Sad News re: old forum member mitch179

Just posting this in case some of the old members who might remember him but have lost touch in the intervening decade or two...

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02cZviBg213rrgQVbbFFKQwjX9d5k8sA7TDsdkn98B5VPkdN1RmxW8Pw2d9mFMR97Pl&id=567336872&mibextid=Nif5oz

Edit: link may not work did here's a screen grab



@mitch179 - a stalwart and well liked contributor to this forum passed away recently.

Like many of us he joined cbr250.com at the start of his journey into motorcycles and privileged us in sharing not only his motorcycling milestones but his life as well. I only ever met him in person like twice, a combined forum track day at EC and a trip to MotoGP at PI around 2007 if I recall. But like many of us who frequented this place it felt like I knew him well. We kept loose tabs on each other via IG for years after we stopped posting on the forum. From what I could see he always seemed like an upbeat guy who worked hard to be the best version of himself. Be it as a rider, or athlete, sports fisherman, archer, and then husband and father. I remember seeing his updates on IG and feeling so stoked for him.

I knew nothing of his struggles. Even if I had, I honestly don't know what I would've done? He always appeared to have his life pretty well together, looked like he had good solid relationships (in real face to face terms), exercising regularly, good balance of hobbies and interests (in addition to motorbikes). It really made me think that he must've known something was wrong and he was making all the right moves to beat it.

I have to admit I'm struggling a bit in dealing with this news. As a motorcyclist I am (and I hate saying this) kinda accepting of deaths by motorcycle accident. This forum has seen its fair(?) share of friends pass on due to unfortunate accidents. And we mourn them, we remember them, we may hold tributes and gather in their memories once in awhile. But we accept their deaths. It comes with the territory when you ride a motorcycle. We kinda shrug sadly and say "they died doing what they loved".

What do I say to this though? What do I say to his partner who I don't know and have never met? Or his child who will grow up with little to no memory of Dad?
"Hey so I kinda knew your Dad back in the day, he seemed like a good dude and I'm really sorry for your loss." Sounds kinda hollow.

Maybe just donate to Beyond Blue.

Cheers to @menox - another forum OG for posting this sad news to FB otherwise I wouldn't have known about it 🥹