Motorcycle racing is a very dangerous sport which attracts only those who dare. The sport is most common among the young and reckless and it is not uncommon for promising young racers to get martyred on the tarmac or dirt. The race track took another life today in Costa Rica. American freestyle motocross racer Jeremy Lusk (24), succombed to his head injuries today, two days after a serious crash, while attempting a backflip during a competition.
A high-achiever motocross rider, Lusk had a successful 2008 season during which he won a gold medal at the 2008 X Games, and silver in Best Trick when he landed the first double-grab Hart Attack backflip. He won a bronze helmet in Freestyle at the Moto X World Championships in his hometown of San Diego. Here is a video of his crash taken from Youtube.
Motorsports is thrilling and gives one the rush of adrenalin which most other mainstream competitive sports give. But this rush is intimately attached to the possibility of severe and at times fatal injuries to the participant, however good he/ she is. Life hangs in balance when one gets astride the metal steed and revs up the engine to enter the arena of motocross. If one comes out alive and unscathed then he/ she gets to live another day and ride another course, otherwise.... well... otherwise... the rider becomes a memory like Jeremy Lusk became two days ago....
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Another Racing Fatality
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Fantastic Motorcycle Display
This is a fantastic synchronised motorcycle riding display by the Italian police. The precision of riding, timing and the amazing balancing act by these bikers is something to be emulated by every motorcycle enthusiast. If this kind of skills were developed by every biker then there would be very few accidents.
Great Italian Motorbike Display - The best free videos are right here
Monday, December 03, 2007
One more biker rides into oblivion
I recently read about the death of 69-year-old Robert Craig aka Evel Knievel, a daredevil Motorcyclist in New York Times. It is sad to hear of the death of a dare devil biker as Knievel. According to the newsreport his last days were marked by suffering as he ailed from pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung condition.
It is said that bikers don't die, they just ride into oblivion. This is exactly what happened to Knievel.
Knievel's first brush with fame was on December 31, 1971 when he vaulted his bike 151 ft over the fountains of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Though the vault was glorious, his landing was not so glamourous, he crashed and broke several bones in his body. But the accident didn't deter him, he vroomed on performing one death-defying stunt after another and garnered fame and fortune.
Every performance of his would attract thousands of bike enthusiasts who would virtually worship him as their hero. His popular stunts included flying over 10, 15 or 20 cars parked side by side. Another disastrous jump undertaken by Knievel was an attempt to jump across an Idaho canyon on a rocket-powered motorcyle in 1974.
Performing stunts hundreds of times, Knievel's actions were self destructive. He broke his bones several times and crashed his bikes. He retired in 1980 on advise by medical specialists. As he retired his famous quote about himself was that he was “nothing but scar tissue and surgical steel.”
Knievel was born in a small town and started his career as a petty thief stealing motorcycles and hub caps of cars. But transformed himself after a few jail terms and following his idol Joie Chitwood, an acclaimed stunt-car driver, he began performing dangerous motorcycle stunts.
Knievel has undergone over 15 major operations to relieve severe trauma and repair broken bones. Bone all over his body were broken from the skull to pelvis to ribs, collarbone, shoulders and hips. He had a titanium hip and aluminum plates in his arms and a great many pins holding other bones and joints together. He was in so many accidents that he occasionally broke some of his metal parts, too.
Bikers, especially those who find thrill in racing and performing dare devil stunts need to read more about Knievel and learn a lesson or two so that they will not repeat his mistakes and end up with a skeleton held together by nuts and bolts.
Pictures from NYT, The Age and EvelKnievel.com
