As a boy, I dreamed of racing with my heroes. I dreamt of Bob Hannah, Roger DeCoster, Brad Lackey, Marty Smith, Danny “Magoo” Chandler, Jeff Ward, David Bailey, and more. I remember staying awake at night making courses in the blankets of my bed, visualizing racing these superstars in my head as I drifted off to sleep.
Thirty years have passed. I became that racer myself. I have lived that life; I have lived those dreams. I even got to race against some of those legends. Those days are far behind me now—at least that’s what I thought. But then I found myself back on the starting gate, lined up for a special race of champions called the TransBorgaro, an annual event held in Torino, Italy. I traveled here to recollect the past, and to be remembered as something of a racing legend.
In the paddock after, the crowds gathered around our pit for autographs, maybe a picture or a souvenir to hold onto—something to bring past to present. The course was a throwback, too, cut into a field only days prior to this event, like a moto version of Field of Dreams and its “if you build it, they will come” mantra. I am not the only one to have come from far away, so it must be true. Broc Glover, Chuck Sun, Doug Dubach, John Dowd, Robbie Reynard, and Dan Fitch were all here from America. As far as European talent there was Pierre Karsmakers, Alex Puzar, Mechele Fanton, Brian Jorgensen, Miska Aaltonen, and many more great riders. This race is a hidden gem of legendary proportions.