StevieTimes
Line Up and Wait
https://www.superbikeplanet.com/mar...cky-hayden-charles-lindbergh-yes-lucky-lindy/
It's an interesting story about a younger Charles Lindbergh and his motorcycle. I thought it was great:
“The three students were walking on one occasion down a street lined with houses, one of which was the home of the president of the university. The street plunged steeply down to a cross street along which ran a tall fence, and Plummer remarked that a motorcyclist would be in trouble if his brake failed on the hill, because he would crash directly into the fence. Charles Lindbergh was silent for a moment, and then he declared that he was convinced he could ride his motorbike down the hill without brakes and still make the sharp turn at the bottom. They scoffed at him and declared that it was impossible.
That settled it. ‘The only way to prove it can be done is to do it,’ he said.
‘It’s a damn fool thing to do,’ said Plummer. ‘You’ll end up in the hospital, or dead.’
But when Lindbergh insisted, they went to the bottom of the hill and posted themselves there ‘to pick up the pieces. . .’
They watched in apprehension as he started his motor and pointed the cycle downhill. Apprehension mounted into actual terror as the bike plunged downward, faster and faster, with Lindbergh stubbornly refusing to touch the brakes. By the time he reached the bottom, his speed was so tremendous that, for all his skill, he couldn’t quite complete the turn. The machine plunged into a gutter, its rider was thrown violently against the fence. Plummer and Dudley ran toward him, sure that he was seriously injured, but before they could reach him he had got to his feet. Bruised and bleeding, but with no bones broken, he stood calmly and looked up the hill.
‘You know,’ he said in an interested tone, ‘that wouldn’t have happened if I’d gunned the motor just as I made my turn.’
Then, to the almost speechless amazement of his friends, he walked over to the undamaged machine, picked it up and rode it to the top of the hill. Again Plummer and Dudley watched in helpless anxiety as he made his downward run. Again his speed at he run’s end was terrific. But this time, as he reached the cross street, he did ‘gun the motor,’ and this time, though barely, he completed his turn. . .” (Mosley,Lindbergh, pp. 31-32)
It's an interesting story about a younger Charles Lindbergh and his motorcycle. I thought it was great:
“The three students were walking on one occasion down a street lined with houses, one of which was the home of the president of the university. The street plunged steeply down to a cross street along which ran a tall fence, and Plummer remarked that a motorcyclist would be in trouble if his brake failed on the hill, because he would crash directly into the fence. Charles Lindbergh was silent for a moment, and then he declared that he was convinced he could ride his motorbike down the hill without brakes and still make the sharp turn at the bottom. They scoffed at him and declared that it was impossible.
That settled it. ‘The only way to prove it can be done is to do it,’ he said.
‘It’s a damn fool thing to do,’ said Plummer. ‘You’ll end up in the hospital, or dead.’
But when Lindbergh insisted, they went to the bottom of the hill and posted themselves there ‘to pick up the pieces. . .’
They watched in apprehension as he started his motor and pointed the cycle downhill. Apprehension mounted into actual terror as the bike plunged downward, faster and faster, with Lindbergh stubbornly refusing to touch the brakes. By the time he reached the bottom, his speed was so tremendous that, for all his skill, he couldn’t quite complete the turn. The machine plunged into a gutter, its rider was thrown violently against the fence. Plummer and Dudley ran toward him, sure that he was seriously injured, but before they could reach him he had got to his feet. Bruised and bleeding, but with no bones broken, he stood calmly and looked up the hill.
‘You know,’ he said in an interested tone, ‘that wouldn’t have happened if I’d gunned the motor just as I made my turn.’
Then, to the almost speechless amazement of his friends, he walked over to the undamaged machine, picked it up and rode it to the top of the hill. Again Plummer and Dudley watched in helpless anxiety as he made his downward run. Again his speed at he run’s end was terrific. But this time, as he reached the cross street, he did ‘gun the motor,’ and this time, though barely, he completed his turn. . .” (Mosley,Lindbergh, pp. 31-32)
