![]() We will talk about the amazing Bob Gill later on in this article. Thus, the world record in 1973 was held by Bob Gill who had jumped 171′ over 22 cars. This fact would make him even more obsessed with the 200 foot mark. Unofficially, Pleso had once jumped 212′, but it was not counted as a world record. That’s well over half a football field and equal to what Evel was achieving at the time. Pleso’s longest jump up to this time was 161′ over 15 cars. This seemed to be his feeling for the upcoming Snake River Canyon rocket car jump, which he thought of as a sham and easy money for Knievel. By 1973, he had nurtured a real criticism and disrespect for Evel Knievel, whom he referred to as the “greatest con man in America”. Pleso was cocky, had a quiet confident charm but when he said something, he meant it. Some cool photos of Bob Pleso via this video slideshow. That said, Bob wore a look-alike Evel Knievel leather riding outfit and helmet and had 66 successful jumps to his name, mostly at county fairs, drag strips and car shows along the eastern United States. Being a non-smoker and non-drinker, Bob often criticized the drinking Knievel, saying that the elder jumper was a bad influence on kids. He now performed his motorcycle feats across the southeast but his new home base was in Ocala, Florida. ![]() Two are worth remembering here on this blog today, for this blog is about strange and bizarre history.īob Pleso was a wiry, yet handsome, 22 year old kid that hailed from Ohio. And they, who are often called “copycats”, are hardly known at all. Contrary to popular belief, Evel did not always hold all of the records or make the most number of successful jumps. Coincidentally, they were both named Bob and were both in competition with each other, with Evel and the rest.įor years, 200 feet was seen as the distance limit for jumping a speeding motorcycle from a ramp. But, today we are going to take a look at two other men who were just as good on a bike, had wrecked less than Evel, but whose lives were forever changed, one ending in death, the other in paralysis. We have all heard of Evel Knievel, for he was and is the most famous showman and motorcycle jumper of all time. That fact created a lot of animosity back then and there was an immense level of competition to set and break jumping records by all of these guys. Unless someone does a YouTube, Google News search or orders a rare, expensive DVD or book, not much is known about the other motorcycle jumpers during the 1970s.
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