As A 50 Year Old Lifelong Motorcycle Rider And "Dare-Devil" I Have Followed Mr. Knievels Life And Accomplishments For Numerous Years, And Actually Pretended To Be Him, Sometimes In Attempting To Emulate Some Of His Exploits Over The Years.
It Saddened Me Terribly To Hear Of His Unexpected Passing, As I had Recently Become A Member Of You Tube And Was Actually Watching Some Of His Most Famous Jumps That Are Posted There Only Two Nights Before His Death. And While Doing So, In My Mind I Was Reliving One Of My Most (In) "famous" Jumps. I KNow If Evel Was Still With Us He Would Have Gotten A Kick Out Of This Story.
This Story Involved Myself And 4 Of My Friends Back When I Was About 15 Years Old. We Used To Jump Our Motorcycles Over A City Street In A Small Upstate NY City Where I Grew Up, Using A Huge 10 Foot Man-Made Hill That Surrounded A Manhole Covering Of An Upright Storm Drain, As Our Launching Ramp.
In Order To Be Able To Sail Over The Street, (Approx. 30 Feet) And Land On The Other Side, We Would Go Back About 50 Yards Into The Woods, Through What We Used To Call The "Tunnel" To Turn Around And Start Our "Take-Off".
The Tunnel Was Actually A Fully Tree-Lined Dirt Service Road, That When You Came Out Of It To Launch Yourself, Obstructed The View Of What Was Approaching On The One-Way Street Ahead Of You. As Safe As We Thought It Might Be To Be Doing This, You Still Needed "Spotters" To Tell You When It Was "Safe" To Go.
On This Particular Day, It Was My Turn To Make The Jump. I Was All Set To Make The Jump Using My Little 70cc Honda SL-70. My Friends Had Taken Up Posistions At The End Of The Tunnel To Act As My Eyes And Ears, To Make Certain My Approach And Eventual Jump Was Done Safely. After Revving The Bike Up To Speed, And Letting The Clutch Out I Started My Take Off Through The Tunnel. Suddenly I See My "Friends" Take Off And Scatter In 4 Different Directions. Not Knowing Why, And Too Far Into The Approach To "Abort" The Jump, I Decided Since I Had Done This Numerous Times Before, And Knew Traffic Was Usually Very Light On This Street, To "Go For It" Anyway.
As I Came To The Crest Of The Hill, And Pulled Up On The Handle Bars Of The Bike To Give Me The Needed Clearance To Finish The Jump, Out Of The corner Of My Eye, I Saw Why My "Friends" Had Taken Off. A Slow Moving Police Car Was Approaching. Unable To Stop, I Launched My Bike Off The "Ramp" And Prayed For The Best.
As Luck Would Have It, I Cleared The Jump With Plenty Of Speed And Height, But In Coming Down To Land, My Rear Tire Hit One Of The Two Red "Bubbles" On Top Of The Police Car, Smashing It Into A Thousand Pieces, Before I Safely Touched Down, And Took Off Like A Bat Out Of Hell.
Now You Might Be Thinking To Yourself, Ahhh Not Much To This Story.....Right? Well Think Again. Guess Who Was Driving That Police Car, Ever So Slowly Down The Street, Looking For Those Crazy Kids Jumping Their Motorcyles Out Of The Tunnel And Over The Road? YUP! MY FATHER! Officer Joe, Of The Local City Police Department.
And Yes, Of Course, He Knew How I Was Dressed That Day, Knew I Was Out Riding My Bike With My Friends, And Also Knew Since The Tunnel Was Not Far Down The Street From Our House, His Son Was More than Likely The "Dare-Devil" On That Particular Bike At The Moment It Hit His Police Car. He Had Recognized It Was Me Making My "Get-Away" Down The Street, As Fast As I Could Go. Sad Part Was, As I Found Out Later, My "Friends" Knew It Was Him Driving The Police Car, And Had No Time To Tell Me. But I Didn't Know Until I Got Home, And He Pulled Up Shortly Thereafter.
After The Inital Screaming And Hollering, And "Justly Deserved "PUNISHMENT" Any Concerned Father Would Have Given His Crazy Ass Kid For Doing Something So Reckless And Dangerous, One Of The First Things He Said To Me Was: (My Dad's Words Have Forever Stuck In My Mind) "Who The Hell Do You Think You Are? Evel Knievel?
I Never Did Answer His Question Right Then. In Spite Of The Seriousness Of What Had Just Happened, And The Fact That I Was Still Crying And Very Upset About The Whole Thing, Deep Down "Inside" I Was Smiling From Ear To Ear, Because YES, I Did Think I was "Evel Knievel". And till This Day I Have Always Wondered What Evel Would Have Thought If He Had Been There To See What I Had Done. Or If I Had Ever Taken The Time In The Past To Write To Him And Tell Him.
Now.... I Guess I Will Never Get To Know. My Hero, The Worlds Greatest Motorcycle Showman, Is Now More Than Likely Sitting At The Right Hand Of God, (Evel's Most Recent Hero) In A Much Calmer And Safer Place, Watching Over The Rest Of The Worlds "Dare-Devils" Making Sure We All Survive Whatever It Is We Have Coming Our Way. And Who Better Than He, To Do So.
Thank You Ever So Much for Allowing Us A "Forum" To Express Our Thanks, And Appreciation For A Man Who Made A Difference In So Many Other Peoples Lives, Probably Without Realizing He Was Even Doing So. Be He As Humble As He May Or May Not Have Been, He Will Always Have A Place In My Heart, As A Man Of All Men. May He Forever Rest In Peace.
My Sincerest Condolences To All His Family, Friends, And Legends Of Fans, Past, Present, And Future Who Will Forever Recognize Him For The "Hero" He Was. God Bless You All.
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