Did You Know - Robert DeBurgh

Wings, Wheels, Broken Bones, No Regrets

Robert DeBurgh

We all know that Robert DeBurgh is the author of Riders of the Wind and Winds of Fate and that he is a professional pilot with over 22,000 hours of flight time. Just in case you did not know that before, you do now.

But, did you know …. that Bob is a past motorcycle road racing champion? In 1982, he was #1 regional and #4 national champion with WERA (Western Eastern Roadracing Association) in the 250cc production class.

When asked how he got started riding motorcycles, Bob responded, “Riding with my uncle on his Indian motorcycle, he also got me into flying. He taught me all the bad things.”

The fearless teenager started both flying and riding at the age of 15 under the supervision of his uncle, Charlie Cross. Bob got his student pilot certificate at age 16 and about that same time he traded a .22 rifle for his first real motorcycle, an old non-running Indian.

“I pushed the bike home and when my mother saw me turning into the driveway, she gave me the choice, either the bike goes or I go. So I started pushing it back out of the drive and told her we would both go. She finally relented and said I could keep the bike as long as I didn’t get it running. Needless to say, I did get it running and rode it around the block when she was not home.”

Bob’s first experience in competition was flat track which was not too successful but he progressed to winning quite a few trophies in scrambles, trials and road racing. The trophies came at a cost at times. He broke his leg out in the middle of nowhere while riding a night enduro and had to continue on to the next check point to get medical attention. Another time, he was creamed by a rider going the wrong way on a scrambles course and wound up spending weeks in a hospital.

Either Bob was crazy, determined or just plain stubborn but he kept on racing. No matter where he resided for his flying jobs, a motorcycle was always close at hand. He even rode for a factory team while flying with a Columbian airline.

His stint with WERA lasted for about five years culminating in his championship. “I had the regional championship sown up and was going for national title. It was my last race of the season and all I had to do was finish first, second or third place. I had blown away the rest of the field and was heading towards the finish line with dreams of the number one plate dancing in my head. Then about a quarter of a mile from the finish, the bike died on me. I couldn’t believe it. After throwing it down and kicking it several times, I realized I still had to cross the finish line so I pushed it uphill to the checkered flag and got enough points to come in fourth in the nationals.”

After that, the ‘red mist’ of competition remained but as Bob put it, “I couldn’t afford racing anymore and my body couldn’t take any more crashes. Now I restore, ride and show classic bikes … but I am fixing up a little Honda for straight line speed trials. If I could just get my name in the record books for that class, then …”