It's Better to be Shot Out of a Cannon...

“You live more in five minutes on a bike like this going flat out than some people live in an entire lifetime.” – Burt Munro, ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’

I didn’t know Chris Stevenson. To hear people tell it, he was the rare sort of person who brought genuine joy to all those around him. I’m aware that this is a cliché, but not having known him personally, I can only describe what I’ve heard and read over the last couple of weeks, and using that information as a reference, the statement is both accurate and insufficient.

If we’re lucky, we get to experience a person like Chris at some point during our lives. I’ve talked to some of his friends, and I’ve heard story after story about how Chris personally affected them. It’s unfortunate for me that I won’t ever get to know Chris myself, because he died on Sunday July 2nd as a result of injuries suffered in a crash in turn 5 during race number 3.

You might notice that I didn’t say that it’s sad that he died, nor did I refer to his death as “tragic” although both of those things apply. I left that out because having talked to people who knew Chris, and having read pages of Internet posts about him, I feel like I did actually get to know him enough to know that he wouldn’t want some guy writing in a blog to dwell on the sadness or tragedy of his passing. But, I am sad nonetheless, because I would have liked the opportunity to get to know him. I am also sad because I want to think that doing something you love to do can only bring about positive results, and this is evidence to the contrary.

I suspect that Chris would remind me that we all know the score when we grid up, and we do it anyway. We do it anyway, because that’s what it means to live; find something you love to do, and do it. I suspect that Chris would want us all to either remember, or imagine, this joy with which he approached his life both on and off the track. Judging from things I’ve read about Chris’ family, I suspect that they too might want the same.

Maybe someone who knew Chris will read this someday and let me know if I’ve got it right.

Goodbye Chris.