The legendary dare devil, Evel Knievel passed away today at the age of 69. He has claimed to have broken every bone in his body, and is known for daring to jump over just about anything imaginable from buses to shark tanks. His most famous jump would probably be his attempt to jump over the snake river canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho in 1974.
I grew up in Idaho and I always wanted to be a dare devil. I am not a dare devil today, but I still think about my obsession when I was a child. My favorite comic book character was Dare Devil and my favorite TV show was "The Fall Guy". That is probably the reason my mother never allowed my to have a motorcycle while growing up. She probably knew I would kill myself attempting to recreate an Evel Knievel stunt. It didn't stop me from attempting jumps on my bicycle however. I used to jump small creeks on my bike and I do remember some painful crashes.
My mother lives in Twin Falls, Idaho and I while visiting I have went to the location that Evel Knievel tried to jump the canyon. The ramp is actually still there. When you see the canyon, you can't imagine what he was thinking. And no, his rocket ship didn't make it across. Base jumpers often go to this canyon to jump off of the bridge into the canyon. A few years ago my mother actually witnessed one that was killed when his parachute didn't open. I also remember seeing in the news that a Semi-truck was lifted up and blown off of the bridge by the wind while crossing.
Evel Knievel will be missed.
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