Captain Tom Moore, who will turn 100 next week recently took it upon himself to walk 100 laps of his small garden. 25 yards per lap. His goal was to raise £1,000. As of today his donations have raised £27 million. His wish was for the funds to go to NHS workers who are putting their all into the care and attention for the Covid 19 I’ll. He was a Captain during WW2 in an armored division in Burma. After the war he actively pursued motorcycle racing aboard a Scott Flying Squirrel with trophied success.
– one of the Greats in Motorsport died today aged 90. He raced during the Golden Age of Formula 1 against Fangio; barely surviving horrific crashes; smashing the Mille Miglia 1000 record in a Mercedes Benz 300 SLR; and becoming the most famous driver never to win the Championship. S
George Harrison would have been 77 today. His music was more thoughtful especially his opus-like triple album All Things Must Pass. He also supported the arts as a movie producer and had an interest in racing, both Formula One and Motorcycle Grand Prix. Here he is with Barry Sheen #7 at some racetrack. Barry is wearing a non-flammable racing outfit rather than his usual leathers so must be getting in a four wheeled racer.
Leroy Mize, 73, of Oskaloosa, crafted a 1965 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle out of oak and walnut. Spending over 1,000 hours cutting and piecing together the wooden Bonneville, it is an exact replica of his actual racing motorcycle.
Filming the Impossible | back in the day trying to capture the thrills of the road one had to mount considerable weighty cameras to yer bounce. Here’s Graham Hill and Steve McQueen loaded up with the old analogue contraptions that ran old school film stock. Now we have miniature lightweight high definition cameras to accomplish this. So I bought myself a new toy…
Speed Thrills | More of former cyclist Victoria Pendleton as she promotes vintage two wheeled racing. This old Triumph is fettled for high velocity with those narrow vertical bars.
Le Mans | Went to the flicks to see Ford vs Ferrari. Staring Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as Ken Miles. It tells the story behind the creation of the GT40 and its development and subsequent domination of the 24 hour race in the latter half of the sixties. Two Thumbs Up.
Percy Tait (1929-2019) – when it comes to the history of Triumph motorcycles one man is noted in the very foundation of that company. Beginning his career with Triumph as a 21-year-old factory worker he quickly rising in the ranks and started racing for the works team on the latest machines. It is reckoned he amassed over 1,000,000 miles test riding cutting edge motorcycles under the engineering eye of Doug Hele. As well as Grand Prix races he took part successfully in Isle of Man TT competitions. 750cc triple Slippery Sam is one bike that is forever connected with Percy. In his later career he went on to develop the 500cc Suzuki GP bikes for Barry sheen. In retirement he became a champion sheepsheet breeder. A giant of the history of British motorcycling, Percy Tait sadly passed away last weekend. at the age of 90.
Chequered Group | Sunny smiles under a Californian sky. More of the Hockie clan after an H&H race. The sled looks like it’s had fun in the dry sand and dirt.
Tired Out Triumph! Where there’s a will…. here is Hare ‘n’ Hounds racer supremo Charlie Hockie in the SoCal desert after an equipment mishap. Charlie was a contemporary of Brothers Bud & Dave Ekins.
Racer, metal fabricator, mechanic, TV personality Jessi Combs was killed while trying to push the envelope for a women’s speed record. She died tearing across a dry lake bed in Oregon in her rocket powered car at over 400mph. A strong talented person, she was an encouraging inspiration to girls and women nationwide. RIP Jessi Combs (1980-2019)
The City on the Lake | a selection of the fantastic images captured by my pillion Ali as we sped around the triathlon course. The skyline is a marvelous backdrop to such an event.
Dolly Grip | the moto crew organizer Patrick kindly sent me this photograph yesterday that he captured as I was heading up the off ramp onto Lake Shore Drive with Ali the photographer aboard. Tomorrow I’ll upload a couple of the images Ali captured from the pillion stance.
