Nicky Hayden passes on after a bicycle accident in Italy

[norton73]

http://blog.motorcycle.com/2017/05/22/motorcycle-news/nicky-hayden-race-peace/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Motorcycle.com_weekly&utm_source=Motorcycle.com20170522


:'(

Way too soon for him to leave us. He had plenty of miles left in him.

[klaviator]

So sad to hear this. :(  At least he seemed to have made the most of the time he had.

[norton73]

https://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/hayden-tributes-famous-names-honour-the-kentucky-kid-909285/

[Mulley]

We lost one of the best that America has to offer today.

I've been sad ever since the wreck. This is horrible. I don't get emotional when celebrities die, I don't know them. However Nicky wasn't a celebrity, sure he was famous but he was much more. He was a champion's champion on and off the track. He was the Kentucky Kid.

We'll miss you Nicky.

[KevinB]

^^^Same here.

I have found myself welling up with emotion several times today. I never met him personally, but you could tell when seeing him during interviews, etc. that he wasn't a world superstar in his mind, but just a genuine, gentlemanly southern kid...

Unlike the self-absorbed jackass athletes that seem to gain higher "role model" status each time they're arrested or throw a public tantrum.

I guess it's part sadness, and part frustration in watching a good guy (and good family) lose it all while there are bad guys that would seem to be much more deserving.  >:(

I guess sometimes, His plan is not meant to be understood.

[lk2rd]

I was hoping for a better outcome for him.  Realistically, I pretty much knew his racing days were over but, hoped he could recover and be around for his family.  He would have been great even in retirement.

I went to youtube and watched a couple of interviews of his to remind myself why he is so well liked.  If you can rise to the level he has (in any endeavor) and remain as composed and humble as he did, your are simply a great person.  He is a real role model and example that celebrities and us mere mortals should aspire to.

RIP

[kylepeterson]

I like the life celebration stuff generally. Reading the positive stuff that people come out of the woodwork to share does it for me. Their memories a good man or woman blessed them with, and taking the time to share with complete strangers tells a lot.

Recently a well loved local racer lost his life, and the people that knew him started flying his 518 plate on their jersies, bikes, cars, and snap shots of odometers, road signs, and everything in between.

Never met 518, or 69, but the mark left on the people that had, is more than enough for me to try a little harder.

[Brian A]

Put me in the same boat as Mulley and KevinB.

I told Mulley yesterday.... I never really said much of anything about it, because it's the kind of thing that wouldn't matter to anybody but me.

I always had a warm affection for Nicky specifically because he was NOT the best rider week in and week out, particularly in the MotoGP world. He was a fantastic rider. No argument could be made there. But he was not a regular dominant force to be reckoned with. And that is why I liked him so much. Maybe a matter of "pulling for the underdog"? I dunno. It wasn't so much his talent on the track as much as it was the man off the track.
He never was a whiner. Never seemed to get caught up in the drama. Never a primadonna. Just always an even keeled, nice guy.
There are far too many of them in the higher echelons of sports these days.

He WAS a legit role model and sadly far too many people knew little or nothing of him.

It nauseates me to think that the #!&%@* Kardishians, The Housewives of Atlanta or Beverly Hills, Bruce-Caitlyn Jenner and whatever ridiculous actor or actress is the flavor-of-the-month, are all more widely known in the USA than was Nicky Hayden.

Personally, I liked him best when he was on the Repsol Honda RC211V. Seeing him struggle on the Ducati was unfortunate.

I mentioned on FB that I was fortunate enough to be at Laguna Seca in '05 to see him win his first ever MotoGP race. Also, fortunate to be at the Inaugural Indy MotoGP in '08. My fondest memory of Indy was watching Nicky drift the rear end time after time through Turn 13 during practice.

He did it better and longer than any other rider. It was spectacular to watch!

[norton73]

I never got to actually meet him. My wife and I went to Springfield in 2002 and the opening race of the weekend was the TT. Nicky won and with his brothers owned the podium that night.

[LawnmowerRG]

It was a sad day. We lost a real hero.