December 31st. Sixty-five years ago Buster and Alice Roberts made a speed run to the local hospital. She was very pregnant and the child was coming in a hurry. Buster drove the tow truck hammer-down to the hospital, trying to get her there in time.
Unfortunately, or perhaps in a sign of what was to come, Kenny Roberts did not wait for anyone. He was, at least partially, born in the seat of a tow truck on the way to the hospital.
In the roughly 115 years that have passed since the second motorcycle was made and the two were raced, many men have hunkered down behind the bars and raced motorcycles. And in the next 100 years many more will continue the competition to see who is faster than the others.
Many champions have been crowned. Moreover, a multitude of legends of motorcycle racing have been acknowledged.
But in all that time there has been only one “King Kenny”–three time world champion, and true legend of the sport. A man born in a tow truck who later defined the American racer, a man who conquered the world.
Today is his birthday and we wish him good cheer.
