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Welcome to my blog, these are the ramblings and musings of an (upper) middle aged biker and if you enjoy braais, (barbeques) beers and motorbikes then hopefully you will enjoy what Janet and I do; we do lots of braais, we drink lots of beer and we tour South Africa on our motorbike, which at the moment is a BMW R1200RT. Join us, read about what we do and please leave us your comments.



Wednesday, October 13, 2010

R.I.P. Willie Holtzhausen

I am incredibly sad right now, I haven't posted for a while because on Sunday I learned that our old friend and brother Willie Holtzhausen died as a result of an accident which took place on Friday. He and his wife Karin were both seriously injured in a collision with a bloody mini bus taxi on the road into Vredenburg.
I am afraid that the mini-bus taxis will be the eventual death of all of us, they are a law unto themselves, they regularly disregard stop signs and red lights and pretty much do what they like with the traffic authorities too afraid to deal with them....maybe it's time for us to do something about them?
Willie was a much loved and respected member of the Christian Motorcycle Association and we used to see him often at rallies around the Cape, he was a very enthusiastic photographer and we always saw him wandering around with his camera.
It wasn't even two weeks ago that I walked into the Phoenix bar and Willie was there, we greeted each other warmly and shook hands. That was the last time that I saw him alive. Damn! Karin is still in hospital, what a waste of a useful and happy life and what of their young son?
The memorial service is on Saturday at the biker's church in Brackenfell but unfortunately I will not be able to attend due to previous commitments, rest in peace my brother.

7 comments:

Geoff James said...

Sincere condolences Andrew. Any loss of life is tragic, especially motorcyclists who are victims of appalling driving.

Thoughts are with you all, my friend.

Anonymous said...

Hi Andrew,
Haven't read the blog for a while now - things are a little hectic - my feelings are with you - wasn't he at the Freedom Road Rally with us ???
I have a friend in hospital right now - 9 weeks ago he was still running - he is fighting the big C - we been friends since 1969
Yesterday is history -Live for today cause tomorrows a mystery
go well
Dick

the rider said...

Thanks Geoff - mini bus taxis are a South African curse and a particular danger to bikers, life goes on and we must all be alert.

Hi Dick - yes Willie often went to the Freedom Road rally, we're gonna miss him. Sorry about your friend too. I agree whole heartedly; live for today!

Unknown said...

Sorry to hear about your loss. Lost a riding companion and good friend myself, under different circumstances, this summer. It's been so hard to bear. Condolences, I'm so sorry.

Unknown said...

So sorry about your friend, that's awful. :(

Unknown said...

Very sorry about your friend. :(

the rider said...

Thank you Brady and my condolences back to you for the loss of your friend, it's very sad and going back to the same places bring back the memories.

Tricia thanks and it's good to see you here.