Cooking with Dave
So what does this have to do with boat building? Why is it
here?
This is taken from the Boatbuilder Forum/Miscellaneous. It is a great story and
like all of Dave's entries, very well written... which is why I have put it
here. "Here" is a blind link, which as far as I know, no one may ever
see. I put these "red dot" links in almost every issue of the
WebLetter and as yet, no one has acknowleged seeing one. Needless to say, the
events in this story are not something that either we or Dave would recommend
duplicating "at home". ...brw
10 Mar 2006 05:01 am
Post subject: Auto5pilot - here's the experience in my life that haunts me
to this day.
It had to be around summer of 1981. I was riding my Honda 750 one night (actually it began life as a 750 but by this time it was a 900 with a Kerker 4 into 1, Tsubaki race chain, RC engineering cam and a brace of Mikuni 30mm carbs) and I was behaving myself. I wasn't speeding or goofing off or anything and I STILL got pulled over by the man. I didn't shut the bike off as he came up and he was already writing the ticket. ...and I have no idea what for. It really pissed me off because I was young and my license was constantly in danger and I knew that EVERY time I got pulled over, I'd get at least 1 ticket and sometimes 2 or 3. So in a moment of adrenalin filled angry panic, I dropped it into gear, gunned the engine, popped the clutch and sprayed the front of the police car with gravel and dirt.
At the next traffic light, I made a right turn onto a side road. The road went up a very long hill and I was leaning over the handlebars trying to keep the front end down cause I had the throttle twisted ALL THE WAY. I carried the front wheel about 3 inches off the ground the entire length of the hill as I went through the gears. At the top of the hill the speedo was pegged (120mph) and I just went airborn. But the road was straight as an arrow and I landed ok and kept going.
About a mile down the road it came to a jog at a cross street. I could hear sirens behind me but I couldn't see them in my mirrors so I had no idea how close the guy was. But I knew he was coming on and the fastest bike on the planet can't outrun a radio. So I thought that I'd have to get off the road and out of sight so he could fly on by. Right past the jog was a Baptist church. It had a driveway on either side and a parking lot in back. It all formed a big "U" and I thought "perfect." But I was going too fast to catch the first driveway and slid across the lawn slinging grass and mud and made the 2nd driveway close to the church's front door. Then I cruised around behind the church and turned everything off. Took my helmet off and walked around the front to see what was going to happen. Hey, I was wearing all black. He was NOT going to see me unless he shined a light right on me.
I was surprised at just how far he really was behind me. No cop car was a match in that kind of race. But you could tell when he DID come by, he was no happy camper. But he sailed on past and that's the last I ever saw of him. But here's the really scary part.
The next day, I drove past the church in my VW to scope out whatever damage I had done to the church lawn. I had been past that church a million times but never noticed that at the end of each driveway there was a big chain blocking anyone from coming in. If I had had my speed right to catch either drive, I'd have been cut in two. At the very least, I'd have been very badly hurt. That entire episode - the gravel on the cop car, the long, long wheelie, the going airborn and then the dirt tracking across the lawn have lost me many, many hours of peaceful sleep over the years. Seeing the way that it turned out, would I do it any differently?
Hell no!
_________________
Dave
Isn't it amazing!! The person that never has the fortitude to pursue his own dreams, will be the first to try and discourage you from pursuing yours.