Think good thoughts for Bruce Ogilvie

Many of you may have heard the name of Bruce Ogilvie over the years; he's a multi-time Baja Champion and winner of countless desert and off-road races spanning a career that covered three decades or more. What you probably don't know is that "Big O" has been The Man behind the scenes in the off-road division at American Honda for the past thirty years. He spends more time testing new bikes and parts in Japan than Bobby M does brown-nosing the Alessis! If you've ever swung a leg over an XR/XL, or blasted around in the sand dunes on a Honda quad, then Bruce had a hand in shaping your fun.

I've known of Bruce since we were both kids growing up in Riverside. He's a few years older and lived near the sand pits between Jurupa and Central, which happened to be where I rode every day after (and during...LOL) school. I never saw him much out there, probably because he was already a serious District 37 desert racer. I remember reading about him and Larry Roeseler winning everything on Harley Baja 100s, for "Dale's Modern Cycle", in San Bernardino. Despite growing up a few blocks away from each other, we never actually met. Motocrossers only saw desert guys when they'd come out to race a local mx, where they were out of their element and we'd put the hurt to them. That was how I met Roeseler, who later introduced me to his factory Yamaha teammates: Jack Johnson, Jim Fishback, Bob Rutten, Chuck Miller and my old neighbor, Bruce Ogilvie.

In '81 I had a broken hand and was out for a bit, so I got talked into tagging along with the team down in Mexico as they pre-ran for the 1000. I was just there for the party, but came away with a new found sense of respect for all of them...well, maybe all except for Miller! Just kidding, Chuck! Later that year I raced the SCORE Mexicali 250 with Fishback, and I remember pre-running my section with Ogilvie and some other guys, and getting a flat. I was fumbling around with my fanny pack and already whining about changing the tube, when Bruce got frustrated, shoved me aside, and proceeded to fix my flat in around 3 minutes! I was in awe, and have considered Bruce a good friend ever since.

I'm telling you all this because I know there are folks in here with a helluva lot more faith in the power of prayer than me, and Bruce can use all the prayers you can spare right now. His health has been deteriorating for quite some time, but from what Chuck says, Bruce hasn't allowed it to affect his work...until now. He broke his femur in a simple tipover last week, and today underwent some major surgery.

Please keep Bruce in your prayers...