Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

i Personalities ~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:f~:~:~:~:f~:~:~:~:f~:~:~:f~:f~:~:::~: :f: : f: : f: : : : :j i.:.: .: .: ......-1iiiIiiii"·:iCi·:::::::::~ ~ .~ .~ .~.: ~.:~:j.:~.j:~ :~. _.:~ j._~: ~_.:~: ~:j.~:_.:~.: .:~_' ._~: .:_':j.~': .':.~ :~._: ~.:_' ~.: ~.:~.:~..:~,. :~. :~. :~.!:~.:!.:~!.:~.:!.:~!. :~.!':~".:~.:!.:~.:!.:~.:! ~!. :~.:!~.:!.:~.:!.:!.:~.:!.~:j~.:~.:.~ :~.:~.:j!.:~. :j. :~. ! :~. :j.:j. ! :j. ~: ·.. .·· : : ~~mm~m~~~~~m~m~;~~~~;~~~;;;;;;;m~~~;;~~;;;~;;;~;~~~;;~~;;;;;~ftr~:~::~ .. .. .. .• .. • • ~ E , Bo ill Paralyz off 0 fu ST. PETERSBURG, FL A. . J ULY 1 From an ob scure be ginning as a dir t trac k motorcycl e racer in Florid a, Bob Gill becam e the , world's highest and longest-flying mot or cycle ju mper. Gill, 30 years old, earned the title July, 197 4 when he flew a 350cc Kawasaki mo tor cycle a rec or d distan ce of 171 feet in Seat tle . clear ing the tops of 22 cars in a spe ctacu lar high speed lea p which cli m ax ed thr ee y ears of carefu l pl an ning and hard practice. , "I was n' t crazy. 1 really dug wha t I was do ing. And when I st arted, 1 m ad e up my mind to be the best. So I went out an d worked for three ye ars to break the re cord. "I was not a seat of the p ants jumper, relying on luck. I drew a chalk m ark on the pavement where I intended to land. At the Cow Palace in San Francisco , I came within a wheel's length of hitting the mark:' His planning and cautious approach to hi s risky caning provided spectators with many exciting jumps. But on August 24, 1974, Bob made an error. Not a mechanical or mathematical one, j ust a plain human error. He misjudged his take off area at Appalacia Lake in West Virginia and was three mph too slow at the ramp a t te mp t ing to jump over the 200 feet lake, resulting in be ing a mere 5 feet short, hitting the bank ~n the other sid e a t 95 mph. As a result, Gill suffered a broken back and several internal injuries. lie is n ow a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair. The term paraplegic means that he has lost all sensation and movement of his legs. ' This was the result of his spinal cord inj ury . • Bob was taken to Morgantown. West Virginia's Medical Center where they did a tremendous job of putting him back together and was rele ased 30 da ys later. He returned to St. Petersburg for rehabilitation at the Easter Seal Center of Pinellas County. They devoted many hours to Bob and as a result, he regained his strength and was laugh t to get around in a wheelchair very wen. A year and a half later, Bob Gill is back on his Kawasaki 900 street bike to which he has adapted hand controls an d built a special side car to hold his wh eel chair. -Bob is able to cl imb o n his bike himself and load the cha ir alone. Today, Bob is working with the National Paraplegia Foundation and is off on a coast to coast trip on hi s motor cle from .Flo rida to California 1\ as a fund raising drive for b oth NPF and th e Easte r Seal Society of Florida. The trip win take some 8, 000 mile s, st opping at various NPF cha p ters and Easter Seal Centers through out the co un try to help inspire some of th e young people w i th similar injuries and let th em see that being in a wh eelch a ir does not have to mean y ou st op living. An of the funds derived from this drive wi n be split between the Nat io nal Paraplegia Foundation an d t he Eas te r Seals o f Florida, with an of th e NP F funds going into the research fo r a cure to.spinal cord injury. At this point in time the fede ral government is only fu nding $1 00, 0 00 for spinal cord research which does not even begin to cover the field. Gill is shooting for generating o ver $I ,0 00, 0 00 on h is re cord breaking "Rid e for Independence. " The fea t began in SL Pet ersburg, F lori da,o n'J uly I , 19 76, and will en d in Los Angeles, California, o n August 4 , 1976, which win m ak e Bob t he firs t paraplegic to go coast to coast on a motorcycle. He will then fly bac k to St. Petersburg, Florida, fo r the Natio nal Convention for the Par aplegia National Foundation. Bob is planning on going into production of these bikes which he calls h is "PARA·PUTT" in the near future, so if there are any questions, he can be reached by writing to P.O. Box 20415; • SL Petersburg, Florida 33742. Bob's Western Itinerary St. L ou is, Mo ; Kansas City, Mo ; Wich ita. Ks; Ft. Worth, Tx.; L ubb o ck , Tx ; Ra t on, Tx ; Den ver, Co ; A lamosa. N.M. ; Albuquerque, MM. ; Flagst af f, Az; .Las Vegas, Nv; L os Angeles, Ca by A ugu st 4. Check w ith y our lo cal N PF or Easter Seal Center f or his expec ted time/date sch edule. Rickv .- ~ood / & the Inconvenienced Young Sportsmen's ' Association

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