Association (USBA) International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF) BMX product lines. In the summer of 1983 Greg Hill started his own BMX bicycle company, Greg Hill Products (GHP) that made frames and forks and later complete Bicycles. In the early days, Cycle Pro manufactured the Hill designed components and were distributed by them. Later on, GHP products were built by VDC. Hill was quoted in the November 1983 issue of "Super  BMX" magazine as to why he made the switch from GT Racing said that he wanted "...to move on, do my own thing." The company would last in its original incarnation from 1983 to 1986 with a second life from 1991 to 1993 and presently from 2005 to the present. Other rider owned bicycle companies. Scot Breithaupt: SE Racing (1976–1999) SE Racing was sold to a Taiwanese firm. Jeff Utterback: GJS Racing (with his father George and his brother Scott). Bob Haro: (freestyler) 1979–Present Haro was sold to West Coast Cycles (Cycle Pro) in December 1986 Billy Farrell: Hyper  Bicycles, 1983–1985 (Farrell was killed in an automobile accident in the Fall of 1985 and the company shut down soon after) Chris Moeller: S&M (Scott & Moeller) Bicycles (racer/dirt jumper) with Greg Scott Mid 1987–Present Tommy Brackens: Brackens Racing Products 1988-Late 1994 Tommy sold his company to Power Source/Roost in Late 1994 Rick Moliternio: Standard Bykes (racer/freestyler) with fellow freestylers William Nitschke and Kurt Schmidt. 1991–Present. Mat Hoffman: Hoffman Bikes (freestyler) Craig Reynolds: Reynolds Racing Mid 1993-September 1998 Harry Leary: Dirtwerx Notable accolades. He is a four-time "BMX Action" Number One Racer Award  (NORA) Cup winner: Post BMX career. In truth, he doesn't have a post BMX career per se. After a four-year hiatus he found he could not stay away and began racing in the Veteran's Pro class of the ABA in 2004. His own BMX bicycle company, Greg Hill Products is doing quite well. He is still involved with teaching kids the secrets of BMX racing in Pro clinics he runs.