Before It Burned, Peter Fonda Rode Captain America At Goodwood

One of the highlights of the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed was Peter Fonda making his first appearance at the event, riding his now-destroyed Harley to Born to Be Wild blaring from the speakers. We were there.

I wish I could say I took the lovely photo up there but I didn't. As any of you who have ever made it to either July's Festival of Speed or September's Goodwood Revival can attest, it's easy to take great photos at Goodwood but very hard to take a good photo of any particular car or bike. The grounds are just too large and the vehicles, the one-of-a-kind, mind-blowing vehicles, too many.

That said, I did see a long flash of Mr. Fonda riding his glorious ride up the hill, not in any particular hurry, waving profusely to the throngs who drew right up to the straw bales on each side of the 1.16-mile course. The speakers played Born to Be Wild. It was the tail end of a hot summer day, we were all very dusty and very tired, and we all knew we were witnessing something special.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, many vehicles times many attendees includes great footage of any particular attendee. Here's Peter Fonda taking one of the corners in a sea of cheers and applause:

Idling Captain America at the start line and fanned by American flags:

Riding across the forest at the top of the hill:

Photo Credit: John Gulliver, Brian Snelson (1, 2)