WHILE JASON IS A HEROIN THE UK, HE HASN’ T GOT THE RECOGNITION HE DESERVES FROM THE MOUNTAIN BIKE HALL OF FAME YET. SO LET’ S VOTE AND RECTIFY THE SITUATION
UK riders. Dave Hemming won a silver medal in the Juniors at the Durango World Championships in 1990, but there was no significant breakthrough at the top level. A British rider getting anywhere near the top 10 in a DH outside the UK was big news, and none was on any international team. That changed when Jason started concentrating on DH racing.
Born in 1971, with a hole in his heart, he started riding BMX as a youngster, but switched to MTB aged 17 and competed successfully in both XC and DH domestically. Riding for the British team at the DH World Champs in Italy in 1991, he was then signed by Team MBUK for the ’92 season. The Grundig Downhill World Cup series started in 1993 and JMC went for it, with a bike sponsorship from Hardisty Cycles, and his dad Jim (who’d quit his job to help) in support. He got noticed with a top-10 finish at Cap d’Ail and posted the fastest time at Vail. But it was his second-place finish at the infamous Kamikaze at Mammoth Mountain in California that earned him the US$3,000 prize money that allowed him to continue on the circuit and grab the attention of an international DH team. He won the British Championships that year too, then signed for Specialized USA.
In ’94 Jason raced the World Cups, retained his British title and competed for GB at the Worlds again, but was held back by injuries and mechanicals. His star quality was confirmed by the seminal 1995 video Dirt, conceived and directed by Pete Tomkins (aka Mr Crud) and featuring a load of famous faces from the pages of MBUK. He was also shortlisted for the British track-racing team for the ’96 Atlanta Olympics. But tragically, in August 1995, he was riding his HarleyDavidson motorcycle when he was in collision with a lorry at Woodhead Pass in Derbyshire, and British MTBing lost one of its heroes.
It took courage and conviction for Jason and his dad to go for it as they did, and British downhillers owe them a huge debt of gratitude for paving the way internationally. Rob Warner and Steve Peat both looked up to Jason and followed his example by signing for big teams and winning World Cups. While Jason is a hero in the UK, he hasn’t got the recognition he deserves from the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame yet. So let’s sign up, vote and rectify the situation.