Dear brother .OrG members, this is not the way this story was supposed to end. Malcolm died on Monday in a collision with a truck. He had completed over 55,000 miles on his Honda 250 Rebel traversing most of the ‘America’s’ from Santiago Chile, to Terra del Fuego, all the way through Mexico and up to Prudhoe Bay Alaska, across Canada to Newfoundland and now he was heading south to DC to rejoin his friends and family here. Here is a link to the original story for those interested.https://www.hayabusa.org/forum/general-bike-related-topics/96082-journey-lifetime-request-org.html
For those of you who’ve followed Malcolm’s adventures you already know the magnitude of his objective and accomplishments. He was 70 when he came to me for advice on riding a motorcycle to the tip of South America to the top of Alaska. He intended to take two years to do the journey camping as much as possible to minimize expenses. He had no previous cycling experience. We got him started with a motorcycle safety training class that taught him the basics on a 250 Rebel. He purchased the basics for camping, a tent, sleeping bag, thermorest cushion and a multi-fuel camp stove. He flew to Santiago where he purchased a brand new Honda 250 Rebel which he had outfitted with hard luggage and other accessories and off he went. Over the past two years I’ve corresponded with him frequently and shared his experience in the earlier thread. I just can’t believe he didn’t complete the journey. Evidently he was riding along a road in Maine and somehow he missed a stop sign and collided with a truck. I don’t have much additional information about the collision, only that he didn’t survive it. I discovered via a Google search that Malcolm met another rider last week in Maine at a local service shop. This gentleman was so impressed by Malcolm he posted a thread on another bike related forum, his observations are here: http://www.stromtrooper.com/off-topic-member-therapy/58561-fastest-most-powerful-motorcycle-world-true-story.html.
Thanks to all those who have monitored Malcolm’s thread and provided their own words of encouragement. I’m saddened to pass this news along as I thought he was going to be successful and return to us safely. Please be safe my friends, I’m yet again tragically reminded that each ride can be our last.
Jim
For those of you who’ve followed Malcolm’s adventures you already know the magnitude of his objective and accomplishments. He was 70 when he came to me for advice on riding a motorcycle to the tip of South America to the top of Alaska. He intended to take two years to do the journey camping as much as possible to minimize expenses. He had no previous cycling experience. We got him started with a motorcycle safety training class that taught him the basics on a 250 Rebel. He purchased the basics for camping, a tent, sleeping bag, thermorest cushion and a multi-fuel camp stove. He flew to Santiago where he purchased a brand new Honda 250 Rebel which he had outfitted with hard luggage and other accessories and off he went. Over the past two years I’ve corresponded with him frequently and shared his experience in the earlier thread. I just can’t believe he didn’t complete the journey. Evidently he was riding along a road in Maine and somehow he missed a stop sign and collided with a truck. I don’t have much additional information about the collision, only that he didn’t survive it. I discovered via a Google search that Malcolm met another rider last week in Maine at a local service shop. This gentleman was so impressed by Malcolm he posted a thread on another bike related forum, his observations are here: http://www.stromtrooper.com/off-topic-member-therapy/58561-fastest-most-powerful-motorcycle-world-true-story.html.
Thanks to all those who have monitored Malcolm’s thread and provided their own words of encouragement. I’m saddened to pass this news along as I thought he was going to be successful and return to us safely. Please be safe my friends, I’m yet again tragically reminded that each ride can be our last.
Jim
My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.
