MOTORCYCLING: The man in third and fourth place in Monday's formula one and Robert Holden motorcycle races on the Cemetery Circuit was having a ball.
And why not?
On March 20 of last year at Taupo, Sanson rider Jason McEwen ? a Cemetery Circuit icon ? had a dreadful crash which should
have killed him, let alone kept him from riding again. The injuries are chronicled in McEwen's own description in the sidebar to this story. Read them and wonder.
Wonder, in fact, how he managed to walk again, let alone summon the courage to again climb aboard a machine capable of the top 200kph.
McEwen not only did that in Wanganui, he led the first Robert Holden Memorial heat for eight of the 15 laps, and he finished third in both heats to trail only Craig Shirriffs and Andrew Stroud in the points table leading to the last event at Paeroa late in February.
He also finished fifth in both formula one heats. By any stretch of the imagination it was a colossal performance.
McEwen only climbed back on a bike for the first time a couple of weeks before the Pukekohe Superbike round on December 10-11, had 50-60 laps of Pukekohe and Manfeild, did Pukekohe and Manfeild ? getting faster all the time ? and then did his Wanganui thing.
Now, let it be said that this man has a special affinity with the Wanganui. Over the years he's won 21 races, a long way short of the late Robert Holden's 47, but better than anyone alive. When he relaxed after his strenuous efforts on Monday, McEwen offered the thought that this was probably one of his most enjoyable Wanganuis ? "and I didn't win a race." How did the return start?
"I hadn't considered getting back on the bike. I was quite content, and I didn't have any unfinished business. I was quite comfortable just carrying on looking at the light ? it was quite a nice sort of feeling, to be like a normal person again," McEwen said.
But he did admit, that probably if the right thing came along, he knew he wouldn't be opposed to it.
The "right thing" started to work on him a few months ago. It was his old friend Shaun Harris who discovered him, one weekend, looking much perkier and moving better than he expected.
"One thing led to another ? he said, 'you'd probably ride a bloody bike if you had one to ride'?He was just testing me out.
"A few weeks later he was on the phone ? 'you've got a ride if you want it.' And before I knew it, I said: 'Oh yeah? Good.
"A week later I was saying to myself, what the hell have I done. Am I a stupid b?? or not?"
That was a month before Pukekohe. He told Harris he would see how he felt after his first practice.
"It felt okay, it felt right."
Game, set and match to Harris.
McEwen says he wasn't apprehensive about riding, just apprehensive about his family because he wanted them to make the decision they wanted ? not to say yes because he wanted to.
In the end wife Joanne, daughter Taylor (15) and son Hunter (8), said, "go for it."
If they had said no, McEwen would have been happy.
"But it seemed to perk everyone up, I think it's given them a boost," McEwen said.
Will he continue?
"I'll carry on for the rest of the season, sure, but I've got no plans long-term at all. Basically it will come down to how I feel ? and after this past weekend I feel a boost of confidence, because I wondered whether I could give it 100 percent.
"So overall it's been a bloody good weekend, probably one of the most enjoyable Wanganui's I've had."
MOTORCYCLING: The man in third and fourth place in Monday's formula one and Robert Holden motorcycle races on the Cemetery Circuit was having a ball.
And why not?
On March 20 of last year at Taupo, Sanson rider Jason McEwen ? a Cemetery Circuit icon ? had a dreadful crash which should
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