CAROLINE Ash, widow of motorcycle journalist Kevin, has begun writing a blog on her efforts to get back into biking.
Caroline has a full motorcycle licence but had not ridden for 20 years. She decided to take it up again after missing riding pillion with Kevin, who was killed in a crash on the press launch of the BMW R1200GS in South Africa last year.
So far Caroline has tried off-roading on a Yamaha TTR250. Next she plans to test-ride the new CCM GP450.
Later this year she aims to travel to America to experience the ‘Tail of the Dragon’ a section of the US 129 interstate in North Carolina featuring 318 hairpins in 11 miles.
In her first blog entry Caroline says: ‘I have been without riding pillion for a year now. It has been a tough year. It is not until you lose being with bikes you realise how much bikes are part of your life, part of you, the way you tick. It has been very difficult to accept that this is the way it was going to be from now on.’
On her attempt at off-roading she says: ‘Arriving at the woods, I took in the enormity of the task ahead. The first hill was almost vertical and fear gripped my heart. I can't do this, can I?’
Kevin Ash, who was motorcycle correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and probably the UK’s best-known bike journalist, crashed on a gravel road during the R1200GS launch ride in January last year. Dusty conditions prevented other journalists from seeing how the accident happened.
BMW has not released the findings of an investigation despite calls from Caroline for the firm to do so.
A BMW spokesman recently said: “There have been no new findings and sadly the cause of Kevin’s accident is still unknown. The motorcycle was thoroughly investigated and there was no evidence found of any kind of mechanical problem or failure which caused or contributed to the accident.”
