Brief interview with David “Tinker “ Juarez

Tinker Juarez

Tinker is one of mountain biking’s original hard men. Rumors have circulated for years that he used to train with a backpack filled with rocks and would only take it off for race days. The actual validity of that statement is dubious at best but it goes to show that the man has a well-earned reputation for being a tough competitor.  When a lot of his contemporaries such as John Tomac, Thomas Frischknecht, and Don Myrah have all largely hung up their competitive wheels Tinker is still out there riding.

Since 2006 Tinker had shifted his focus from shorter cross-country races to longer distance, 24 hour, and multi stage races. Tinker won the 500 mile Heart of the South, race in RAAM (Race Across America), multiple 24 hour solo off-road races, and was America’s top finisher in La Ruta de los Conquistadores in 2007.

More recently, Tinker has come out  as an anti doping advocate and had publicly supported Greg LeMond and  at  the same time offered  an  olive branch  to  Lance  Armstrong, "My hope is that you will help repair. I just want you to know in my heart I appreciate what you have done for cycling and for every single person affected by cancer. Thank you Lance. And may peace be in your heart".


BiC: How old are you?

Tinker: 51

Bic: How did you get involved with ultra marathon mountain bike racing?

Tinker: I started a couple of long distance races before it was even called ultra marathon and I liked it.  I picked the fun interesting races.  I love to be on the bike so these long ones were more fun for me.

BiC: How many of these events do you do a year?

Tinker: All the races I do are not cross-country so at least fourteen.

BiC: How many of these events have you done in total?

Tinker: Too many to count.

BiC: How do you train for such a grueling event? 

Tinker: Try to do more long distance training and riding instead of short rides.  It helps your body and brain adjust to the being on the bike for long periods of time.

BiC: How long does it take you to recover?

Tinker: Depends.  Usually about a week longer more demanding events take longer.  If you don’t train properly it takes you longer to recover.

BiC: Do you use a full sus bike or a hardtail?

Tinker: Full suspension most of the time but if the course permits I love the hardtail.

BiC: What attracted you to ultra marathon mountain bike racing? 

Tinker: The races started showing up on the calendar and looked like a lot of fun.  

BiC: Do you have any parting thoughts?

Tinker: Good luck.  I really look forward to the series and hope you succeed.


For more information check out Tinker’s blog spot and Facebook page:

http://tinkerjuarez.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/tinker.juarez