JOHNNY T - THE ORIGINAL MOUNTAIN BIKING ICON
The mere mention of his name brings a hot flush to any mountain biker of a certain age. American racer John Tomac was one of the original greats of the early days of mountain biking, a racer who could go out and win world titles and World Cups in both cross country and downhill in the same weekend, and all wrapped off the back of a pro BMX career and sandwiched between riding the great road classics and grand tours. This all-American hero quite possibly stands as the most rounded bike racer of all time.
However, it was not just his results that made Johnny T the defining icon of the sport in that era, it was his crisp good looks, his humble nature and racing showmanship that made him the mountain biker we all wanted to be, the James Dean of fat tyre racing.
Sadly, the legend of Tomac is somewhat lost on younger riders, which is a cultural sin. We caught up with him to talk about his racing career, his life as a rancher, and about managing his son Eli’s flourishing motocross career.
Steve Thomas: Where exactly are you living?
John Tomac: I’m in Cortez, which is a bit west of Durango, Southwest Colorado. I was in Durango most of the time while I was a mountain bike racer, and the in last two years of my career I was in Cortez.
ST: You have a ranch, what is the setup?
JT: Yeah, we have a working ranch. We sell retail hay, basically bailed animal field.
