CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — A billboard for The Evel Knievel Museum in Topeka, Kansas, was a pleasant surprise for me and my buddy as we traveled cross-country last month.
The museum's memorabilia, pictures and motorcycles were like going back in time. Knievel was a combination of "Jackass" movie characters and every great athlete from the X-Games. People watched to see whether he would crash and were more amazed when he didn’t.
Our country had problems then as it does now – Watergate at the top of the list – but there weren’t as many distractions: cellphones, tablets, YouTube.
So when Knievel made a jump, people showed up. His jumps helped people forget, for a moment, the state of things around them. My neighborhood was full of kids making jumps and pretending to be Evel Knievel.
The museum has a list of his jumps, more than 300. On that list was one made July 30, 1972, in Castle Rock.
The Rocky Mountain News reported 15,000 people came out in 100-degree heat to watch Knievel arrive in a twin-engine plane that landed on the drag strip at the now-defunct Continental Divide Raceways.
At one time, the racetrack buzzed with motors and famous drivers, but now it's just a field, with the distant hum of Interstate 25 and the rumble of freight trains whispering through tall grass.
Finding someone who was there that day in 1972 and could remember it and prove it wasn't easy.
> Video below: A visit to the Evel Knievel Museum in Topeka, Kansas.
Mike Patterson with The Evel Knievel Museum mentioned he knew a guy in Colorado who took photos of the event. His name was Jim Bensberg.
“I knew enough to know that he was the guy that you went to see for jumping motorcycles," Bensberg said. "You just couldn’t pass on an opportunity like that."
Bensberg was 17 at the time. I met him south of Territorial Road on the edge of where the racetrack was, west of the interstate.
“My Uncle Ed invited me to join him, my cousin Richie, and we came up here, and I said, 'Well, I’ve got some film in the camera, lets see if we can get a picture of Evel Knievel,' ” he said.
The camera he used for this special day came from a special place.
“I inherited these cameras from my brother," he said. "My deceased brother had a Canon camera and a Tamron zoom lens that came back with his belongings when he was killed in Vietnam in ‘69."
Before his day photographing Knievel, Bensberg hadn’t taken many photos.
It's been 50 years since Evel Knievel's Castle Rock jump
He pointed to a hillside in the distance, where the grandstand used to be.
“That hillside is really iconic,” he said.
There’s nothing there now, but there was when he arrived that day.
“People were lined up on either side,” he said, talking about the drag strip where the jump was performed.
Bensberg had just three years of experience with his brother's camera to prepare for the moment Knievel left the ramp and sailed through the sky.
“I had one shot at catching him in midair, and I had to pre-focus and make sure I waited until that exact moment,” he said.
He had no motor drive, so it was his only shot at capturing the legend.
“He wasn’t a racer," Bensberg said. "He was a showman, and what he did on a motorcycle, especially back then, was spectacular.”
He rattled off a few photos of the daredevil doing wheelies and then prepared for the jump. Knievel performed many of his acts on a Harley-Davidson XR-750.
“When it came time, after several runs up and back to kind of get a feel for his speed, he lined up and jumped, and just like that it was over, and everybody cheered and clapped,” Bensberg said.
It took Knievel 15 seconds after his warmup to jump 11 vehicles: seven Dodge trucks and four Dodge Colts.
His wife, Linda Bork, was there for the jump, as were three of his kids. It was reported that his wife didn’t watch the takeoff but kept her eyes on the landing ramp.
Knievel returned to his plane and took off, kind of like a superhero.
“He was quite an American icon both, before and after this event,” Bensberg said.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Colorado Guide
MORE WAYS TO GET 9NEWS
Subscribe to our daily 9NEWSLETTER
Download the 9NEWS APP
iTunes: http://on9news.tv/itunes
Google Play: http://on9news.tv/1lWnC5n
HOW TO ADD THE 9NEWS APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KUSA.
For both Apple TV and Fire TV, search for "9news" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.