En ægte motortosse....
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - He's gotten a lot older and his wheels are a bit
rustier but former motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel wants one last
chance to show the world he can still go the distance with a final jump
-- which he sometimes had trouble doing in his heyday.
The motorcycle rider who gained notoriety jumping over rows of buses,
trucks and just about anything else in the 1960s and '70s has led a
quiet life the past two decades, but plans to return to the spotlight
next year for a final fling, which would be his longest jump if he gets
his way.
The event would mark the grand opening of his Evel Knievel Xperience
Cafe, an ode to his life and truck stop food, slated for completion next
spring in the town of Primm, Nevada, on the California state line about
a half-hour drive from Las Vegas.
The Montana native, who turned 63 last October, says the Vegas-style
road stop was his brainchild, and will include a sports bar, memorabilia
museum and several virtual reality rides modeled on his past jumps.
But his planned comeback is more than just a wish to recapture past
glory days. He says he just wants to be Evel again one more time.
"I just decided I wanted to do it again, and I was going to do it
again," he said in a recent interview in Los Angeles, where he was
meeting with officials from Universal Pictures to discuss a new venture.
That project, tentatively dubbed "Pure Evel," is a movie backed by
Matthew McConaughey, who would both produce the film and star as the
legendary daredevil in the tale of his famous -- and nearly disastrous
-- 1974 failed jump over Snake River Canyon in a rocket-like device
called the Skycycle.
In that history-making stunt, Knievel made it across the quarter-mile
chasm, only to land just a few feet from the river when strong winds
filled his malfunctioning parachute and blew him back over the water.
But "Pure Evel" and his new Xperience aside, Knievel's thoughts are
clearly focused on the jump -- details of which have yet to be
determined, like what he will jump over.
And if it happens, the stunt would be Knievel's first since 1980, when
he cleared a row of buses in the former King Dome in Seattle. During
that jump, Knievel landed successfully but dislocated an arm.
"I was hurt an awful lot," he said, explaining his decision to retire.
"I was shell shocked. I couldn't pull the trigger any more."
TOUGH RETIREMENT
In the years that followed, Knievel played a lot of golf -- one of his
favorite pastimes -- but also had his share of personal trials.
After a life of drinking, the man born Robert Craig Knievel contracted
hepatitis C and had to get a liver transplant a year and a half ago.
Since then, he says doctors have found no trace of the incurable disease
in his body.
More recently, Knievel went through his second divorce, ending an
11-year relationship.
The stuntman who travels the country in a linked pair of trailers nearly
100 feet long is clearly still bitter about the relationship.
"I went through a pretty tough marriage with a girl who wasn't what I
thought she would be," he said. "I was tied to a tree by a rattlesnake
for 11 years. She wanted me to stop being Evel Knievel. I am who I am.
I'm not going to change. I'll settle down the day they put me in a
6-foot pine box."
With his upcoming jump, Knievel says he will put his life on the line
again but longs to recapture the feeling of previous efforts, although
some clearly were better than others.
In one of his worst accidents, Knievel crashed after clearing the
fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in 1968. He was in a coma for
30 days afterward.
In fact, the man said to have broken every bone in his body has really
broken just 37 bones over the years.
"Believe nothing of what you read, and half of what you see," he says.
NO FEAR
Knievel intends to make his proposed jump his longest yet, with a goal
of 200 feet. He has jumped about 165 feet.
Knievel says he can accomplish the feat using today's lighter bikes
equipped with more resilient shock absorbers and other new technology.
He plans to set his ramp at a lower angle and make up for the lack of
altitude by traveling at about 100 mph compared to slightly slower
speeds in the past.
All the major networks have approached him about televising the event,
but Knievel says he hasn't committed yet. If it occurs, he figures the
event could generate about $12 million in gate and pay-per-view
television sales plus broadcast rights.
"I'm not really doing it for that reason," he quickly adds. "I'm just
doing it to do the jump."
And Knievel realizes it could well be his last act.
"Things have been so damn tough around here I wouldn't mind taking a
vacation for the rest of my life," he says with a trace of his trademark
bravado. "Anyone who's afraid of dying is an idiot."
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