Posted by don (Calgary) on August 29, 2010, 9:28 pm
INDIANAPOLIS -- A 13-year-old motorcycle racer died Sunday after
falling off his bike and getting run over by another motorcycle at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., was pronounced dead by the Marion
County coroner after sustaining "traumatic injuries." The accomplished
teenage rider crashed on a warmup lap before his race and was struck
by 12-year-old Xavier Zayat, who was uninjured in the accident.
Full story:
http://tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id32074
Things have changed since I was 13. The stuff I was into, I considered
on the edge is absolutely tame by todays standards. I couldn't imagine
motorcycle racing at this level, or any level back then. Hell we were
riding bicycles and rolling down big hills in home made go karts at
that age.
Well if you ever saw my go cart you might think it was dangerous. A
clumsy 2x4 frame with little shopping cart wheels on the front and 12"
spoke wheels I found in a junk pile on the back. Axles cut in 30"
lengths and nailed to a 2x4 held the wheels. Looking back it was kinda
scary.
Back to the subject title, is 13 too young to be racing a high powered
motorcycle at a national level? Is a 13 year old physically strong
enough to effectively control a race bike and mentally mature enough
to make the responsible decisions on the track?
We have a few competitive racers in this group. How old were you guys
when you started? Would you encourage your 13 year old kids to race
competitively?
Regardless, it is a shame this young man lost his life. RIP Peter.
Posted by Odinn on August 29, 2010, 10:33 pm
On 8/29/2010 9:28 PM, don (Calgary) wrote:
> INDIANAPOLIS -- A 13-year-old motorcycle racer died Sunday after
> falling off his bike and getting run over by another motorcycle at
> Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
> Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., was pronounced dead by the Marion
> County coroner after sustaining "traumatic injuries." The accomplished
> teenage rider crashed on a warmup lap before his race and was struck
> by 12-year-old Xavier Zayat, who was uninjured in the accident.
> Full story:
> http://tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id32074
> Things have changed since I was 13. The stuff I was into, I considered
> on the edge is absolutely tame by todays standards. I couldn't imagine
> motorcycle racing at this level, or any level back then. Hell we were
> riding bicycles and rolling down big hills in home made go karts at
> that age.
> Well if you ever saw my go cart you might think it was dangerous. A
> clumsy 2x4 frame with little shopping cart wheels on the front and 12"
> spoke wheels I found in a junk pile on the back. Axles cut in 30"
> lengths and nailed to a 2x4 held the wheels. Looking back it was kinda
> scary.
> Back to the subject title, is 13 too young to be racing a high powered
> motorcycle at a national level? Is a 13 year old physically strong
> enough to effectively control a race bike and mentally mature enough
> to make the responsible decisions on the track?
> We have a few competitive racers in this group. How old were you guys
> when you started? Would you encourage your 13 year old kids to race
> competitively?
> Regardless, it is a shame this young man lost his life. RIP Peter.
You led a very sheltered life then. At 13, racing was quite the norm,
not just on motorcycles, but in cars as well.
Some of the go-karts we built back then would easily exceed 50 MPH, and
we drove them on the streets (back country roads) racing them.
--
Odinn
RCOS #7 SENS BS #154
2003 GeezerGlide w/130,000+ miles
Nothing but net to reply
Posted by don (Calgary) on August 29, 2010, 11:11 pm
wrote:
>On 8/29/2010 9:28 PM, don (Calgary) wrote:
>>
>>
>> INDIANAPOLIS -- A 13-year-old motorcycle racer died Sunday after
>> falling off his bike and getting run over by another motorcycle at
>> Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
>>
>> Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., was pronounced dead by the Marion
>> County coroner after sustaining "traumatic injuries." The accomplished
>> teenage rider crashed on a warmup lap before his race and was struck
>> by 12-year-old Xavier Zayat, who was uninjured in the accident.
>>
>> Full story:
>> http://tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id32074
>>
>> Things have changed since I was 13. The stuff I was into, I considered
>> on the edge is absolutely tame by todays standards. I couldn't imagine
>> motorcycle racing at this level, or any level back then. Hell we were
>> riding bicycles and rolling down big hills in home made go karts at
>> that age.
>>
>> Well if you ever saw my go cart you might think it was dangerous. A
>> clumsy 2x4 frame with little shopping cart wheels on the front and 12"
>> spoke wheels I found in a junk pile on the back. Axles cut in 30"
>> lengths and nailed to a 2x4 held the wheels. Looking back it was kinda
>> scary.
>>
>> Back to the subject title, is 13 too young to be racing a high powered
>> motorcycle at a national level? Is a 13 year old physically strong
>> enough to effectively control a race bike and mentally mature enough
>> to make the responsible decisions on the track?
>>
>> We have a few competitive racers in this group. How old were you guys
>> when you started? Would you encourage your 13 year old kids to race
>> competitively?
>>
>> Regardless, it is a shame this young man lost his life. RIP Peter.
>You led a very sheltered life then. At 13, racing was quite the norm,
>not just on motorcycles, but in cars as well.
Yeah I probably have led a sheltered life.
>Some of the go-karts we built back then would easily exceed 50 MPH, and
>we drove them on the streets (back country roads) racing them.
Mine would go over 30 mph if the hill was steep enough.
Posted by Datesfat Chicks on August 29, 2010, 10:50 pm
> Back to the subject title, is 13 too young to be racing a high powered
> motorcycle at a national level? Is a 13 year old physically strong
> enough to effectively control a race bike and mentally mature enough
> to make the responsible decisions on the track?
The premise seems to be flawed.
You wonder if a 13 year old is mature enough ... well, you have adult male
NASCAR racers getting aggressive with other racers and deliberately causing
wrecks ... doesn't seem mature to me.
You wonder if a 13 year old is skilled enough ... well, I'm not sure that an
adult would have been able to avoid hitting the other racer.
Adults suffer horrific deaths in this and that (car racing, aviation
accidents, etc.).
I think the issue is that we just don't have the stomach to see kids die.
It doesn't have to do with whether they are mature enough or skilled enough
to participate in dangerous activities.
I was out at the airport today watching the skydivers ... it ends up that
the age to skydive is 18 in Michigan but 16 in Indiana (I think). The
under-25 crowd does some extremely reckless things with parachutes and often
pays heavily for it ("wearing plaster" or worse). I don't have any evidence
that a 12-year-old would be a worse skydiver. Just that as a society we
don't have the stomach to watch them die that young.
DF
Posted by don (Calgary) on August 29, 2010, 11:30 pm
On Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:50:19 -0400, "Datesfat Chicks"
>>
>> Back to the subject title, is 13 too young to be racing a high powered
>> motorcycle at a national level? Is a 13 year old physically strong
>> enough to effectively control a race bike and mentally mature enough
>> to make the responsible decisions on the track?
>The premise seems to be flawed.
Maybe I should rephrase that. Is a 13 year old mature enough to make
the decision to take the risks associated with racing competitively?
Professional racing is not a major sport in Canada. Not like in the
US anyway. So I can't speak to how much peer pressure there might be
on a kid to perform on the track. I can speak to the peer pressure
placed on kids to perform like the pros in hockey and it is not a good
thing. Often it is the parents pushing them to play like the pros.
>You wonder if a 13 year old is mature enough ... well, you have adult male
>NASCAR racers getting aggressive with other racers and deliberately causing
>wrecks ... doesn't seem mature to me.
I could question them too, but they are of age and are responsible for
their own decisions and actions. Is a 13 year old able to make those
kind of decisions?
>You wonder if a 13 year old is skilled enough ... well, I'm not sure that an
>adult would have been able to avoid hitting the other racer.
I would agree with that. We know nothing of the circumstances of the
accident so it would be ridiculous to try to assess blame.
>Adults suffer horrific deaths in this and that (car racing, aviation
>accidents, etc.).
>I think the issue is that we just don't have the stomach to see kids die.
>It doesn't have to do with whether they are mature enough or skilled enough
>to participate in dangerous activities.
>I was out at the airport today watching the skydivers ... it ends up that
>the age to skydive is 18 in Michigan but 16 in Indiana (I think). The
>under-25 crowd does some extremely reckless things with parachutes and often
>pays heavily for it ("wearing plaster" or worse). I don't have any evidence
>that a 12-year-old would be a worse skydiver. Just that as a society we
>don't have the stomach to watch them die that young.
I don't like to see kids die, but I am not sure that is the reason
they might need to be protected from themselves, until they are of an
age where they are responsible for their own decisions. I am not
saying they would make better decisions, just that they would be
responsible for them.
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> falling off his bike and getting run over by another motorcycle at
> Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
> Peter Lenz of Vancouver, Wash., was pronounced dead by the Marion
> County coroner after sustaining "traumatic injuries." The accomplished
> teenage rider crashed on a warmup lap before his race and was struck
> by 12-year-old Xavier Zayat, who was uninjured in the accident.
> Full story:
> http://tsn.ca/auto_racing/story/?id32074
> Things have changed since I was 13. The stuff I was into, I considered
> on the edge is absolutely tame by todays standards. I couldn't imagine
> motorcycle racing at this level, or any level back then. Hell we were
> riding bicycles and rolling down big hills in home made go karts at
> that age.
> Well if you ever saw my go cart you might think it was dangerous. A
> clumsy 2x4 frame with little shopping cart wheels on the front and 12"
> spoke wheels I found in a junk pile on the back. Axles cut in 30"
> lengths and nailed to a 2x4 held the wheels. Looking back it was kinda
> scary.
> Back to the subject title, is 13 too young to be racing a high powered
> motorcycle at a national level? Is a 13 year old physically strong
> enough to effectively control a race bike and mentally mature enough
> to make the responsible decisions on the track?
> We have a few competitive racers in this group. How old were you guys
> when you started? Would you encourage your 13 year old kids to race
> competitively?
> Regardless, it is a shame this young man lost his life. RIP Peter.