Why the early 90s and Tomac was awesome ...

I just uploaded a clip from my old VHS recordings of the 1992 Mountain Bike World Cup race in Mount Snow, Vermont.

I was watching these races a couple of nights ago and one section of this race captures the essence of Tomac's allure. When I watched it (for the thousandth time) I thought "I have to post that tiny clip".

Well as I edited it down I couldn't help but keep some other stuff in.

The clip of interest happens 52:27 in.

Then compare it to everyone going through that same section before and after ...

I was there - in that race, going through that section 6 times -at a rather leisurely pace compared with those in the video clip even though I thought I was going fast. I can tell you what John Tomac did through that section was not within the realm of human capability.

That man was/is simply awesome.

Enjoy:
Tomac Mount Snow Rock and Roll - YouTube

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCJzOU_zSlo[/youtube]

You left that clip of Gould in there on purpose didn't you.

Sure would be cool to have that bike Johnny is riding.

Ductape":3n7n81n8 said:

You left that clip of Gould in there on purpose didn't you.

Sure would be cool to have that bike Johnny is riding.

Click to expand...

Nah, I'm not like that - he did well in that race despite that tumble and he was in good company with many other excellent pros. If he'd done that course before he would have known to "take the high line!!!"

Yeah THAT would be cool, wouldn't it ...

impressive at 0.52 ,

i remember his big match with Overend in 1994 Elba WC in Italy , the best race i've never seen

( i saw circa 25/30 WC in Europe )

thanks for sharing

Awesome.....

Retro Spud":makc50q3 said:

Awesome.....

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x2 Tomac certainly had the skills that paid the bills.

Gould didn't do quite as well on the same section a few secs after....

+ 3
I think even though all the top guys had the same level of fitness as Tomac he killed it on the descents which really gave him the edge.
Tomac had the bmx background whereas a lot of the other pros came from the road which I think has a lot to do with the handling of a bike.
I don't think we will ever see a rider win a national title in XC one day and DH the next again............legend!



Maybe the disc wheel has some part in it? ha

13":2lfydint said:

+ 3
I think even though all the top guys had the same level of fitness as Tomac he killed it on the descents which really gave him the edge.
Tomac had the bmx background whereas a lot of the other pros came from the road which I think has a lot to do with the handling of a bike.
I don't think we will ever see a rider win a national title in XC one day and DH the next again............legend!



Maybe the disc wheel has some part in it? ha

Click to expand...

No doubt!

I was at the 92 grundig round in plymouth and my greatest memory was seeing tomac hammering down the long hill at the back of the track heading toward a steel gate and just flicking the bike sideways and through the 90 degree gap at the bottom without even a foot off the pedals , i can still hear the rumble of that disc drive just awesome !

Great stuff!
All those big names