Biking heroes Christmas special (Part 5/6)

MCN has teamed up with none other than the legendary Foggy and a host of other greats to name their biking heroes as part of our Christmas special. We’ll be bringing you some of the best picks from the bumper double issue in the lead up to the big day.

Steve McQueen

He turned The Great Escape into a film about bikes

Jean-Jacques Burnel (The Stranglers) on McQueen

‘I ride my Triumphs in his honour’

“What I liked about McQueen was the way he looked, the things he did, his cool, his riding skill, and he didn’t give a f**k. And he was riding a Triumph.

“I never got to meet him and I think I might have missed my chance. But I ride my Triumphs – a Tiger Explorer, Sprint RS and Scrambler – in his honour.”

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Ricky Carmichael

Multiple AMA Supercross and Motocross champion

Bradley Smith on Ricky

‘He proved a ginger could be cool’ 

“My hero growing up was Ricky Carmichael. I was a motocrosser from age six to 14 and that’s the era he dominated. I got abuse in school for being ginger, and he proved that gingers could be cool! I always felt I had a connection with him.

“As I got older I thought the way he transformed the sport was incredible.  He was the first with a trainer, the first with a practice track in his back garden, the first to properly work on technical details and properly get into developing bikes. He was my hero growing up, but probably even more so now I know exactly what he achieved.

“I first met him as a geeky kid when I got an autograph from him at the Daytona Supercross in 2000. But we’ve met a few times since – he spent quite a bit of time in my garage at Barcelona, listening to my debrief and asking questions. He even wished me luck and high fived me on the grid, which made me feel like a superstar!”