Everybody knows the risks of racing and riding motorycles to a certain sense. But when someone you are close to or know very well gets hurt, killed or seriously injured it can change the way you look at the sport.
Is there anyone out there that has lost someone or known anyone close to you that has gotten seriously hurt because of motorcyles in either racing or street riding? I'm not talking about people you don't know, but a family member, or good friend.
Do you still race or ride?
I had a friend killed in a car crash (while street racing) in high school. Didnt stop me from street racing. (untill i crashed and totaled the car roling it about 5 times)
not what you asked, but.
If you do this long enough, you will know someone with a serious injury or death, just like in every other aspect of life. You have to come to terms with it yourself and decide if its something you want to continue with.
I've been doing this going on 10 years now and have several friends and many more acquaintances that have had career ending injuries. It didn't stop me in the long term, but it does make me pause and think about it.
Tough subject....
In the 80's I rode for WERA endurance team called Cycle Exhange Racing based out of Shreveport, La.. The team was owned by a local motorcycle shop owner named John Tauzin and consisted of John, myself, Joe Prussiano and Rick Guy. We had moderate success in the middle weight class, including a National win at Talladega in 88.
John was an excellent rider and quickly acquired expert status with the CRRC (now CMRA) and had a promising future as a racer. Unfortunately, he died at Gateway in St Loius in July of 88 while competing in a sprint race. After conferring with John's wife, myself, Joe and Rick completed the endurance season that year, as it was felt John would have wanted it that way.
A month after John's passing, my best friend was killed in a street riding accident. He was on his way to teach a MSF safety class when a teenage driver made an illegal turn in front of him. Two very experienced riders killed in two very different environments in less than a month, needless to say, I was rattled!
Our endurance team disbanded after the 88 season, Joe Prussiano went on to bigger and better things within the roadracing community, Rick Guy, a photo journalist from Mississippi, continued racing for awhile, and has published a novel or two (not racing related), and me.... well, I got off the bikes completely, accepting an assignment to Korea, and concentrating on raising my young son.
Fast forward to 2004- the bug stirkes again. I've resumed street riding and have also strated to compete again in CCS events here the Southwest. As Terry stated, if you're around long enough you'll eventually be faced with the loss of a good friend in this sport, but I think we all realize that when that time comes, they (we) left doing something we enjoy, and in the company of people we enjoy being around. In the previously mentioned tragadies what sticks in my mind most was a comment made by my best friends wife at his funeral. She said "I wished I had let Scott race"! You see, Scott had always wanted to race with us, and spent many weekends working in the pits to help us out, but his wife wouldn't let him race as she thought it was too dangerous.... Although I feel we all a predetermined time and place for our passing, I couldn't help but feel her sorrow, knowing this would be a regret she'd carry for the rest of her life.
In closing... we have one life to live, live it fully!
Ed
This will be tough.
In the early 90s, my wife and I fell on hard times. She lost a really well-paying job just after we bought the house, and we were in danger of losing the place. I began working nights as a mechanic at a local bike shop for extra money.
Larry was a mechanic. He was 18. The kid was pure bike crazy, and had started sweeping floors there at 13, just so the owner would let him hang out.
I was the better mechanic, but Larry had a gift. His hands were magic, and I knew he'd be better than me in a few years. He was just a natural. The kid was really nice, too. I almost thought of him as the little brother I never had. His girl was a stunning blond supermodel candidate, but she didn't realize it. She was just as sweet as he was. They were very in love. She brought him lunch every day, and that girl was all Larry talked about besides bikes. She didn't know it, but I'd been out with Larry, helping him shop for an engagement ring.
Larry didn't own a motorcycle. His only rides were when he would test a customer bike. He'd been pulled over for rediculious speeds, but the cops let him go because he worked for the shop. The guy was an accident waiting to happen. I stayed past closing one Friday night to help him finish a rush job on a jet ski. I had that long, "You've gotta slow down" talk with him that kids never listen to. As will always happen in such a conversation, Larry agreed with me, and promised to slow down.
The next day, Larry put new tires on a Gixxer 6. He pulled on his helmet, gave me a wink, and rolled out the door. Five minutes later, every emergency vehicle in town flew past the shop. I just knew. I grabbed the first bike with keys in it, and tore off after the ambulance. I didn't even stop for a helmet or glasses.
The scene was beyond belief. On a 30 MPH main street, Larry had broadsided a big, 4-door Buick at 100+ MPH. The car was bent almost in half. Larry's helmet was in several pieces, as was his skull. At this point, he was still alive.
We closed the shop and flew to the hospital. Twelve hours later, his mom told us that they had decided to turn off the machines. We were allowed to see Larry one last time. The doctor warned us that he was occasionally thrashing, but that it was just random nerve firings in a dead brain.
Getting harder....
We went into the room. Larry would thrash, then lay still. Soon he would repeat the process. Looking at his head, anyone could see that the situation was hopeless. I couldn't object to his mom's decision. This was the most awful, heartbreaking scene I've ever been a part of.
This is the wort part.
About the fourth time I watched Larry thrash, I caught the pattern. Clutch, front and rear brake all squeezed tight. Knees together, squeezing the tank. Left foot banging down through the gears. He was caught in an endless loop of his final moments before the crash. I kept my observations to myself, but it was a purely chilling realization. At this point, I felt like they couldn't let my poor friend die quick enough.
I walked out of that hospital at 5:30 am. The only vehicle in the deserted visitor's lot was my motorcycle. I hated the sight of it. I rode to church, needing badly to pray. The door was locked. Perfect. Locked out of the house of God at the lowest moment of my life. Worst of all, I just couldn't cry. Man, I wanted to, but it just wouldn't come.
The funeral was as bad as any for a boy so young. Steve, the shop's owner, was destroyed. He was a single guy, and Larry had been like a son to him. Steve had literally watched the kid grow up in his shop.
Two weeks later, Steve went home, got very drunk, and sucked a bullet out of his pistol. I didn't think I could possibly have felt any worse, but now my grief was complete.
At this point, I hated my bike more than anything else on the planet. Unfortunately, it was the only thing I had to get back and forth to work, and the wife was still unemployed. I hated every minute I spent on that bike for the rest of the summer. Then on one particularly crisp and beautiful fall evening, under a rising harvest moon, I noticed that I was enjoying the ride. I guess every hurt fades eventually. I cranked the bike up to 100mph, said, "Goodbye guys, I'll miss you both," and let it all go. I pulled over and sat there, looking lovingly at the bike as it's cooling metal ticked and popped. Finally, I was able to cry. When I was done, I took the long way home. After that night, I was OK again.
Sorry. I know how much that story sucked. You asked.
Wow K3. Wow.
F%$& K3... :'(...whew...some heavy $hit...
Finally, I was able to cry. When I was done, I took the long way home. After that night, I was OK again.
Sorry. I know how much that story sucked. You asked.[/quote]
Didn't suck at all. It's the truth the way few people can put into words. Thanks K3.
I had to get back on and ride right away. If I didn't do it right away I knew fear would get the better of me, growing. However, I didn't have a decent job, house, and a spouse at the time either. Circumstances change the perspective.
K3, Everybody has a story, but that one is totally gripping and you told it incredibly well.
My family used to have several stock cars (OK three) that ran the dirt tracks in NE Wisconsin. The only thing was is that we had too many cars and not enough drivers (my dad didn't think he was good enough to race himself). So we hired an up and coming driver, a family man with some incredible talent.
Soon, our cars were becoming noticed and we were the ones to beat. It was great! D1ck Trickle (tricky D1ck) and Stan..... (we always called him Stan the Man, I can't remember his full name) was our only competition. Life was good...
Then one Saturday night, my mom comes into my room (I couldn't go to the races, I had a church function the next day) and said that our driver was in a serious accident and was in the hospital. The trottle stuck going into turn one and he ended up going through the wall into the lumber yard next door. Fuel started leaking and a fire started. My dad was the first one there and our driver was screaming at him to pull him out. (This was back in the 70's before manditory extinguishers.) My dad did not knowing that his neck was broken.... but then again, if dad didn't pull him out, he would have died right there.
So we have a car that was destroyed, a driver paralized from the neck down, and my dad was absolutely devistated. You see, our driver already had two kids at home in wheel chairs due to a medical condition, and now he was going to be in one too. However, his wife said something to us that really put things in perspective.... She told us that she wasn't sorry that this happended, because he was doing something that he absolutely loved. She would never wish that that experience to be taken away just to have him whole again. What a strong lady.
Dad never owned another race car again, and it took him a few years to get back into racing. During that time we have had good friends get hurt or killed in this sport, but then again we have had those who died from illness, accidents on the street, or at the work place. Dad asked me what would I do if Paul got hurt.... I simply told him, we would just deal with it like everything else in life.
Life is to short to live it in fear. Embrace it and cherish it.
Dawn
QuoteIt didn't stop me in the long term, but it does make me pause and think about it.
Good wisdom, wise advise... :)
friend of mine that has been involved in track schools and roadracing for at least 20 years told me "if you are in this long enough, you will loose some friends".. His son was seriously injured racing in Euroupe.
A good guy, Bryan Cassell was killed 2 years ago and it really shook alot of us up that day at the ROC in Daytona.
Most recently another very good guy, Steve Servis was injured in a freak accident. I go on, but it does make you stop and think a bit. Another friend of mine got 1/2 way to the last race at Jennings and turned around saying "his head just wasn't in it" ..
To race or not to race... YOU make the decision..
Thanks for the compliments, guys. That was a pretty personal story, and I wasn't sure how people might react to it. I sure wish those guys could see me now, racing, writing books, coaching for STT.... I can't help but think of how well they would have fit in with the friends I have now. They may be gone, but I think I've had enough fun since for all three of us.
This sport has provided me with the highest highs and the lowest lows of my life. I can't imagine not being involved. Men have been trying to explain why they engage in dangerous pursuits since the beginning of time. Truth is, You can't explain it to someone who hasn't been there.
There are those who challenge themselves by barreling full speed toward excitement, and those who sit on the couch watching TV. Oddly enough, no one ever seems to question the validity of a man's choices if he dies on the couch while watching TV.... ???
Quote Oddly enough, no one ever seems to question the validity of a man's choices if he dies on the couch while watching TV.... ???
... that's because no one knows he ever existed.
.... so true EX! It really comes down to "what is life if not lived?"
QuoteThis will be tough...
...Finally, I was able to cry. When I was done, I took the long way home. After that night, I was OK again.
Sorry. I know how much that story sucked. You asked.
K3,
Don't you dare apologize. I hope telling that story helps with the scars.
Sincerest thanks for sharing,
Pete
They are old scars. The hurt has been gone for a long time. Still, it made me remember my friends to tell their story, and that was good for me. Thanks.
I've had people I've known from email lists for years die on the track. LeAnn Machado was one. I knew here for several years on the CBR list (which I own). The toughest part of her death was that she orphaned a 9 year old daughter, as her husband died a few years earlier on a bike on the street. It's tough, but I don't know that it should affect my desire to race.
I quit street riding because I deemed it too risky as opposed to racing. I understand that racing has its dangers and could take my life. I do what I can to mitigate those risks and enjoy myself along the way.
I love racing. Spend 5 minutes with me and you'll understand this for certain. With that in mind, should I die or suffer a disabling injury on the track, do not let my fate affect your racing or riding one bit (unless I did something stupid. Then, just learn from my mistake and move on).
I'm not necessarily "ready" to die, but I'm also not willing to give up "living" in order to stay alive. My family understands this as well. They have a level of acceptance that allows me to continue. If they could not accept this risk that I take, I would give it up for them.
It would be interesting to see a statistic on fatalities between racing and street riding, then comparing it to autos. My sneaking suspicion is that you'd find auto & MC racing to be the safest (in that order) and MC street riding followed by auto driving to be the least safest (in that order).
In the 5 years I've been racing, the worst injury I've been witness to was Joe Wascow at Gateway. It didn't kill him, but it did change his life, and he cannot race anymore. It made me reflect on the incident and factors. At this point, I avoid Gateway as I feel the track exceeds the risk level I am prepared to accept.
So what does my long-winded dissertation come to? I don't know. Make up you own mind, take your own risks. Don't give up something you love just because it "could" kill you. Tons of people die every day from heart attacks, but I'm still eating steaks wrapped with bacon! And in the end (last racing comment), I feel the danger of dying in an accident on the way TO or FROM the track is greater than dying on the track...
Here's another good story (long) from a close friend of mine.
http://www.cbr600f4.com/secondary_pages/joe_intro.html
QuoteIs there anyone out there that has lost someone or known anyone close to you that has gotten seriously hurt because of motorcyles in either racing or street riding? I'm not talking about people you don't know, but a family member, or good friend.
Do you still race or ride?
Yes
Yes, and yes. Just ask my Mom.
Personally, if I had the choice between the trees in T2 at Blackhawk or being tethered by tubes and needles to a hospital bed for weeks on end, unable to enjoy the activities most of us take for granted...
I'll take Turn 2.
We are all going to die sooner or later. Some of us will be so lucky as to go in our sleep or in the midst of a favorite activity... others will be forced to linger on long after our bodies have failed us.
God willing, I hope to LIVE until I die.
I was about *THIS CLOSE* to being paralyzed. In fact, there's really no explanation on why I'm not. Still, the prospect of giving up motorcycles equates to giving up a part of myself. It's still uncertain of whether I have to give up racing, but you'll have to put a bullet in me before I'll give up motorcycles completely. Something happens, you deal with it, you move on.
My son died at the WERA GNF in '97, the day after he won the middleweight class national championship riding with Mark Junge and Darryl Saylor in the endurance series.
I still ride on the street. I had already stopped track racing by then but I sure do miss it. To this day I still want to go back out there but it's not a reality for me. So I dream on and stick with the sport in other ways.
I've been riding bikes for 34 years and have been involved with roadracing in various ways for some 24 or 25 years. in that time I have lost a lot of freinds to injuries and death. But hell, they could have slipped in the bath tub ya know? You gonna walk around smelling bad the rest of your life?
Every one of those injuries and deaths left a scar in my heart and there are times those ugly scars reappear and give me some grief but I usually think of some good times I had with that person and the scars crawl back in and the good memories replace them. I nearly always walk away with a smile.
So, young Grasshopper......if you are agonizing over a freind that got hurt or died please try to remember that you have to live your life as you want. You can't let circumstances that hurt others hold you back. Keep good memories close at hand and use them often.
Amen, Gordy.
My dad got hit by a van that blew a stop sign riding his bike 4 years ago (April 27th) and killed. My Folks would have been married 30 years. I was riding with him that day and saw the whole entire thing. It happened at the intersection of where 394 ends and Goodnow road intersect in Illinois. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was getting ready to go to night school (for my engineering degree, I GOT IT by the way!) and gearing up to ride, and he was going to Chucks Place in Crete to have some fish and chips. I said hey dad! Wait up for me! Lets ride together and split off somewhere along the way. Well, we got to that intersection and he turned left to follow route 1 north and a van coming south on 394 blew the intersection at a high speed and pretty much killed him on impact. It was almost like the guy was trying to get away that was driving the van because he was still on the gas while my dad and his bike were pinned under the van. I'm not going to get too much more graffic about the whole accident scene.
The summer before that we went to the AMA races at Elkhart lake. Ever since then he kept telling me "you need to get out on the track and do some racing!"
So thats what I did against alot of my families wishes. I'm now a complete motorcycle nut case. A Huge part of my passion for this sport came after his death. Even though I've riden bikes and loved the sport all my life.
To this day, infact a someone said it last weekend, people say "Man Nick! I can't believe you still ride and for that matter RACE!"
I just look at them and tell them that I love it with all my heart!
A few friends of mine at Valley Racing (Beecher Il) had a pretty bad misfortune for their drag racing team a couple weeks ago. Lance got into a nasty woble in the traps after a run and ended up getting bucked off his bike. He lost one of his arms above his elbow!
From what I understand he still wants to race with his prostetic limb and he hasn't even got it yet.
The shop is tore up about it. But Lance is totally all for more racing. HE WANTS TO ROLL! Brian and Rally are like "How can we say no to the guy??? He has too much enthusiasm. How can you say "No, you can't race to the guy?
The big picture is, with all of the above stories told, mine, K3's, Weggie Man's, Al Sorans, EVERYONES STORIES (THANK YOU SO MUCH!) is that we all know what we are getting ourselves into. We accept the risks and know the consequences and thats that. We love racing and riding, and its a part of our lives.
I love this prayer, reminds me of the first time I was at Road America!
RACERS PRAYER
Lord I pray as I race today, Keep me safe along the way, Not only me but others too As they perform the jobs they do.
I know God that in a race, I, the rider, must set the pace. But in this race of life I pray, Help me Lord along the way.
Although I know I am a sinner, Help me to believe, that with God, I'm always a winner.
AMEN! ;)
Sorry to hear about your Dad. I knew there had to be a story behind your post but didn't think it would be that tragic.
My son and I had plans after he quit racing to do some long distance touring. I still ride partly because I know he would have wanted me to. The other reason is the pure enjoyment of it. People that have no passion don't understand those that do.
Just wanted to chime in again on this subject after giving it more thought. Really, it seems we can't put into precise words why we race after the loss of friends and loved ones. With that said, I wanted to share with you an editorial written by Ken Harvey in July 1988, who at the time was the editor of "The Inside Line", the monthly newsletter put out by the CRRC, which is now the CRMA in Texas, after the loss of racers John Tauzin at Gateway and Terry Exum at Texas World Speedway. I really took this to heart as I was a co-rider on Johns endurance team and would have never found the words to express the feelings. What follows are Ken's words;
The loss of a racer hits hard. The fact that one minute a friend is there and the next minute they are gone leaves one confused as well a saddened. How can sorrow follow so quickly on the heels of joy? I can remember the trophy presentations- the big smiles, the eyes that project confidence and the pride that comes from a job well done. I remember the joy for life that comes from a person that has found something in this world that is worth the effort and sacrifice. Then there are the eyes of the loved ones. The looks in their eyes seem to ask the question, "What could possibly be worth the risk"?
Any racer that tries to explain racing and its risks to someone else soon finds out that the words are not there. The only way I know to explain it requires putting the other person in a set of leathers and letting them go at it on the track. I know it's impractical, and most of the time impossible, but there is no other way to explain motorcycle racing. It would be like explaining the color blue to a blind person.
A racer understands the need to race even if he can't put it into words. It's talking easily with any racer you meet, but having difficulty talking to your best friend from high school that you haven't seen for a couple of years. It is realizing that the guy you thought you disliked because he beats you all the time is actually your friend, when he is beating all those riders from outside the region.
It is thinking of how good it would feel to run a certain lap time someday, and then thinking of how good it would feel to knock off another second when you do.
Even with all of the good that comes from racing, it is still not possible to get on a race track without thinking of the potential consequences. Our parents, friends and spouses have ways of reminding us. We put that thought, the negative side of racing, as far out of our minds as possible, but still it is there- readily available when circumstances force us to confront it again.
I know that the deaths of two friends will not stop me from racing, at least not yet. It's because I don't know what else I could do and enjoy half as much as racing, and because I don't know where else I could go to be around people of the caliber of John and Terry.
.....Ken Harvey, 1988
Shared in Memory of John Tauzin, August 1950- July 1988 and Terry Exum, June 1960- July 1988.
Wow. He totally nailed it.
NO, I started racing cars....
When Bryan died after battleing with me for 6 months and crashing behind me at the ROC. I thought nothing of it, Then he got killed the next morning in Practice, I was there to win the ROC and I got through it but he has been on my mind almost everyday.
He got killed by some unknown freak thing.
When I got hurt by a wierd thing I got through with a permanent limp, but my Dad didn't and help me get into cars.
I had some regrets about quiting bike, but when Steve got hurt by a Warm Up lap high side at 40mph, I was very happy I had quit bikes. He was on my bike, and is recovering for serious spinal cord injures. Thanks god he is show great sign of recovery, but he still has a very long way to go before he can walk or use his hands.
We all play the odds and most of use will get through this with only minor scratches and great stories but the loses and pain has been way to close to me.
Its not the big mistakes or risk that bothers me it the weird freak thing that can change your life and I would just rather have a cage around me at that point.
Sorry to be some negative, but you posed the question and I'm just being honest
QuoteNO, I started racing cars....
Its not the big mistakes or risk that bothers me it the weird freak thing that can change your life and I would just rather have a cage around me at that point.
Don't worry about being too negative... We are all entitled to our own feelings and opinions.
Your thoughts about racing cars is very interesting to me. At this point, I know more drivers that were killed in stock cars than on a bike. But then again, that's my own experience.
Dawn :-/
I started racing in 1964 with one of my best friends, Tommy Hann of Sarasota. This guy was a natural and by 1966 he won the Florida State Championship on a Haps Cycles Harley Davidson. Two weeks later while test riding a customers bike a truck pulled out in front of him and he died. I always felt he would have been one of the greatest. He never got the chance.
After watching a talented young rider named Donald Jacks, I had to try and help this kid get a good ride. Well he got his chance thanks to John Ulrich. After that he was signed by Yoshimura Suzuki for the next 3 years. He even tested Kevin Schwantz's Lucky Strike Suzuki GP bike and was set to ride until Kevin miraculously came back 8 days later after breaking his arm and rode! In June of 1995 while still with Yosh he was tragically killed on a street bike. If only I had tried to keep him from getting that bike! I knew he shouldn't be on the street. But at the time I thought who am I to tell him no? If only I had done what my "gut" was telling me.
And then there is Jamie Bowman. Another Florida rider that was a standout as soon as he started racing. and was at the "top of his game", when He was killed at Laguna Seca. If only that concrete barrier had not been moved out the way it was, Jamie would have walked away. And we lost him on a race track that he was planning on winning.
Those are 3 cases I know too well. So what do you do, nothing? Everybody has to follow their dreams, just like they did. You can die or get injured in so many ways as they did. Who knows what fate lies ahead for any of us?
HD
I'm roadracing a Factory BMW M3 chassis. I know it just a dangerous but what got to me was the possiblities of serious injury in minor or low speed crashes. Not the driver or rider had a big off or made a big mistake, just the little things that in a car you just spin out or bang up a finder. Just like anybody else Me, My wife, and Family all accept the risk of me racing, But won't it be ironic if I get killed in a car fire because thats what scares the shit out of me. You can't just jump out of the car Like Colin Edwards did on the Apilira. :-/ :-/
Hay Henry... not the greatest topic.
GOOD NEWS - Steve moved his right foot and both his hamstrings yesterday. He got control of his RT hand but know strentgh yet, not much with his left hand yet.
Have a good time at Jennings and Steve is planning on coming