Redux: The Book of Eli

So, as I mentioned to Tomac this past Monday night on the PulpMX Show, might it be a good idea for him to just leave those settings on an unchanged 2018 Kawasaki KX450F and call it a day?

“My bike is very similar to last year,” Tomac laughed. “It’s kind of a peace of mind knowing what I’m working with going into the beginning of this year. It was a really good bike last year and I felt like there was no reason to go really hunting down anything else. I’m leaving it alone.”

This is a good thing in my eyes, although that part of being “similar” scares me a bit. In between grabbing a coffee this Saturday at the truck, I’ll have to ask the guys a bit more about that. Because if it’s me, I’m wheeling out a 2018 Kawi with the exact same settings as the team had in Vegas. And if it doesn’t work, head to that Arizona spot, because perhaps there are Indian burial grounds there that blessed the bike last year.

Tomac’s also well aware of his A1 record. His first year on the GEICO Honda, he collided with Jake Weimer and hurt his shoulder. The other two? Not on the level that he would have liked.

“In the past, I haven’t had good results there,” he says. “I’d have to look all the way back to my 250 days to where I actually did have a decent result. So, it’s time for me to let the big dog eat at the early Anaheim races. I don’t want to be playing catch-up anymore. I did that last year. I was playing catch-up the whole time. It would be nice to get out there and bust out a win, or at least a top three.”

We asked Tomac about his off-season and how GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin has been to work with. Surprisingly, Tomac commented that Martin’s off-bike fitness has been a big surprise to him, and it’s “pretty incredible” what Martin can do on the bicycle, in the gym, and in running.

“I feel like I’ve been getting pushed past my comfort level of what I had in the past. So, it was actually a good little eye-opener for me. 

A pushed-past-his-comfort-level Tomac could be a scary thing for the competition if that’s truly what Martin has been doing to Eli.

Although he let Zach Osborne train with him a few years ago, letting someone into Camp Tomac—like Martin—is a bit unique for Eli and his dad, John. They’re out there in Colorado grinding away and working on their craft. Tomac has little time for posting loads and loads of social media videos and photos. In fact, since the Monster Energy Cup in October, Tomac’s posted just six Instagram photos updating his fans (and competition) on how things are going for him—and no videos at all.

This is all done for a reason, according to Eli.

“Everyone has their thing. For me, I’m not going to go out there and post a bunch of videos of myself because, to me, that’s showing your competition what you’re doing, if you have a technique or something or you’re doing something new,” he says. “You’re giving everyone an advantage for the world to see it. I never really understood that part of it. Yeah, it’s cool to throw content out there, but the video stuff, I like to keep it low-key. At the end of the day, you’re racing those guys for your career. Why do you want to help someone that can watch you do whatever?”

That’s old school right there. That’s the days of Chad Reed, James Stewart, and Ricky Carmichael saying nothing at the press conferences. That’s the days of Reed pulling off when his competition tried to film him at the Yamaha test track. With the kids we have now in the sport, that little posting on social media is akin to a crime.

So you can also imagine that when we got Tomac talking about ever training with a bunch of other riders, he wasn’t a fan. In fact, he even mentioned that training and riding with Martin now wasn’t ideal because he’ll be in 450 Class soon.

“I wouldn’t [train with other riders]. I’ve thought about that in the past. Certain programs work for certain guys, but for me, I feel like it would be almost too much of a competition. There’s no way I would go out there and ride with three or four of the top guys during practice every day. 

“If you have one guy, yeah, you can push each other, but three or four would be a gnarly contest every day, I’ll tell you that. You don’t want to be the guy that’s slowest, that’s for sure.”

Tomac’s not like a lot of other riders in the pits, but that’s a good thing. It takes all types in this world to make it go around. He’s more subdued, more serious, but he can definitely laugh at himself or others—I’ve seen that side of him. He doesn’t let a lot of people in and takes racing dead seriously. And he’s not afraid to call out the media if they print something that he feels isn’t accurate.