Thought I'd dust off the old blog, first post in about a decade but I need to restart by first acknowledging this:
I previously posted about Chris Brown, I met Chris was in 2012 in Cartagena Colombia, while preparing to board an old sailboat with our bikes and sail across to Panama. We ended up spending a while travelling through Panama and Costa Rica together. Both of us coming from sportbike backgrounds we really attacked some of the twisty highways chasing each other on our fully loaded tourers. It was some of the best riding I've ever experienced.
He had a friend in San Juan who very generously let us stay at their house where we just hung out, chilled, cooked proper home cooked meals for a change (Chris was a not very committed vegan), and talked a lot about sports, politics, travel, and life in general. A native of Lansing Michigan, he was also fluent in Spanish, he would FB post in both English and Español.
Here's a quote from a previous post with what I wrote about him then:
"Growing old gracefully does not apply to guys like Chris, he had had an epiphany (some may prefer the term ‘mid-life crisis’) and had taken up motorbike racing at the tender age of 55 where he enjoyed winning and regular podium finishes against much younger opponents. A series of crashes had taken their toll however and left him with fused vertebrae and a partially amputated left foot (he shifted gears with his heel), and a disability logo on his license plate. Unwilling to let such minor setbacks restrict his love of traveling and was currently returning north after his second ride through South and Central America."
Chris continued his riding adventures long after I returned to Australia. A couple more tours of South America, Africa, we caught up briefly when he visited Australia too. Things didn't always go to plan however, accidents happen and it gets harder to bounce back, especially when you're now in your 70s but Chris was unwavering in his commitment to continue riding and continue exploring.
Sadly Chris passed away last year from complications related to a recent accident, one of his last posts detailing his intention to continue travelling once he'd recovered from this setback.
Descansa en Paz hermano 🙏🏽