T.E. Lawrence owned seven Brough Superior motorcycles but this is the one he died on. It's at the Imperial War Museum in London and of all the exhibits there -- which include a German V-2 rocket -- it's the one I spent the most time staring at.
On the tragic morning in 1935, Lawrence of Arabia was riding at an outrageous speed near Bovington in southern England when he came upon two young cyclists. He swerved, clipped one of the bikes, was thrown over the handlebars and cracked his skull. He died several days later.
I rode through the area myself last month and the tale of Lawrence's demise reminded me to (a) slow down a bit on tight downhill turns, and (b) watch out for the kind of nutjob who'd own seven 1000 cc motorcycles and race them on one-lane country roads!
I don't really want to knock Lawrence too much. In 1909 he did an 1,100-mile walking tour of Palestine and Syria, so I imagine he'd think my plans to cycle the Middle East were pretty cool.
And if like me you're wondering what happened to the cyclist Lawrence clipped, there's no further mention of him at the War Museum. But a brochure I picked up close to the crash site last month noted both riders testified at the inquest the following week, so he couldn't have injured too badly.
Cool blog, Rob. Lawrence was a fascinating fellow -- strange how he met his fate, given everything he'd already been through. Glad to hear your mom's doing better and that you've resumed your journey. Your pic still proudly graces the bulletin board in the lunch room!
ReplyDelete-- Gwen