Who's The Woman (or Man) ?

[willywill]

Since we have been relishing in what a bad ass Johnny T. is, I thought we should open it up a bit and relish in the days of yore.

So who are some of ya'lls (I'm from the south, but not a Republican ) favorite racers/riders from the 90's era?

This guy is up there for me.

Tinker.jpg

So is his bike:

TinkerSide.jpg

[neo_pop_71]

Oh sweetness... Tinker was like every SoCal BMX kid's hero... guy was a legend! He grew up 20 minutes away from me and I would see him from time to time at Big O Skatepark (Tony Hawk, Steve Cab, Christian Hosoi, and tons of others). I'm not going to say that SoCal was the center of the BMX universe, but f*ck it, it was!!! Here's the thing though, after he left mountain biking, he went back to road bikes and long distance endurance racing; a few years back he took 3rd place in the road race across America... he was 45 years old!!! Tinker is my ultimate hero, that guy lead the way and I followed... BMX, road, mountain!

Here's Tinker in '77 at Big O (pretty sure, the flood lights are what I remember):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIVWVbbx-A0

If you're into BMX, Mo Meyer's site is King!

http://mauricemeyer.com/cgi/mm.pl?dataf ... _Freestyle

*** Can you say trophy wall... damn!!! ***

[vpc66]

Just makes me want to go pull my BMX mag's out again...What other named BMX riders moved on to road and MTB racing...Thinker,Toby H. ....Oh Mark will want to kill me...the guy that raced Cuda's was a name but can not remember it. Wonder what became of alot of the good old guys like Stu ,Greg Hill ,Larry,THE SE CREW yea buddy.. etc etc etc....

[willywill]

OH SNAP! That's awesome! BMXn a pool!

Is this the Dogg Town and Z-boys era/area?

[neo_pop_71]

Yep Willywill, same time as Dogg Town and Z-boys, those guys were from the Southbay area of Santa Monica and Venice, about 30 minutes away from the Downey/Whittier area was going off. Scot "O.M." Breithaupt, the founder of B.U.M.S., creator of SE Bikes, the godfather of BMX Motocross racing, and way too much else to list, was half way in between everyone in Long Beach.

vpc66, the Barracuda rider was Eric Carter, he like Tinker, was a BMX champ before moving into mountain bikes. Later he moved over to racing for the White Brothers/Rotec team, my college roommate was the art director at White Brothers in the '90's and I had the pleasure of meeting Eric a few times... super cool and down-to-Earth guy! It's no wonder he was so well respected and liked by those in (and out) of the bike world.

[vpc66]

Thanks D. I knew what he had done just could not remember name...as said from time to time I pull out my old BMX mags from my teen years and get a kick out of reading over the names knowing what some of those guys went on to do.....You were very lucky to have been in prime area with those that pushed the industry forward,I hung around and rode with some of the local top expert and lower pro class guys but I do not believe any body from my neck of the woods made a name like those you were able to be around....LUCKY MAN!

[neo_pop_71]

I do feel lucky to have grown up when I did and where I did for various reasons... BMX... skateboarding... punk music... old or kustom cars...these thing gave me a purpose in life and kept me from spinning my wheels or getting into much mischief. Everyone I knew growing up got nicked by johnny law at some point, I did too but being I kept busy with outdoor activities and amateur boxing, I never got slammed like so many!