Just found out via Twitter that Evel Knievel is dead. This is a real shocker. Evel was bigger than life when I was a kid. He was definitely a hero of mine and I have a box of stuff stored at my mom’s house from the 70’s to prove it.
He was definitely responsible for my mom turning a little gray as we used to set up bike ramps. The best ramp that I remember was a 7-foot flat door that we found that came out of an old building. We shaved the edges down and would get real crazy.
The stuff we used to do makes what you see on YouTube tame. The crashes were usually bloody and spectacular, but when we increased the distance on a bike jump it would be a huge celebration and you would have major bragging rights for the day.
I will never forget the Caesar’s Palace jump or the Snake River Canyon jump. Those events were more important to me in my childhood then landing men on the moon.
Long live the memory of a true badass that broke more bones in his body then just about anyone alive, and for having the courage and talent to do what he did.
Losing Evel for me is similar to what many I am sure felt when Elvis died. Both will never be replaced in the books of history.