JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville motorcycle club rode out on Saturday in memory of an Orange Park man who died in a crash on a Texas interstate road.
According to the Amarillo Globe News, Kevin Jackson, 51, was riding a motorcycle on June 30 when he failed to navigate a curve. The motorcycle left the roadway, entered the center median, hit a cable barrier and flipped.
Jackson was thrown from the bike and died at the scene. He was wearing a helmet and no other vehicles were involved. The crash is being investigated by the Texas Highway Patrol.
Jackson was returning from a cross-country trip and he had recently joined the Rare Breed Motorcycle Club in Jacksonville. Part of the onboarding process is taking a trip to California with his sponsor, who was his friend, John Harriston.
He crashed in Amarillo, Texas, on his way back to Jacksonville. He was on a prayer line about an hour before the accident.
“I spent the last seven days with him traveling from here to California and coming back,” Harriston said. “[Jackson] meant something to this Black community...but he meant something to God. God loved him and he called him home and we’re going to miss him, but he’s in a better place and we’re just here to celebrate life.”
To honor Jackson, the club met at the Harley-Davidson in Baymeadows at 10 a.m. and started their ride at 11:15 a.m. to escort Jackson’s mother from her home to the funeral service.
“His mother is just a strong woman of faith so she understands God’s will is always going to prevail,” Harriston said.
There were riders from Miami, Raleigh and other areas for the ride.
“That’s what Rare Breed Motorcycle Club is all about, is based on brotherhood,” Harriston said. “The bikes are cool and we have a good time but the brotherhood is surpassing anything that we do. That’s why you see all these guys from everywhere coming to support.”
Harriston said “loyal” is the word he would use to describe Jackson.
“Loyal, committed. If he was your friend, you had a special person in your life and he was right in the mix,” Harriston said.
A GoFundMe was created by his sister, Kimberly Way, to help the family.
