Boone Injured in Indian Bike Wreck

Anyone who knows Dale Boone knows his idol has always been the chiseled Steve McQueen. He owns all of McQueen's films on DVD and has posters of the outlaw actor on the wall near his bed.

Fifty years ago Steve McQueen took a risky motorcycle drive across Cuba. He made it from end-to-end safely, if a bit sunburned. Last week Dale Boone did a daring McQueen-like ride of his own on a dicey stretch of road in Chennai, India. It went poorly.

“See, I set out to do a tribute ride in honor of McQueen’s Cuba run 50 years ago,” Boone said during a recent international telephone call. “I was going 70 kilometers when a stray dog appeared on the road. I swerved. The bike went flying. I went flying.”

The dog walked away, but Dale limped. With the help of an especially caring group of Lambadi (Indian Gypsies also known as Gormati), Dale made his way to the local hospital. He was diagnosed wtih a sprained right shoulder, a sprained right wrist and a broken big toe on his right foot.

“It all happened so fast it’s hard to say which side I fell on,” said Dale. “Ya gotta understand I was going 70 kilometers an hour, which in India is faster than 70 here.”

The doctor that worked on Dale has been impossible to contact and, despite India’s affection for competitive eating and knowledge of Dale’s status in the sport, no news stories have appeared on the reindeer sausage eating champ's recent wreck.

Forever coy, Dale refused to say if he was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident or letting the wind blow through his hair, as was the practice of his silver screen hero Steve McQueen. And when asked of his immediate plans to compete, Dale was cryptic. “I can’t make the Charlotte contest, but don’t ya’ll worry, I have the use of both hands."

One has to figure he'll be swingin' his bell with the left hand until that right shoulder heals.