Melanie Cline Cyclist
Melanie R. Cline (b. June 29, 1975) is an American former amateur "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1982–2004 and 2009 to the present.Born in Westland, Michigan, she was one of the first generation of female BMX racers to become well known after the 1980–1986 era dominated by Debbie Kalsow, Kathy Schachel, Gaby Bayhi and Cheri Elliott. Melanie Cline could more than hold her own against the boys, often racing in the "Open" class at nationals in which boys and girls raced in the same age bracket-9 & 10 year olds and 11 & 12 year olds for example-compete as opposed to the girls only division. She regularly made those Open mains and even won many of them. She won five such Opens at nationals in 1987 in the 11 & 12 year old class. Her nicknames "Swell Mel" or just "Mel" are obvious plays on her first name Melanie. She was also known as "Speed Queen". Melanie went on to win 4 World Championships as well as 16 National Championships during her racing career, the most of any one person at that time. She stopped competing in 2003 after conceiving her first son shortly after the NBL Grand Nationals.In late 2009, Melanie returned to racing with her five-year-old son joining her. She and her son have quickly become two riders to watch out for during the 2010 NBL season.