Frankie Lee Medlin was a professional American "Old School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX)

BMX

Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...

 racer whose prime competitive years were from (1977–1982)
His nickname was "Peddlin'" , an obvious play on his surname and the motive power of a bicycle.

Racing career milestones

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Started Racing: January 12, 1977 at Corona Raceway at 13 years old.

Sanctioning Body: Riverside School District

First race result: He didn't make the main.

First Race Bike: Webco. It was a Christmas 1976 present

First win (local): February 12, 1977. He won his 4th race.

First sponsor: 1977 Anaheim Bicycle Center

First national win:

Turned Professional: January 23, 1983 at 18 years of age.

First Professional race result: Second in "A" pro at the American Bicycle Association (ABA) Supernationals in Lake Elsinore, California

Lake Elsinore, California

For the lake see Lake Elsinore.Lake Elsinore or LE is a city in western Riverside County, California. The population was 51,821 at the 2010 census...

on January 23, 1983 He won USD$300. (the equivalent to USD$619.58 in 2007 Cost of Living Calculator)

First Professional win: In "A" Pro at the ABA Cajun Nationals in Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

 on January 30, 1983. He won USD$280, the equivalent of USD$578.27 in 2007.

First Junior Men Pro* race result: See "First Professional race result"

First Junior Men Pro win: See "First Professional win"

First Senior Men Pro** race result: Seventh place in "AA" pro at the ABA Grandnational in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

 on November 27, 1983. He won USD$260 or USD$541.14 in 2007.

First Senior Men Pro win:

Retired: 1984 due to injuries to his knee. See "Significant Injuries" section below.

Height & weight at height of his career (1982): Ht:5'7" Wt:140 lbs. (1982)

Amateur

• Anaheim Bicycle Center: 1977-
• Robinson Racing Products: -Mid 1978
• GT (Gary Turner) Racing: Mid 1978-Late August 1980
• Kuwahara Cycles, Ltd.: Late August 1980-July 15, 1982 Medlin's first race for Kuwahara was the NBL Grand Nationals on August 30, 1980 Medlin quit Kuwahara due to difference between himself and team management. In solidarity, professional Kevin McNeal, who was his close friend and had very recently rejoined Kuwahara, quit with Medlin. "Kuwahara" is Japanese for Mulberry Meadows. The company is named after Sentaro Kuwahara who founded the company in 1916 in Osaka, Japan.
• RRS (Riverside-Redlands Schwinn): August 21, 1982-August 22, 1982 Medlin was only sponsored by RRS for the weekend of the NBL Ascot National in Gardena, California
  Gardena, California
  Gardena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 58,829 at the 2010 census, up from 57,746 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Gardena is located at ....
  
   before being picked up by Raleigh right after the National.
• Raleigh Cycle Company of America: August 23, 1982-January 22, 1983.

Professional

• Kuwahara Cycles, Ltd.: January 22, 1983-Early December 1983. Medlin rejoined Kuwahara on the same day he turned pro.
• Maximum Early April 1984-

Amateur

National Bicycle Association (NBA)

• 1978 13 Expert Western States Champion
• 1978 National No.3
• 1979 14 Expert Grandnational Champion
• 1980 15 Expert Grandnational Champion

National Bicycle League (NBL)

• 1980 15 Expert Grandnational Champion

United Bicycle Racers (UBR)

• 1980 15 Expert and 14 & Open Spring Championships Champion

American Bicycle Association (ABA)

• None

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

• None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)*

• None

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

• None

United States Cycling Federation (USCF)

• 1981 JAG 16 Expert, 14 & Over Trophy Dash & Over all World Champion

*See note in professional section

Professional

National Bicycle Association

National Bicycle Association

The National Bicycle Association , later known as the National Bicycle Motocross Association was an United States based Bicycle Motocross sports sanctioning body originally based in Soledad, California that was created by Ernie Alexander in 1973 and ceased operations as an independent body in 1981...

 (NBA)

• None

National Bicycle League

National Bicycle League

The National Bicycle League is a United States based Bicycle Motocross sports sanctioning body originally based in Deerfield Beach, Florida but after several moves it was based in Hilliard, Ohio...

 (NBL)

• None

United Bicycle Racers (UBR)

• None

American Bicycle Association

American Bicycle Association

The American Bicycle Association is a United States-based Bicycle Motocross sports governing body in Gilbert, Arizona created by Merl Mennenga and Gene Roden in 1977. It is the largest sanctioning body in the United States concerning BMX. It has tracks in Canada and Mexico as well as in the USA...

 (ABA)

• None

United States Bicycle Motocross Association

United States Bicycle Motocross Association

The United States Bicycle Association was a short lived Bicycle Motocross national sanctioning body based in Tempe, Arizona. It was founded in March 1984 by five former members of the American Bicycle Association : Rich Mann, Dave Cook, Geoff Sims, Steve Schaefer and Rod Keeling, who became the...

 (USBA)

• None

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF):

• None

Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC)*

• None (FIAC did not have a strictly professional division during its existence)

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)*

• None

Pro Series Championships

Significant injuries

• He possibly received a knee injury at the NBL War of the Stars national in Reno, Nevada
  Reno, Nevada
  Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
  
   on June 18, 1983. In a bmxactiononline.com interview he mentions "....in the main I blew out my knee and sat out the entire summer." He crashed on the first jump on the first straight in the "B" pro main in that Nevada race. His name does disappear from the results after the Nevada race. It reappears at the ABA Summer Nationals in Elkhart, Indiana
  Elkhart, Indiana
  Elkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis...
  
   on August 14, 1983, two months after the June 1983 incident and can possibly be interpreted as him sitting out "...the entire summer". In Bicycles and Dirt magazine's coverage of the 1983 ABA Summer Nationals it mentioned that:

  "Lee is still gaining strength after an injury, so the question was whether he had the strength to last down the long Elkhart straights."

  This further indicates that he had an injury over the summer that affected his racing.

• He reinjured his knee in a semi final at the ABA Grandnational in Tulsa, Oklahoma
  Tulsa, Oklahoma
  Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
  
   on November 27, 1983 that he originally hurt apparently at the NBL 1983 Reno, Nevada national the previous June. He mentions in a Gary Haselhorst interview for bmxactiononline that it was the primary factor in his retirement from BMX:

  "Then in a semi tore up my knee again. At that point I decided it wasn't worth it anymore. I raced a couple races in 1984 and actually won the pro open as a part timer in Salt Lake, but I didn't stick around long before I moved on."

  He was still able to make the main and come in seventh over all in that his first AA pro race.

BMX press magazine interviews and articles

• "Confrontation at Corona" Bicycle Motocross Action March/April 1979 Vol.4 No.2 pg.53 Joint interview of Medlin Eddy King
  Eddy King
  Edward King is an "Old School" former professional Bicycle Motocross racer whose prime competitive years were from 1977 to 1985....
  
   and Chris Hopkins at the ABA Fall Nationals at Corona Speed way in Corona, California
  Corona, California
  Corona is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 152,374, up from 124,966 at the 2000 census...
  
   on September 17, 1978 interspred in the race report.
• "Lee Medlin! World Champion" BMX Plus! April 1982 Vol.5 No.4 pg.20
• "Lee Medlin" BMX Action February 1983 Vol.8 No.2 pg.46 Statistical profile of the racer.

BMX magazine covers

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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/NBmx publication):

Bicycles Today & BMX Today (the official NBL publication under two names):

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

External links

• The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.
• The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.
• October 30, 2007 bmxactiononline.com interview of Medlin by Gary Haselhorst.