Dear listers, As many of you will remember, July 2nd last year my oldest brother, Freddy, got killed in a motorcycling accident. He was riding his TDM 850 back from a small weekend trip with his wife as a passenger when he collided head-on with a car for not quite explained reasons. He died on the spot, leaving two kids. His wife was helicoptered away in a life-threatening coma. Next July 2nd, 2001, we will be holding an anniversary funeral for my brother. And here's where you guys might want to help. You all know I got back to riding and must say I've found great comfort in the feeling of freedom we all know so well from riding. Through the bike, and the Internet, I've found many biker friends from around the world. Most I will never really meet, but I can say we all share the joy for life, the thrill of riding, and a passion for the bike as a means of knowing the world, others, and ourselves a bit better. Many of you on the list were extremely supportive last summer, and with some help from some of my "web riding" biker friends I'm organizing a "memorial ride" of sorts. After the anniversary funeral, we would like to present my late brother's wife -now fully recovered physically- with a list of friends, from all over the world, who on the previous days have ridden their bikes in the memory of my brother Freddy. All I would ask from you is the following: - Decide you want to participate, or tell another riding friend about this project. - Don your helmet, and go ride. Have fun. Somewhere within your ride, please have a moment to think about someone you never met, who enjoyed life, enjoyed riding, and who will live on in our memories, partly because you're riding for him, along with hundreds of others around the world. Say a prayer if you feel so inclined, but we won't ask that from no one. We just ask that you ride, and have fun. - After riding, and before the week of July 2 finishes, please drop me an OFF LIST email message saying who you are, your nationality, and where you took that ride. The email address is [EMAIL PROTECTED] , or my usual [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Both are fine. That's all. If you have a camera and want to email pictures, or do anything else, so much the better, but this is the only thing I ask: ride, have a thought of comraderie, and drop me and email message stating "who" and "where". We are counting on a participation in the hundreds. How many of those will be on a GTS? Thank you for reading this far, and enjoy the ride. Best, Roberto.
