Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Today in motorcycle history, June 24, 1972


















  Evel Knievel, still feeling the results of a compressed vertebrae and broken knuckles suffered at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia two weeks earlier, straps on a doctor-ordered back brace and jumps ten cars in East St. Louis, Illinois. 







  Evel Knievel successfully jumps ten assorted vehicles at St. Louis International Raceway in East St. Louis, Illinois. On June 11, Knievel crashed his Harley-Davidson XR during a practice jump in Atlanta causing him to do the unthinkable - cancel the Atlanta show.  

  Fast forward 13 days - Evel gets help adjusting his fitted back brace and does wheelies back and forth for the crowd to see. After the jump he feels 'minor discomfort' and actually sees a doctor only to find what the Atlanta hospital missed - four broken ribs.   

  Broken ribs or not, he would repeat the performance the next day.



  "The people don't come to see me die. They come to see me defy death." - Evel Knievel






  In 2008, Six Flags St. Louis introduced their $7-million Evel Knievel wooden roller coaster. Passengers ride in 24-passenger red, white and blue trains that fly along 2,700-feet of track with features like high banked turns, fan curves, camelbacks, a double down drop, and sixteen hills. During the ride the twisted maze of wood track crosses over itself 14 times.








  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD). www.nabd.org.uk