| NBL stands for National Bicycle League. | |
| 1973 | |
| George Esser, a motorcycle race promoter in Florida who made BMX a part of his National Motorcycle League in 1973 and signed up 54 boys and one girl that year. When that division grew to 284 members in 1975, Esser separated it from the NML and called it the NBL. | |
| 1983 | |
| BMX Plus! january 1983: Big Changes at NBL. The National Bicycle League elected new officers at its annual Competition Congress. Bob Tedesco has taken over as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Florida-based national BMX sanctioning body. George Esser, the founder of the NBL, has stepped down from the top position, and will now serve as Treasurer and Chairman Emeritus. Dave Guinn takes over the position of Chairman of the Board, while Don Hutelin and Grant Robison will continue in their posts as Vice Presidents. Bob Durst will serve as Assistant Treasurer. The position vacated by Mr. Tedesco, that of Competition Director, will be assumed by Jim Banks. The Board of Trustees has been expanded to twelve members and will include, in addition to the above-named officers, Rosy Guinn, Rosey Banks, Frank Lopez, Charles Scott, Steve Johnson, and Jim Faulkner. The NBL has also announced some major rules changes for 1983. From now on, riders' age classes will change on their birthdays. Furthermore, when riders change age classes during the points year, their points will go with them. | |
| 1989 | |
| War of the Stars july 1989 Matt Hulgan www.pedalbmx.com: I was there and if my memory serves me right Kevin rode pretty badly (by Kevin standards). I remember him getting pissed at having to wear a helmet during the competition and he ripped off his visor. I also remember being disappointed by Jon Hudlestons riding. I'd seen him go off in the dorkin videos and thought that's how he rode all the time. That contest was a gigantic turning point for me. I'd only heard the rumors about hitchikers and I walked into this GIGANTIC practice hall where there were about a hundred flatlanders working on hitchikers and deathtrucks. Where I was from we were all learning decades, hang 5's and whiplashes and here were a ton of good experts that spanked me bad the next day. I took like 3rd from last in 14 expert but I DID blow out my knee in practice the night before. If it weren't for that I would have gotten 7th from last. Bill Freeman debuted the cliffhanger at that contest. Bill Neuman and Danny Meng were exploding. It was amazing. DMC was riding completely new school and dialed. Carly Argilla had some great stuff. Jffe, may 2018 : No idea who Bill Freeman is, but half of the pros were doing cliffhangers here, and I saw people trying them in the mid to late 1988's at local comps. At this comp Ross Smith did (and pulled) a rollback one in one of his runs, along with the 'rout from hell' (as K. Jones called it) that he messed up at the very end of. -Perry Mervar was scary good in practice, doing some hitchhiker jugglers, barsplit rolaids, the jump of doom, and all manner of other Perry exclusives. -Bill Neumann's switch-footed macaroni to inside smith was a unique move. He also did some jump the frame whiplashes, which was one of those 'impossible' Ross Smith moves back then. -Chase, McCoy, and several other top names just couldn't land stuff that day, too much pressure for the biggest pro purse ever (something like $5K just for first place alone). -See the link below for some of the pro runs. I am not sure if they are finals or prelims, but I know the Ross Smith one is totally different from the little bit of footage I had on tape. www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXk8jHelX8qzA9oiHp7VLg/videos | |
| 1990 | |
| Alexis Desolneux, Trouble zine, octobre 1990: Il y a aux contests NBL un juge qui note la beauté du vélo, le choix de la musique, le choix des vêtements et le showmanship ! | |
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Whishes on wheels Date: october 27-28, 1990. Place: Norfolk, Virginia. Medias: Go february 1991, BMX Plus! march 1990. | |
| 1991 | |
| Randy Loop of AFA fame is now working for the National Bicycle League as their Director of Promotions. He's already been buzy at work organising their '91 freestyle schedule. Five nationals are planned with a final event at the end of the season. The competitions will consist of both flatland and ramps. | |
| Round 1, january 20, 1991, Tarpon Springs, Florida. | Pro flatland: 1.Chris Poulos 2.Chase Gouin 3.Craig LePage 4.Scott Santamaria 18 and over expert flatland: 1.John Cote 2.Ivan Adamic 3.Tim Tacie 4.Jeff Cook 5.Paul Vail 6.Rob Nolli 16-17 expert flatland: 1.Adam Murphy 2.Jeff Crawn 3.Clif Wilson 18 and over novice flatland: 1.Jim Deaton 2.Bryan Huffman 3.Jeff Neal 4.Mark Losey Pro ramp: Jeremy Alder 18 and over expert ramp: 1.Keith McElhenny 2.David Brunlow 3.Kevin Robinson 4.Leonard Foster 5.Todd Seligman |
| Round 2, march 23, 1991, Colombus, Ohio. | |
| Round 3, BMX National, Half Pipe Comp, and Flatland Fest Place: Woodward. Date: May 25 and 26, 1991 Medias: Go september 1991 The only thing missing was a blow-out street contest (weird, since Woodward has THE premier streetstyle set up). FLATLAND: rolling tricks, sharp connections, and even tailwhips bunnyhops (Bill Nitschke) were witnessed. The RAMP contest was surprisingly good, even though there weren't any top pros present. Tons of 540's, tailspin airs, fly-out flip dismounts, and night riding without lights made more than a few bats a little crazy bits. John Swarr .Go september 1991 |
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| Round 4. | |
| Round 5, august 31, 1991, Louisville, KY. | |