Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127222
u t it 's been a grueling eig h t m onths of reh abilitation tha t has seen hi s weight cl imb from , a p o st hospital stay 116 pounds back to hi s p re-accident 137 pounds; It's been a struggle th at has seen him recover to th e p oint of no rmalcy - to a point where he ca n live the rest of his life doing th e sa me th ings most everyone does. But th e thing h e did b est was r ace , a nd a normal life isn't eno ugh for Shobert. The man wh o is second on th e all- time AMA National win list with 38 victories won't be comp letely satisfied until he can make a success fu l r eturn to racmg. And the carrot at th e end of the stick is bein g held by hi s good friend Kenn y Rob erts, in th e form of Sho bert's in clusion in hi s U .S.-b a sed AMA 250 cc National team. But Bubba kn ow s the rest is up to him. ''I' m goin g to Kenny's tomo rrow to ride a nd train , and th en I may be ridin g .250s over h ere for h im," Shobert said on Nov emb er 28. "But I'm only going to race if I'm capa ble of winning. If I can ride with Wayne (Rainey) at Kenny's, that'll be a good indicati on. I'll just see if I can get it back to wh ere it used to be." Many question Sh obert's desire to return to the sport that so nearly took Eight months a~-o, 'whether or not he could race agam was th e least of Shobert 's problems . The collision with Magee had bruised hi s brain, and doctors were fighting to stop th e swelling. It was a slo w process, bu t Bubba was eventua ll y transferred by pl ane from Monterey back to Texas wh er e h e began hi s tedious rehabilitation. B "People don't understand why I want to race again. But that's all I've ever done. For the last couple of weeks I haven't done anything and it's really boring. If I retired, I'd go nuts." his life. But for th e Lubbock, T exas, native th e answer is sim p le - racing has been his li fe since h e fir st strapped on a steel sho e as an eigh t year old. Wh at else is th ere? " Peop le don't understand why I want to race again," Sh obert said. " But th at 's all I've ever done. For th e last co up le of week s I haven't done anyth ing and it 's really boring. If I retired, I'd go nuts." . " I spe n t three days a week at reha b," Sho bert said. " It was back to the bas ics. I was doingstuff th ere th at if I sho wed you, you' d say, 'Boy, th at 's stu p id.' It was j us t stuff th at was real easy; it was stuff to retrain th e brain." T he dam age was to th e left side of th e brain , a nd th e result was a bou t with slowness on the right side of hi s bod y. H e would have to retrain himself to do the things that befor e had come so naturally. " T he most diffcult part has been getting used to using my right side -again ," Sho bert said. "You tak e a lot of things for granted - it 's like you don 't even thinkwhen you tie your shoes, but I had to. It's just th ings you' ve learned all your life and you don 't realize you 're learning them at th e tim e, but yo u ar e. It's like driving a nail into wood - with my ri!?ht hand I can barel y do it . But It'S gett ing better every day." And giving up has never en tered his mind. :'1 was always positive about it, " he said. "I never really had a justscrew-it attitude. I was always trying to get better - but it wasn 't really getting better, it was just trying to get back to normal. Sometimes when I speak I know th e words don 't come o u t like th ey should, but it 's' just a matter of practice because th e more I talk th e better it gets." The rehabiIi tati on is far from over. Shobert continues to work out in a garage that has been dedicated to the purpose - weight-lifting ma chines, a Lifecycle and free weights fill the room where Bubba spe nds many an h our. The walls are . lined with oversized replica chec ks from Cam el - souvenirs of th e real ones that have since been cashed, in am ount s of up to $100,000. There're al so large, hand-made get-well cards from fans th at serve as added incentive to the man o n th e rebound. Trainer Dean Mill er has set Bubba up on program dedicated to gett ing his righ t side back to normal. T he strai n on his face wh en he works the right side is a constant reminder that th is is no easy task. Shob ert has been given brain tests throughout this ordeal, and the new s from doctors following the most recent tests wa s favorable. The swelling in his brain was completely gone - he was given a clean bill of health. " Until th is happened, I really didn 't know how much con trol th e a