Evel Knievel

In a bit sad news today I learned that death finally caught up with Mr. Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel.

I can remember as a kid in the 1970s rushing home on Saturday afternoons any time that he was going to be on jumping something on his motorcycle, dressed in his iconic white outfit with the red and blue highlights.

This would have been in the early 70s or so when I was 8 or 9. In 1974, when I was 9, he tried to jump Snake River Canyon but the parachute on his jet-propelled rocket deployed early and he had to bail out.

As a kid I even had the Evel Knievel doll with wind-up cycle. It would go about 8 feet and fall over but it was awesome.

Later in his life, he would battle health problems and alcoholism. His death today is sad, but what a life this guy lived in the 1970s. He was IT.

Mr Knievel, I hope your jump to the other side is free of crashes.