slmjim
Hopeless Tool Junkie
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2011
- Messages
- 12
- Bike
- Which one today...?
Finally had the chance to go this year. We live only 3 hrs. away via some really tasty roads if we want to do the entertaining twisty meander / not-a-beeline thing through northwest KY.
The Hayden family are native Owensboro, KY residents. Nicky, and brothers Roger and Tommy, were born & raised there. Local Nicky Hayden charities set up in his honor continue to be generously supported by the Hayden Foundation. Proceeds from the yearly Memorial Ride donations and merch sales also go to the same local Owensboro charities.
We followed our 'homeboy' Nicky Hayden, a.k.a. 'The Kentucky Kid' for years before we saw him live the first time at Daytona in 2001, when he barely lost placing 1st. in a white-knuckle photo finish to Miguel Duhamel by -0.063 second. Nicky moved to MotoGP shortly thereafter.
In 2006 The Kentucky Kid won the MotoGP World Championship.
Beginning in 2008, a leg of MotoGP was run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway utilizing the then-new infield track. It would continue for 8 yrs. Watching (and hearing... earplugs recommended) the MotoGP bikes zip past on the front straight at close to 200 mph. while seated only yards away before they had to brake hard for turn 1 was something to behold. We rode up there for the MotoGP every year until IMS inexplicably cancelled MotoGP racing.
Nicky Hayden tragically died in Italy in 2017 after being struck by a vehicle while he was riding a bicycle for physical training. We rode to Owensboro for the visitation, and again for the funeral the next day. A few days afterward I posted here a few pics, and about our experience with the funeral and the thousands of bikes in the procession to the cemetery. IIRC, it took about 20 minutes for all the bikes to pass any given spot along the procession route. It was heartbreaking, yet rewarding in its own way, to see thousands of bikes, Riders and fans from all over North America and, even a few from overseas, to come together in remembrance of The Kentucky Kid.
The permanent Nicky Hayden Memorial is in front of the Owensboro Convention Center, located on the left bank of the Ohio River and the most excellent Smother's Riverfront Park area.
The Kentucky Kid's iconic *69 has been forever retired.
The day before the ride. Two of my favorite girls in red.
The Memorial Ride is held every year on or about June 9 (06/09) in remembrance of his iconic plate *69. After donations to local charities are presented by the Hayden family, the escorted memorial ride proper begins. Form up is at the convention center. These are just some of the bikes this year. Many more are behind this photog and, even more on the street to his immediate left, where the memorial is located. We had the only ST of any vintage we saw there.
The championship-winning bike was there
Unfortunately, someone just had to photobomb Nicky's bike by parking his little tiddler next to it.
The ride winds through town to Nicky's grave site, which is immediately adjacent to the final resting place of father Earl Hayden and mother Rose Hayden.
It's a remarkably beautiful cemetery, ~7 mi. close to downtown Owensboro, easy to find and, open to the public.
Nicky Hayden was a fan favorite known for his friendly, easy-going personality off the bike, while also being a fiercely focused competitor on the track. He was an asset to motorcycle racing, the motorcycle community as a whole and, in my brief meeting with him at IMS for an autograph, a genuinely nice fellow Kentuckian.
We miss you Nicky.
slmjim
The Hayden family are native Owensboro, KY residents. Nicky, and brothers Roger and Tommy, were born & raised there. Local Nicky Hayden charities set up in his honor continue to be generously supported by the Hayden Foundation. Proceeds from the yearly Memorial Ride donations and merch sales also go to the same local Owensboro charities.
We followed our 'homeboy' Nicky Hayden, a.k.a. 'The Kentucky Kid' for years before we saw him live the first time at Daytona in 2001, when he barely lost placing 1st. in a white-knuckle photo finish to Miguel Duhamel by -0.063 second. Nicky moved to MotoGP shortly thereafter.
In 2006 The Kentucky Kid won the MotoGP World Championship.
Beginning in 2008, a leg of MotoGP was run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway utilizing the then-new infield track. It would continue for 8 yrs. Watching (and hearing... earplugs recommended) the MotoGP bikes zip past on the front straight at close to 200 mph. while seated only yards away before they had to brake hard for turn 1 was something to behold. We rode up there for the MotoGP every year until IMS inexplicably cancelled MotoGP racing.
Nicky Hayden tragically died in Italy in 2017 after being struck by a vehicle while he was riding a bicycle for physical training. We rode to Owensboro for the visitation, and again for the funeral the next day. A few days afterward I posted here a few pics, and about our experience with the funeral and the thousands of bikes in the procession to the cemetery. IIRC, it took about 20 minutes for all the bikes to pass any given spot along the procession route. It was heartbreaking, yet rewarding in its own way, to see thousands of bikes, Riders and fans from all over North America and, even a few from overseas, to come together in remembrance of The Kentucky Kid.
The permanent Nicky Hayden Memorial is in front of the Owensboro Convention Center, located on the left bank of the Ohio River and the most excellent Smother's Riverfront Park area.
The Kentucky Kid's iconic *69 has been forever retired.
The day before the ride. Two of my favorite girls in red.
The Memorial Ride is held every year on or about June 9 (06/09) in remembrance of his iconic plate *69. After donations to local charities are presented by the Hayden family, the escorted memorial ride proper begins. Form up is at the convention center. These are just some of the bikes this year. Many more are behind this photog and, even more on the street to his immediate left, where the memorial is located. We had the only ST of any vintage we saw there.
The championship-winning bike was there
Unfortunately, someone just had to photobomb Nicky's bike by parking his little tiddler next to it.
The ride winds through town to Nicky's grave site, which is immediately adjacent to the final resting place of father Earl Hayden and mother Rose Hayden.
It's a remarkably beautiful cemetery, ~7 mi. close to downtown Owensboro, easy to find and, open to the public.
Nicky Hayden was a fan favorite known for his friendly, easy-going personality off the bike, while also being a fiercely focused competitor on the track. He was an asset to motorcycle racing, the motorcycle community as a whole and, in my brief meeting with him at IMS for an autograph, a genuinely nice fellow Kentuckian.
We miss you Nicky.
slmjim
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