Excerpt from Contra Costa Sun Article

*~* Race in Peace Joey Lott *~*

Trading his four wheeled cars for two wheeled motorcycles catapulted Joey Lott into the risky, yet adventurous, lifestyle characterized by riding that he loved so much.
 
For most people, the idea of doing something new or having a new toy generates initial enthusiasm that subdues over time into a leisurely hobby. For Joey, that enthusiasm kept growing to no end, and motorcycles became his life, Robert Walia, friend, said.
 
The speed, the rush of the wind and the adrenaline cursing through a persons veins, as he cruises the highway, are enticing trademarks of owning a motorcycle.
 
There is something so free about riding a motorcycle. You just get it in your blood, and you can't really explain it to people. You get on that thing and you own the world, the road, the sky. It clears your head and sets you free. I guess it would be similar to how people would explain flying, Remy Rodriguez, friend, said.
 
Lott was no different: even before he bought his first bike, he had the need for speed and the need to live life as carefree and on the edge as possible.
 
Melissa MacLeod, a neighbor of Lott, saw him many times on his bike, coming down the street, and she cannot remember him any other way.
 Joey seemed to have gas and adrenaline in his veins: he loved to live life up, and live it fast, MacLeod said.
 
For Rodriguez, friendship with Lott grew out of their shared love for the road, for motorcycles, and for something that can never be explained but just was. An unspoken yet always understood connection.
 
That wordless connection with Joey was at its height on the road. I used to turn my head to find my friend, when I saw or did something that warranted a good laugh. I knew I would always find his smiling eyes beaming through the visor. I could almost hear his laugh. To have all that, mixed with the sound of the engine and the road, was the most peaceful, content place I have ever known. On those rides I would wish for nothing more from life except for that day to go on forever, Rodriguez said.
 
Everyone knows, though, that days will never be forever and yes, even the good times must come to an end.
 
Unfortunately, on the morning of November 1, 2002, that harsh reality was brought home when Lott, doing what he loved most, was killed riding his bike to work. 
 
All of those who Lott had encountered in his short, yet fulfilling, life paid their respects by creating a makeshift memorial at his accident site, and by attending his funeral. Over 400 friends, acquaintances, family members and outsiders paid their respect to the fallen rider, known for his incredible zest for life and his adventurous spirit.
 
Joey, as he appeared to me, was a loner with some close friends and his family. I did not look around the chapel until the service started, and I had expected to see about 30 people. What I saw was a room full of family and friends sitting, standing in the back, and standing in the aisles all the way out the front. This made me realize how special he was and how special his friends were to him, Sheldon Nankin, Lott's grandfather, said.
 
Lott's uncle, Gary Nankin, summed up the feeling of love and friendship that his family felt about this extreme outpouring of mourners for his nephew.  "I was equally struck by the love that I observed from so many people that he was close to, and there were more than most humans will have in a lifetime. I know Joey had an equal passion for the people that he touched, and that was a great part of the high that he experienced. It was not just Joey the rider who drew many hundreds of passionate friends to celebrate his short, but packed life. It was Joey the friend they loved".