[Dirt Merchant]

...after watching them ride:

Bob Haro: in 1981.
Hans Rey: in 1998.
Dave Mirra: in 2003.
All three had enough determination in their eyeballs for two men.

How 'bout you?

 

[Heidi]

Oooh, good thread. I didn't start riding until about 6 years ago, so mine are

Lance Armstrong
Brett Wolfe - one legged endurance bike racer. I saw him at my first 24 hour race. He was doing it solo and kicking ass
Marla Streb

 

[manziman]

Eddy Merckx
Lance Armstrong
Ryan Leech
(No particular order...)

 

[Westy]

My deceased friend John West. Knew him for a few years before finding out he was a complete bike freak too. First friend I had who was as into bikes as myself, his nickname is the source of my Ridemonkey handle.

And there is my other friend Bob The Ringer. Showed be that riding a bike for ungodly long distances is fun.

 

[Snacks]

John Tomac
Marla

Humm....that's all I can think of

 

[douglas]

1)Lance

2)Megan Black

3)forgot her name (female that attempted the Kona ironman, after the 2.4 mile swim, and the 112 mile bike, she missed the cut off to do the 26 mile run by 10 minutes, oh yeah - she only has one leg)

 

[MMcG]

1)Jollytime
2)IAB
3)Dalton Doug

 

[hooples3]

I gotta give a lot of credit to ...

Missy , Shaun Palmer.
They brought a lot of excitement to the sport. They have a lot of skill and atitude and their "let it all hang out " way always reminds me to get out there and ride.

 

[PonySoldier]

Greg Lemond
All the local German club racers who raced through Zirndorf every weekend
Ryan Hamilton and some other guys from work...

 

[splat]

Greg Lemond
Alexi Grewal
Pee Wee Herman

 

[douglas]

1)Jollytime
2)IAB
3)Dalton Doug

And I want to add to my list, all of my 24 hour race teamates

 

[Snacks]

I gotta give a lot of credit to ...

Missy , Shaun Palmer.
They brought a lot of excitement to the sport. They have a lot of skill and atitude and their "let it all hang out " way always reminds me to get out there and ride.

Dude, totally! I loved watching Shaun. He did some local races up here and was so crazy! It was just fun to see someone out there having a great time

 

[ThePriceSeliger]

Cedric
Peaty
Alex Morgan(BCD)
Minar(sp?)

 

[pixelninja]

My older brother.

He doesn't ride much these days, but I used to drool over his Bridgestone MB1 and then his Fat Chance Yo Eddie. He still has the FC, converted to a fully rigid 8-speed street machine.

 

[Craw]

Tomac

Brian Castillo on the BMX side of things

"Breaking Away" if a movie can be an influential "person"...

 

[peter6061]

John Tomac

Juli Furtado

Dave Voelker

 

[Ciaran]

Ned - C'mon. It's NED!

Juli Furtado - The female Ned?

Hans Rey - I would settle for the bike skills contained in his pinkie.

There are so many, it's hard to pick just three. I watch today's riders and get so inspired to go out and ride more and challenge myself. I chose these three because they did the same for me, but at a younger, more crucial point in my biking life.

 

[Echo]

Lance Armstrong - anytime I think I can't pedal anymore, I just think of Lance.
John Tomac - I don't know of anyone else who ever stood on both the XC and DH podiums at a national.
Dave Mirra - Age has not slowed him down, he's still doing stuff that pushes the edge.

 

[Jamsoul]

Shaums March arguably the most talented all around rider today.

Cedric cuz he's always goofing off while kicking a$$

Ohh yeah that boy who rides for Discovery...Lance one nut.

 

[narlus]

my buddy greg petros. got me on an MTB to start with (although he's mainly a roadie now).

tomac/furtado. watching them @ mt snow a few years was always inspiring. domination.

peaty. hell of a racer, brings fun and energy to the mix, and it was cool for a hack like me to actually race w/ him.

 

[Zark]

John Tomac: XC, DH, road, anything. He kills it. He is O.G.

Kirt Voreis: Best all around rider I've ever seen.

Shaums March: Talented and willing to teach the next generation of riders. Not to mention the best trials rider on a DH bike!

 

[punkassean]

Tomac (THE best all-around cyclist EVER, and he's easy to talk to!)

Gracia (Has more fun than anyone and STILL gets the job done right)

McCaul (A lot of you are going say what? This kid LIVES to ride. I have never seen someone who gets more stoked to ride and as far as I'm concerned that's what it's all about. And of course he progressed MTB DJing to a new level)

 

[ghostrider]

I'm going with Stu Thomsen, Lance, and Echo.

Stu was my idol when I started biking, Lance inspires me, and I keep pedalling hard sometimes just so I can stay ahead of my bro.

 

[sleepinggiant]

George Hincapie-Only teammate to be with Lance for all 6 victories, and one of the best domistiques of all time.

Thomas Vanderham-Has more style thann I could ever dream of having.

Duncan Riffle-Good friend from Jr. High, his dedication to racing is unmatched.

 

[stuntmatty]

My buddy Mike who got me back on my bike after a seven year hiatus.

Randy Spangler - one of the first freeriders I was exposed to.

The Jackalopes - I always get more outta myself when riding with them.

 

[Enginerd A2]

Kevin Grant - former SE MI canuck transplant who was always down for a ride, my first singletrack sensei, now lives in San Jose and races XC

Oak Williams - crazy Nebraska hippy, absolutely LOVES to ride, sooo smooth, Oak can ride any terrain as well as anyone and does it all on his one and only bike which is the only one he needs, Oak please move back to Ann Arbor!!!

Gus Hemingway - A-squared Mormon shredder, always down with riding anyplace anytime, his bikes are always busted but he still schools everyone

These people all genuinely love riding. They'll never drop you when you're having an off day, get mad when you flat without a tube, patchkit, or pump, or let you get away with blowing off riding to watch TV.

I like some pro's, too: Wade Simmons, Thomas Vanderham, Thomas Hosford (A2 local), Darren Berrecloth, and Randy Spangler (for giving me some hope in getting better with age)

 

[Leethal]

Mike King-- back when I raced BMX I totally wanted to ride like him smooth as budda
Lance Armstrong-- Saw him pre-cancer with the Tour Dupont, then of course kick ass post cancer...
Dave Mirra- took what Bob Haro and RL Osborne started ( I know tons of others as well) and brought it to the mainstream

 

[pnj]

I'm going with Stu Thomsen,
Stu was my idol when I started biking

I wrote Stu a letter when I was about 13. He wrote me back too. how cool!

Haro, R.L., Mat Hoffman (I think he's done more to bring it to the main stream then Mirra but that's neither here nor there..), Mirra, the Gute, Blyther, Dominquez, Wilton, Wilkerson, Kevin Jones, etc, etc.

way too many people have influenced me and made me want to ride my bike.

 

[OGRipper]

Haro, R.L., Mat Hoffman (I think he's done more to bring it to the main stream then Mirra but that's neither here nor there..), Mirra, the Gute, Blyther, Dominquez, Wilton, Wilkerson, Kevin Jones, etc, etc.

way too many people have influenced me and made me want to ride my bike.

Cool thread. Yeah, there's a whole slew of old-school freestylers and bmx'ers that I would have to cite. To pnj's list I gotta add Mike Buff, Eddie Fiola, and Aparijo (cherry-picker anyone?), McCoy, not mention guys like Harry Leary on the dirt side. But Stompin' Stu was awesome!

Lance inspires me to see that the body is just a tool for what the mind wants. Even though he's a roadie his mental approach helps me push limits in all aspects. Of course, the tool part takes over completely for some of us!

Lastly, I have to cite a dude named Phil that I knew way back in the day at a shop in Connecticut. Dude was in his mid-40s, he would party all night, show up on a beater and in cut-off shorts for group rides at 8am, slam a cup of coffee and some beef jerky, and proceed to drag arond a bunch of much fitter and younger riders until they dropped off one by one. He showed me that you don't need to be that serious to be a seriously good bike rider.

But damn there are so many...

 

[bpatterson6]

Although some are much older than I and much younger than I:
I can List more than 3.

Tinker Juarez: 1978 (BMX)
Stu Thomsen: in 1979 (BMX)
Harry Leary: in 1980 (BMX)
Greg Hill: in 1981 (BMX)
Toby Henderson: in 1982 (BMX)
Kevin Hull: 1983 (BMX)

The List Goes on For BMX in my Years I spent Racing & Riding in General.

As Far as MTB's I'm not sure, but here is a list that
Influenced me to give DH a go! It all started for me in 1997.
When I moved to Colorado
All these guys rip IMO!

Miles Rockwell
Steve Peat
Greg Minaar
Jared Graves

 

[ito]

Great posts

Mine:
Kelly Steelman: when I was a little grom on a Specialized he took me out and hooked me up with a new bike for cheap, taught me the importance of technical climbs, taught me how to be a proper bike mechanic, taught me how to build a trail, the importance of beer and bikes, and how to have fun on any bike in any condition.
Thomas Vanderham: I've never seen a better video section than his Kamloops bit in RTTH, I still want to go up and ride those trails.

There are too many others to mention, but these two guys have influenced my style of riding and my attitude towards the riding culture.

The Ito

 

[punkassean]

Great posts

Mine:
Kelly Steelman

Kelly's a great guy Bellingham is lucky to have him as part of their community, I know SB misses him.

 

[BSEVEER]

John Tomac

Tinker Juarez

Ned Overend

 

[Jayridesacove]

Johnny T, in Tread.

Ned Overend, for inspiring me when I rode xc.

Hans Rey, for making a trials video with an orangutan.

Marco Guilbeaux, a Canadian dentist who sold me his Norco vps2 while I was on a snowboard vacation at Whistler in 1999. It was my first full suspension bike and my ticket to downhilling.

 

[Dirt Merchant]

Cool responses from y'all! Nice to see all the BMXers names. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention all of you ridemonkeys: that give me inspiration every day, to ride!

 

[stinkyboy]

Sid Vicious
Iggy Pop
Paul Westerberg

 

[narlus]

Sid Vicious
Iggy Pop
Paul Westerberg

all severe drunks and/or drug abusers.

you forgot brian jones.

 

[caputo1989]

I hated running so I got a bike.
Then I got really into it.

 

[stinkyboy]

all severe drunks and/or drug abusers.

.

They had more influence on how I live(ed) than someone named Tinker. Balls out baby!

 

[chicodude]

My uncle-He got me into BMX racing when I was little and he owned a bike shop. Damn he was fast.

Lance armstrong-Got me into road riding

Brian gillespie-took me on MTB rides when I was just a grasshopper, and he put up with me too.