this is kinda sweet :jammin: yet sad, heres the link to the story;
http://www.kmsp.com/themes/default/news/in...tent_id=1633361
__________________________________________________ _____________
Bullet Bikes
The game is played on public pavement. It's fast, furious and rebellious. Who's playing this dangerous game? Adrenaline junkies who see metro highways as their own race track.
We'll begin with trooper Tyler Stuck's story. Two motorcycles blew by his patrol car on 394 in Golden Valley. The video from the state trooper's camera in his car doesn't show much.. the bikes are so fast they're out of view in no time. Tyler Stuck/MN STATE TROOPER: "The speed of my patrol car was 120 and i wasn't really catching up to them."
They were easily pushing a 140 miles an hour on est bound 394. Tyler Stuck/MN STATE TROOPER: "When they slowed down I caught up to them, then they realized I was there and they re-accelerated." At one point they got off the freeway. Trooper Stuck continued to pursue them. But seconds later the two bikes rocketed down the freeway again and disappear. Tyler Stuck/MN STATE TROOPER: "In my opinion its a game to them."
Meet one of the players. Adrian Durand/MOTORCYCLE DRIVER: "It was exciting you know. But it wasn't planned on my part. That's for sure."
The police eventually caught up to Adrian Durand and his riding buddy. Durand is married, a father, and a graduate student. He says his days of playing the game are over.
Adrian Durand/MOTORCYCLE DRIVER: "It cost me $4,000 in fines and lawyer fees. That's getting caught. That's a cheap price to pay. I could've gotten killed."
Durand was riding a type of racing motorcycle that's legal to use on the street. They call them "crotch rockets." They can put any thing on four wheels to shame.
The FOX 9 investigators had the state patrol clock one of these bikes on a closed course. It went 65 miles an hour within less than a block. And that's one of the slower models. Now you know what State Trooper, Dan Erspamer was up against.
Lt. Dan Erspamer/MN STATE PATROL: "They wouldn't yield to my lights and siren." He was following a whole pack of crotch rockets which came speeding out of downtown Minneapolis on to 35W. He zeroed in on one bike in particular. Erspamer had his patrol car up to a 130 when all of a sudden, the biker hit the brakes.
Lt. Dan Erspamer/MN STATE PATROL: "Because I'm coming so fast I drive right past him." "He waited until I came to a complete stop then he pulled out to the left behind me and accelerated again extremely rapidly."
The taunting continued several more times. Lt. Dan Erspamer/MN STATE PATROL: "When I would pull over to the shoulder he would stay stopped." "As soon as I would put it in reverse and try to back up to him he'd pull out and take off again." Eventually another squad cornered the guy and he was hauled off to jail.
Every trooper we talked to seemed to have a personal story of a run in with someone on a crotch rocket. The phone lines at the 911 center lit up a few weeks ago as motorists reported bikers weaving in and out of traffic and doing stunts. A traffic management camera caught some of it on tape. One crotch rocket driver does a wheelie for a good quarter mile down Highway 169 in Edina.
Who is this person? Darrel Twombly/MOTORCYCLE DRIVER: "Its just a big adrenaline rush. I'm not out here doing drugs, not out here stealing cars, I'm just having fun." Darrel Twombly sees nothing wrong with doing stunts in traffic.
Reporter: "Don't you feel you're maybe jeopardizing their safety? Darrel Twombly/MOTORCYCLE DRIVER: well, I know I'm in perfect control when I'm up doing a wheelie. Twombly is a member of the "Unsane Ryderz", a group of bikers who specialize in doing stunts.
They've performed their "extreme freestyle" form of riding at the Brainerd Raceway but admit to using public highways to practice.
They even mount cameras in their helmets so they can video tape some of the wild things they do. One tape shows wheelie practice on a country road. The cops say this is reckless behavior that's gonna kill someone. Motorcycle Driver: "We are a little bit crazy.I mean we're risking our lives. People risk their lives in lots of different ways. This is our passion. This is what we do best."
By no means are the Unsane Ryderz the only ones out on the freeways doing daredevil stunts or speeding.
On most summer evenings you can find riders on crotch rockets flocking to this gas station in St. Louis Park. They come from all over.
From here they take off in packs for a late night run on metro roads. We're told the speeds can reach 180 or 190 miles an hour. The police will bust the ones they can catch. One guy went to jail for popping a wheelie on the freeway, a case of reckless driving.
Adrian Durand who got caught after a high speed chase with the state patrol is like so many other riders, he found the speed of the machines intoxicating. But his brush with the law made him realize it was time to find another form of amusement.
Adrian Durand/MOTORCYCLE DRIVER: "I could have slammed into someone from behind at 130 miles an hour. Hurt them, certainly killed myself."
Other bikers have been killed, one died a few years ago doing a wheelie on interstate-94. The state patrol warns its only a matter of time before another rider or an innocent bystander meets a similar fate.
7/26/2004
For the latest news and updates, watch FOX 9 News at 9.
Bloody Seal Bounce Champion!
Linear Mode
