We bury our brother

I was going to write about the sixth annual Polar Bear run which took place last weekend but yesterday we buried our brother Freddy and I thought it more fitting to write about that first.

It turned out to be a beautiful warm, sunny day with very little wind, a perfect day for riding. I met several of the Meeulanders in Vredenburg just before 11h00 and rode through with them to the gathering point in Velddrif.

 Already there was a large group of bikers meeting, greeting and standing around chatting.

 One or two new faces but mostly local bikers, old friends.

 By 12h30 when the mass ride started we had counted 45 motorcycles, an impressive amount for a Wednesday afternoon, had the funeral been held on a weekend the number would have exceeded 100 I'm sure because Freddy was a very popular biker. For a couple of minutes I sat in the car park with all of the motorcycle engines running and the rumble in the air was like music to the ears, a music that moves a small percentage of the population in a particular way, that makes the hairs on your arms stand up and there's no way that you can stop yourself from "blipping" the throttle.

Des led the mass ride through Velddrif escorted by the traffic department who made sure that we had a free run, we stopped en mass outside the church, blocking the entire road and all of us held our helmets aloft in our left hands and revved our bike engines for a moment or two in salute to our brother. It was an incredibly moving moment.

After the church we left the cemetary service for the close friends and family and headed to the Admiral Bar for the wake, I'm a bit of a softy and usually cry at graveside ceremonies anyway!

 Just so there was no mistaking who was here young Llewellin made the mark. The Admiral's bar made some great snacks for us and we contributed to their bar profits, a win-win situation. Somebody ordered tequila for everyone as it had been Freddy's favourite drink!

It's not one of my favourites but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do so I knocked one back as Frans proposed the toast.

Rest in peace brother, we're all going to miss you!
I left at a reasonable time for the 60 (odd) kilometre ride home, I didn't want to overdo it. It had been a poignant and moving day, but Freddy had a good send off, I know that he would have appreciated it.