John Tomac, not only an iconic rider

[rumpfy]

We met JT at one of ditributors open houses and he was great. We brought our NOS Raleigh Tomac replica and hung it in the Kenda booth. Funniest comment of the day was when two shop rats came up to look at the bike and said "it was too bad the Tomac isn't here to see this"......while he was standing 2 feet away from them. He even won the tricycle race later that day.

Not everything from that day was good. :?

 

[rumpfy]

hi repack rider what was it like riding downhill on a repacks going stupidly fast back in the day ive seen the pics and film clips since i was tiny as my old man was a pashinote rider (not any more the lazy git alwas working) and living in suffolk (flatter than a pancake) alwas wanted to know but never had the chance to experiance it from dan

Try using some punctuation. That was a brutal sentence to read.

 

[stevet1]

Why don't you see whether David Beckham wants to hang around and chew the fat with you, then get back to me and tell me what he's like.

I'm always a bit sceptical when someone says I've met *favourite celebrity* and he was an idiot. You can't tell what someones like from a brief conversation and you don't know whats happened that day that might have put them in a bad mood.
Although I met Steve Peat at a DH track and he was sound, gave us an uplift in his van.

 

[ringlatron]

i wouldn't ordinarily have mentioned it - but we spent a couple of days with him for a project and he was generally unfriendly/unhelpful to all involved. maybe he was having a bad day/week or wasnt into the project much but to contrast - shaun palmer who we also worked with on the same gig (who was notorious for being a pain at the time) was friendly, helpful and enthusiastic. i still hold tomac as the best rider of all time, i guess we had a uncharacteristic experience of his personality.

 

[JustKev]

this thread is getting interesting!

Repack Rider - I've met David Beckham a few times (in the gym, on the golf course and in the bar and he's a sound guy! He's very unselfish with his time - even with masses of people around him. Amazes me really how he handles his fame.

I also met JT a couple of times and he was the exactly the same - signed some autographs for my dad and I, posed for a photo and showed a genuine interest in our team and my race!

Bottom line is that everybody has a bad day sometimes - i guess when you're an international superstar you just have to put on the public face!

 

[stevet1]

maybe he was just jealous of your one-handed no footed wheelies...

 

[TracyP]

I met John Tomac during the 96 World Cup Finals in Hawaii. He came to The Bike Shop and met "the public". He was very gracious and polite and signed my helmet and took pics with me and my daughter. I thought he was a very class act.

 

[ringlatron]

maybe he was just jealous of your one-handed no footed wheelies...

haha yeah that was definitlely it now you come to mention it ;-) he was seething inside i could tell...

 

[LTS Biker]

I met Tomac (shortly) at the downhill races in Snowqualmi (US) and asked him if he had a minute. He was just hanging around before the race and he said: "Sure why not" I just made a ic and asked him some short thing, don't even know anymore what. Maybe it wasn't more like: "Hi how are you"
But I was happy.
He was there with Herbold and took a pic of him as well while he was busy with a pair of forks. He took the forks in the air made a funny face.

It was a great day.

 

[JustKev]

Found this picture on a US site yesterday of Tomac riding a Raleigh with drop bars - something I'd never seen or knew happended!