Larry W wrote:
Brings back so many memories I don't know where to start but this is always
one of my favorites. I gew up in a small Pennsylvania town in the hard
coal region. The terrain is quite hilly in that area and there was a steep
street that went through a few intersesctions, hitting its low point
where it intersected with Market St, the main East-West drag through
town and the street that I lived on. We would often take our home built
soap-box cars up to the the first parallel street, one block higher,
and wait til a freind on Market gave the all-clear, signaling that the
street was clear of traffic and it was OK to ride on down, crossing
Market St. and rolling into a front yard on the other side of Market St
that that served as our deceleration area, so to speak. Sometimes we
would haul the racer it up to the 2nd parallel street, which of course
meant that 2 lookouts were needed, and you had to wait for 2 all
clears to coincide so you could ride through both intersections.
Sometimes we would also do this on bicycles.

Well one day a braver than smart kid decided he would take his bicycle
up to the THIRD parallel st, and set a New World Record For Bicycle Speed.
3 lookouts were posted, and sure enough, after some time, there was a
brief period when all 3 intersections were simultaneously clear. The
signals were given, the brave rider started down the hill, pedaling
furiously at first to assist gravity as much as possible, until the
bike was clearly going so fast that his pedaling was not keeping up
with his road speed.

Through the 1st intersection, faster & faster, then second. I think
he actually was briefly airborne as he went theough the sligtly leveled
out 2nd intersection before again going downhill and increasing speed
even more on the race to the bottom. As he reached Market St, he
must have been going 60 mph or more, or so it seemed to my young eyes.
BUT, when he reached the run-out area, he had no control. Instead of
slowing and turning in the yard and coming to a gradual safe stop,
he continued in a straight path, unable to avoid the house situated
at the back of this yard. As we watched with wide eyes and open mouths,
he and his bicycle struck the front window of the house, AND WENT
THROUGH IT! We stood there in shock, awed and completely silent. No
one knew what to do or made a move.

Then, after a few minutes, the front door of the house opened, and the
kid hobbled outside, limping and bleeding, but miraculosly free of any
major injury. He headed home, no doubt to receive an even worse
punishement once he arrived there. A moment later, the homeowner came
outside also, carrying the mangled remains of the bicycle, which he
laid down on the sidewalk near the curb.

It was quite a while before anyone road down that hill trying to set
a speed record again after that... At least 3 weeks I would estimate.





Great memory