Like a sad game of "7-degrees of Kevin Bacon" we are connecting the dots with the passing of Mike Bell. Ted Boyko's recent birthday triggered the memory of Mike Bell's bike up on his lift when we profiled his shop. Turns out Teddy was his mechanic back in the DG days, so who better to restore Mike's bike? We did not have room to talk about this in the shop tour, but Boyko definitely knew where all the skeletons were in this closet.
Losing our heroes and legends is always hard, but when it is somebody as approachable and a genuinely good guy like Mike Bell, it gets really tough. Veteran journalist Zap Espinoza was another good friend of Mike's and he had planned a column dedicated to Too Tall. "Back in October I called Mike to see about doing an interview for the March issue of Mountain Bike Action Magazine and the process got started. In addition to the feature story, I also wrote a column dedicated not just to MX racers, but to Mike in particular. Yes, he was so special. That issue just came out this week — just days late and Mike never got to see it. Damn! For anyone who knew, liked and loved Mike, I'd ask to please pass this on to remind people just how great of a person Mike was — for all us."
Here is Zap's tribute:
https://mbaction.com/in-memoriam-mike-bell-a-mt-bike-motocross-icon/?fbclid=IwAR3pVwhY5sZFd1rYe90DZZafQ2Ysw9kaYLrVIFmCOKNKX51gTb0qaAxU6lM
