Saturday, March 05, 2016

Biker Bob's journey to continue after his ashes were found on beach for the second time

For Biker Bob, the journey continues. The ashes of Hugh Robert Nisbet, better known as "Biker Bob", who was from Nanaimo on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, were discovered on Clayoquot Island, after an unsuccessful attempt to send him across the Pacific Ocean. "I was coming down the beach on the ATV … noticed a bottle with a message in it, picked it up and realised it was Biker Bob," discoverer Dave Walton said. "I heard the story of him and just put two and two together. I thought it was pretty neat."



On Feb. 21, Caleb Harding and Bethany James discovered the bottle of Bob's ashes on China Beach. They resolved to set him loose the next weekend, after taking him for a final drink, so he could continue the journey his widow, Maudine Pervil, sent him on two years ago. Biker Bob died on Vancouver Island. He was on his bike when a driver turned left on a red light and struck him. Maudine said Bob's original request for his remains was to have his ashes sprinkled on his canoe, then have the canoe set loose on a lake - and then for her to take his rifle and blow a hole in that canoe.



When Maudine got the ashes, however, it was too snowy to do that. So she did the next best thing and the ashes were placed in a bottle and set off to sea near Nanaimo. "I set him free on all of the waterways that he once paddled," she said. "He paddled all the waterways around [Vancouver Island]. He used to race around Protection Island. He even did a race in a war canoe … that was his first love, canoes. Well, after motorcycles." Maudine said she was pretty excited to hear that Bob was still travelling. "Bob is travelling as far as he can, and he doesn't have to pay for the gas," she said. "So he's happy. He's on the water, which is where he wants to be, and he's happy. I hope he keeps going."



Maudine says Bob was always a big-time traveller, going across Canada twice on his bike, and down to Sturgis, South Dakota for bike rallies eight times. Now, after Bob's returned to shore twice, it's Walton's turn. He says he's not taking any chances. "We'll take him a mile off shore so he'll be good and free then," he said. "He could head far north. Maybe the next time he's found is in Alaska." But first, he might treat Bob one last time. "It just so happens I have a Harley, so I was thinking of taking him for a ride," Walton said. "Someone already found him and took him for a beer at a biker bar, I believe, in Victoria. so I was thinking of doing somewhat similar the same thing, and setting him free again."

1 comment:

Ratz said...

That's very sweet. Years ago I'd drive past a biker cafe in Oxford and think "Man, I don't like the look of that.." Then a few years later, having parked my bike outside the cafe and whilst eating breakfast I realised "oh wait, I'm one of those that previous me was suspicious about!"