Terrible news over the weekend on the roads North of Phoenix. Two local riders, Cord Jemison and Victor Beard, killed in a two-bike crash on a group ride. Here is the post I put up on the RT board:
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This one hits very close to home. Victor was riding with a young man named Cord Jemison, and they were both killed. here is an account form an eyewitness who posted on the FasTours board:
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" ...Victor and Cord were traveling very, very fast up the hill.
Victor was riding lead, with Cord close behind him. Both riders had their
knees on or near the ground. Vic's rear wheel slid a bit, and he gathered it
back up but over-corrected and ran into Cord; their new trajectory took them
into a tremendously hard impact with the guardrail.
Cord died instantly, and Victor a few minutes later."
I did not know Victor but I knew Cord and his youg wife Stephanie very well. Stephanie is the apparel consultant at Victory BMW in Chandler, AZ, and is just a wonderful person with whom I developed a nice friendship over the past year. She married Cord in Sedona this past Summer.
Saturday morning I was at the dealership with a friend of mine who is a reentry rider, looking at bikes. Cord rode in on his tomato-red R1100RS and we spent a little time together. He showed me the route of what was to be his last ride on a map. He and Steph invited me,along but I declined, only because I had done that route solo on my RT the day before, which was the day after Thanksgiving.
Cord had just purchased a new Honda literbike and I was always after him to come to track day with me and learn a little more about the awesome power of these bikes in a controlled setting (I ride a Yamaha R1 on the track). Cord told me he wanted to come to the track with me some day, but I could not get him to commit to next Sunday's track day at Firebird West. I then bought a pair of Gore-Tex riding boots from Cord that he bought but didn't fit him right. He died about 24 hours later.
This is just terribly sad. As I have more details, I will post them. Cord rode fast and hard. He nearly totalled a Triumph Daytona a few months ago while attempting to do a burnout. He got a ticket from the same Sherriff's deputy on the road to Tortilla Flat who had pulled me over, but let me go with a warning, just the week before.
Terrible news. Life is precious. Ride with that in mind.
