Both here in The Garage and over in Lucky’s blog, Gary Faules has told us a lot about good friend Gerie Bledso who played a big part in Gary’s decision to take Team CBR to La Carrera Panamerica. Two years ago, Gerie suffered and incredible crash in the race. Now that I’ve seen this frightening footage, it is a testament to a strong cage and more than a bit of luck that Gerie and his co-piloto weren’t hurt more seriously than broken arms.
The following documentary is in French, but the incredible visuals need no interpretation. The footage of Gerie’s multiple rolls begins at 43:52. As you can see, its a long video, so grab a coffee!
Last year Gerie Bledso made a point to re-visit and actually get out and walk that very section of hi way. If you watch closely you can see the windshield fly hundreds of feet into the air as well as other parts. Gerie and a friend quietly walked the fields along the roadway looking for tell-tale signs from the crash. They actually found the windshield some hundreds of yards away entirely on the other side of the hill from where the crash took place. While they walked along a man from a nearby repair shop just happened to be driving by and he stopped to visit with them. That man asked Gerie to come with him to a nearby village where he took Gerie to meet a man that he thought would be of interest. It was the home of a man who was there that terrible day and was one of the men who first came to help him out of the wreck. When he got to the man’s small pueblo and introduced him the man quickly went inside and came back with a box. As he opened the box Gerie saw the chrome SS (Super Sport) emblem that had fallen along side the road that day. With a tear in his eye the man reached out and offered it to Gerie but Gerie shook his head and told him he wanted him to keep it as a gift. This is just another testimony of a fine gentleman and Gerie is quite the gentleman indeed.