they didn't know who JMC or Ned was!!

[Rampage]

I have to admit the people who get mentioned on here a lot about starting mountain biking and repack riders, I don't know who they are!
I know (and have met) JMC though!

 

[FluffyChicken]

As for Dave Hemming, didn't he leave the UK under something of a cloud only to pop up in the US as a 'motivational speaker' or something, trading on his past glories?

No he didn't, he worked for Atb sales for a long time (Marin/Wyhte) then went and worked for Cannondale then went back to Atb sales as the Norco rep, all of this time he was training as a tri-athelete, he competed in some Iron man events where he met his now wife who was american. he left England to live with her where he continued to work for Marin and Norco bikes aswel as pushing UK brands in the US, then he and his wife set up their own business and he continues to race today.

he now works for Pivot bikes aswel as running his own company with his wife.

might i please ask that you don't comment further on this thread, when you defend your opinion you seem to dig a deeper hole for yourself and upset the (my) apple cart.

Thing is though JMC is in your history and obviously your idol.
Many people may not see him like that and just see him as a normal bloke who didn't quite make it if they read about it.

Not my opinion, personally I don't know him, do not know his history other than he died and do not care about him to look any further than the pictures on his site.

He is not such a big name really other than to the people who know him or idol him, so I am not surprised the young blokes in the bike shop did not know him.
Especially as I was cycling in the era he must have been riding and I did no know about him.

 

[jonnyboy666]

I have to admit the people who get mentioned on here a lot about starting mountain biking and repack riders, I don't know who they are!

but i think that is understandable, they were in another country AND before our time and they were mainly people who weren't trying to be well known as such. JMC was in the mags/vids etc in the 90's for being the first to venture to the US.


i don't idoliise him as such, but i do think he deserves alot of respect for what he accomplished.

 

[lumos2000]

i havent a clue who your all talking about? ive been into mtbs since the late 80s but not into raceing so wouldent know anyone like that really.
reminds me of the time i was sat in a pub chating to some radom guy and the girl at the bar asked me if i would know REM if they walked in, i said i thought i might and carried on chatting, next the phone went and she came over saying it was the band manager and they guy i was chatting to said "id better take that" turnes out he was the drummer

 

[We_are_Stevo]

http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ute-15536/

 

[petitpal]

To me JMC was pure cool: he merged that edge between proper cool and proper cycling. Always fast, brilliant bike handling skills, hugely down to earth (when you heard him interviewed), massively likeable and someone who's pure existance, I always used to reckon, made me one tiny bit cooler for being in the same sport as him.

Come on - the guy could pull off a curtain hair do, a beanie, baggy shorts and still look cool. Could you need anything more???

Seeing as no-one else has dug these up yet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX4qkAbDyyk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0DZUIWBYEE

 

[petitpal]

Actually - watch from 2:24 onwards (assuming you want to skip a bit) on this... (continuation of Dirt). Would often watch this bit on the vid. before I went out for rides or races. JMC at work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fv ... 7wGjE&NR=1

(Good JMC coverage here as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk_YOCVm ... re=related ) .

 

[Dave_H]

Whilst JMC didn't have the success of some of the modern day DH riders, I'd happily argue that he was more successful than any of these riders given the circumstances of the sport he was riding in at the time, with the possible exception of Steve Peat. However, it's also fair to say that Peaty may have found his route into top level racing far more difficult if JMC hadn't paved the way for British riders.

For me, whilst JMC wasn't a success in the traditional sense, and certainly not as much as maybe we all hoped he would be, the inspiration he gave to MTB riders of the time was signficant. An inspirational role in a way that maybe Cedric Gracia is known for.

Having said all that, there's a far greater gap today between racing and recreational riding than there was 20 years ago. Many riders had at least one go at racing in the early 90s, whereas these days it's more of a minority, excluding marathons maybe which to me are subtely different. As a pastime, people care less about the background so why should they be aware of the legends of a minority sport 20 years previous?

 

[We_are_Stevo]

TBH, what defined his sheer talent for me was his near inclusion in the Olympics Team; that story is not just anecdotal fluff thrown in to bolster his memory, it really happened - and he wasn't even taking it seriously!

He just 'had a go' to see what it was like (the way anyone does when offered 'Want to give it a go?') and, being JMC, put his usual effort into it, stunning all there who witnessed the event!

Olympic cyclists really are at the top of the tree and he was their equal on the day, without the specific training regime usually required to reach that level; awesome...