Evel Knievel a Tribute

Evel Knievel tribute

One of the hero's of my boyhood Evel Knievel died today at 69 years old,

The international icon of the 1970s gained fame for his jumps over buses, live sharks and Snake River Canyon in Idaho.

He steadily increased the length of his jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 46 metres (151 feet) across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.He cleared the fountains, but the crash landing put him in the hospital in a coma for a month.Just five months later he was back on his bike - and in 1974 he undertook his most famous stunt - an attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in a rocket-powered 'Skycycle'.However, his parachute malfunctioned and opened after takeoff, while strong winds blew the cycle into the canyon, landing him close to the swirling river below.

As a boy I worshipped this man and I wanted to follow in his footsteps, I tried to emulate his Motorcycle stunts, with my bycicle a ramp made of a plank of wood held up at an angle by 2 house bricks, ibuckled wheel a grazed arm and a cut knee and that was the end of my super duper stuntman career.

Evel Knievel a legend and a hero worshipped by millions all over the world.