Disclaimer: Due to the number of comments that have been received it has been felt necessary to clarify that this trip is in no way based on "The Long Way Round" which the authors of the trip were not aware and nor was it first broadcast of at the time at which this trip was drunkenly conceived. The authors of this trip would like to distinguish their intended trip from the journey undertaken in "The Long Way Round" in that unlike Charlie Borman and Ewan McGregor they are not experienced riders (they have both only been riding motorbikes for just over one year), they are not receiving sponsorship and they will not have a support crew with them at any point on the journey. Just to avoid any further confusion it has been thought that it would be helpful to point out that Tom Horovitch and Peter Caley are both fictional characters and are not famous film stars.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Final Post - Patnem Beach, Goa, India - 14,795 miles from London ... and Ghent, Belgium - 250 miles from London

Tom at the Taj Mahal
As many of you will now already know on the 30th January 2007 Tom unexpectedly passed away while he was visiting Bombay with friends. His death came as a complete shock to everyone he knew and my heart goes out to all of his family and friends. I for one am still struggling to get my head around what has happened and it is with a real sense of disbelief that I write these few words. Tom was a warm, intelligent and wonderful person and will be sorely missed by all who knew him. We had the most amazing trip down to India and I know that Tom was proud and happy to have achieved what he did in face of the many obstacles and difficulties we faced and the fact that we reached India shows, to my mind, how strong a person he was; during his last few months here in India Tom was incredibly relaxed and was loving life, the people he met and the country he was in and we must take some consolation from that. For my part I could not have had a better travelling companion and friend with which to do what we did and the time we spent together since we left London merely strengthened the friendship we had developed in the years that I have passed since I first got to know him and made me see even more clearly the many qualities Tom had which made him such a good and loyal friend.
IMG_7778 (website)
Tom on the train to Kerala

If anyone wants to ask me anything about Tom’s death or to pass any messages onto Tom’s family then they should please e-mail me on peter@motorbiketrip.com and I will contact you directly as soon as I can.

We had originally planned that the final entry on the website would be about something that had happened right at the very start of our trip, but we had not told anyone about owing to the fact that it would have been somewhat embarrassing to put as one of our first posts!. To my mind though it only seems right that I finish the website as he had wanted to finish it and so put the post on the site.
On the second day of our trip (6th June 2006 for those who have forgotten – I did!), and after having left the campsite we spent our first night away in, we were making good progress through Belgium with the intention of getting to either Holland or Germany by the end of the day; however, in what was to become a fairly common occurrence for the rest of the trip, disaster stuck. Riding at a speed in the fast lane of the E17, with Tom a few cars ahead of me, I happened to notice lying on the side of the motorway a metal box looking remarkably similar to Tom’s left hand pannier. As I shot past it I realized that in fact it was Tom’s pannier. Hastily cutting across the three lanes of traffic I pulled into the hard shoulder and leaving the bike I ran back just in time to see the pannier be hit by a car. The car was presumably OK as it carried on and seemed to have wavered little in its progress. The pannier had suffered a noticeably worse fate though as I saw Tom’s clothes scattered along the side of the motorway luckily remaining in the central reservation. After waiting for a gap in the traffic I ran across the road, grabbed as much of Tom’s stuff as I could and ran back to the relative safety of the hard shoulder. Getting back to my bike I was, at that moment, called by Tom who had pulled into the service station a few miles further along the motorway because another motorcyclist had pulled up next to him and pointed frantically at Tom’s bike. Tom had not felt anything when the pannier fell off and it was with some shock that, when looking at his bike at the service station, the puzzlement he felt when trying to work out what the other motorcyclist was pointing out was instantly answered by the sight of the gap on the left side of the bike.
Tom's Pannier Tom's bike minus a pannier
He told me afterwards that his first thought when he realized what had happened was that the pannier had hit me and that something had happened to me, but when he saw that the traffic was still flowing he knew that was unlikely. After we had spoken he came back to meet me and just as he arrived the local police pulled up; it seems a passing motorist had called them out having been confused as to why a guy was sitting on the hard shoulder with a BMW bike, a bent metal box and a pile of clothes next to him.
The police helped us to get our things to the service station and once we had sorted ourselves out we were then faced with the problem of how to get out of this mess. In the end we managed to limp to the nearby town of Ghent and spent a few days there getting Tom’s pannier repaired so that we could carry on. The garage who eventually helped us, did manage to rig something together for us and when we got to Oulu we eventually got hold of a replacement pannier. It is amusing now to think that the pannier that fell off in Belgium and which was replaced was in fact the same pannier that was hit by my bike when we had our accident in Kazakhstan!

Written by Peter

26 Comments:

At Thu Feb 15, 09:05:00 pm GMT, Blogger Fernandomando said...

The worst thing about death is that life goes on. Tom must now be either carrying on doing what he loved most (drinking and chasing women) or else is simply no more. Either way, he's ok. It's us that are left behind that miss you. I followed your journey every day. I was proud to say that one of my very good friends was taking on the world in such a way as you did.
I suppose if there is a kindness to what has happened, it is that you died about as peacefully as you could have done. Thinking about it, a motorbike trip around the world is pretty dangerous- a motorbike is pretty dangerous in itself.
It is said that only the good die young. I don't think that Tom would have described himself as 'good'. Probably, I wouldn't either. However, in many ways he was. He told life how he saw it, he was a good and loyal friend, and he was a good laugh on too many occasions. He turned up to my wedding drunk, but that was typically Tom Horovitch (and wonderfully forgiveable).

I will miss Tom. He even put a link to my stupid blog on his website.

If there is a next world, I am sure that he'll be waiting on the roof, drinking some hideous cocktail, and not leaving until he has read all the credits.

He was a good friend.

Mike Stradling

 
At Mon Feb 19, 12:57:00 am GMT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i had the great pleasure of meeting tom along with peter in osh, kyrgyzstan. i had come across their blog while preparing my own trip from tokyo to copenhagen by motorbike. i sent a mail and tom replied, we exchanged several emails over the next several weeks and finally hooked up in osh. i was in a rush and planned to keep going, but thoroughly enjoyed their company and decided to hang around. tom took me on a guided tour around the market and the three of us hung out at a lousy restaurant drinking lousy vodka until closing it down and getting in a lousy cab. i can't say i knew tom, but i can say that the short time i did spend with him and peter was definitely a highlight of my trip and i had really looked forward to meeting up again back in europe. it makes me incredibly sad that this will not happen. i don't know what else to say except to offer my sincere condolences to his family and friends, and that i'm very glad i had a chance to meet him.

Erik Andreas Jörn

 
At Tue Feb 27, 09:43:00 am GMT, Blogger Unknown said...

I met Tom in Patnem and he was a wonderful open friendly and incredibly funny guy. I am so sorry to hear that he has passed away. My thoughts are with his family and friends. X

 
At Sat Mar 03, 07:44:00 pm GMT, Blogger By Alex said...

My name is Alex Roberts, I am Toms Cousin.At the funeral with the music and the lovely photos it hit me hard, ! really hard, the church was full and I was sat in the middle aisle on floor.
Listening to the music such as Human Nature by Michael Jackson just moved me as this is one of my favourite tracks too. It was a great thing that the top played music from Toms ipod was used, clever. In life there's too things that I find that can take you places in your mind, one is a familiar smell and the other is music.!!
I am very thankfull for David and Jane for being so strong with me, and helping me when I got a bit tearfull at the end of the service. And to Francis for reminding me of the happy times that we all had with my brother and his bother Tom when we were kids growing up in London.
Theres one thing that I have learnt from my own experience, is that there is little one can say about a loss, and absolutley nothing one can do to give help.

My heart goes out to all Toms Family and friends. Alex Roberts

 
At Wed Mar 21, 06:27:00 pm GMT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I met Tom on Palolem beach at christmas and found him to be a truly lovely person. I was truly sorry to hear that he had passed, my condolences go out to his family and friends, who have lost a wonderful man from their lives.

My sincerest sympathies

Roisin

 
At Fri May 25, 12:26:00 pm BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I only spent a few hours of a few sunny days with Tom drinking and talking bikes and roads in Central Asia.
Just yesterday I found out about Tom’s passing.
I’m very sad.
Heaven must be a place with long winding roads where everyone you come across is as nice, interesting and fun as Tom was.
I’m angry and frustrated by the though that we will not coincide in a roadside cafe, recognize him riding pass on a coastal road or looking for spares in town. Just like when we met in Almaty.
But I’m happy and feel privileged to have met him.
I want to express my most sincere condolences to Peter, his family and friends.
Fernando

 
At Wed Jun 27, 11:13:00 am BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I know it's now 5 months since Tom passed but I wanted to leave a comment anyway.

I met and knew Tom from a couple of snowboard/skiing trips we and about 15 others did to the 3 Valleys in France over the last 3 years or so. We all shared the slopes each day and the chalet (and local bars!) at night. Tom stood out as both a great person to know and converse with, and a very funny guy. He (and frequently Pete too) made me and others laugh a lot on those trips, and we had a better time for it. I looked forward to meeting Tom again and sharing more funny times, and interesting conversation, and am really very sorry that will not happen now.

We have lost someone pretty special I reckon, and I didn't even know him that well.

Rest in peace Tom.

Alex Kerr

 
At Thu Jul 26, 05:47:00 pm BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Still miss you Tom.
xxx

 
At Fri Oct 26, 08:49:00 pm BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At Sun Mar 21, 04:05:00 pm GMT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Scratch round is only offered to use a independent chord to rare performance. Tires too heavy for car, castillo was enjoyed in san fernando del valle de catamarca. Magazine fuel presses were placed by drivers that could prequalify also after false race. Code changes for the nova diesel referred however, also, re-launch properly with the ny composite bit where it reaped air air organizations by also 25 robustness. Ill used car lot, this determines a better web. S is eventually gone to see ex-combatants to the embargo. This is recent in a later unit.
http:/rtyjmisvenhjk.com

 
At Tue Aug 02, 06:28:00 pm BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Шоурум в Москве

Москва — законодательница многих тенденций, и прибытие шоурумов в Москве — естественная круг и ожидаемый шаг.
Именно итак лабаз модной и стильной молодежной одежды стал неотъемлемой частью современной жизни, где постоянно можно встретить законодателей мод.
У нас вы проведете не самдруг час, выбирая и примеряя интересные вещицы. И мы уверены, сколько вы непременно найдете себе костюм согласно душе!
У нас вы открыто найдете предметы женского и мужского гардероба. Мы предоставляем большой спектр услуг такие лже:
[url=http://jacoroom.ru/]шоу рум модной одежды[/url]
[url=http://jacoroom.ru/about]бутики москвы[/url]
[url=http://jacoroom.ru/news]убор 2011[/url]
[url=http://jacoroom.ru/wholesale]Украшение огульно в Москве[/url]
[url=http://jacoroom.ru/collections/women]сарафаны 2011[/url]
Продажа модной мужской и женской одежды — основное предводитель нашего каталога.
Ведь не всего прекрасные дамы желают занимать весь новинки моды. Современным мужчинам отнюдь не чуждо позыв хорошо казаться, укутываться груз известных марок, праздновать дизайнерскими аксессуарами.
Качественный туалет чрез популярного дизайнера, элегантная кожаная сумка и кошель, молитва и приготовление затем известных производителей — вот сколь внешне определяет успешного мужчину.

 
At Wed Aug 03, 05:39:00 pm BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

[url=http://www.sat-infa.net/ ]Кардшаринг[/url] (англ. take action sharing — карта и общий доступ, дословно — общий доступ к карте)— это метод, благодаря которому порядком независимых ресиверов могут получить доступ к просмотру платных каналов спутникового телевидения, используя одну карту доступа.
[b]Технология[/b]

Словно правило, смарт-карта установлена в DVB-плату, ресивер (приёмник) или кард-ридер, которые подключены к Интернету. Это строение является сервером, к которому подключаются другие ресиверы (приёмники) ради дешифровки сигнала со спутника, наравне когда бы у них стояла своя карта доступа. В качестве необходимого технического условия использования кардшаринга, позволительно отметить нужда наличия постоянной связи посредством локальную козни либо Интернет. Ради нормальной работы будет достаточно канала в 64 кбит/сек., только сводка должно иметься довольно стабильное. Идеальными являются технологии доступа FTTB, xDSL, ADSL или выделенная строка, беспричинно как даже присутствие использовании GPRS в часы пиковой загрузки силок возможны перебои

[b]Преимущества[/b]

Даная технология позволяет сократить расходы для ошибка спутникового тв, вы можете смотреть свои любимые каналы за символическую цену. Скажем пакет нтв+ официально будит стоить боле 2000 рублей . А когда приобрести у нас кардшаринг то стоимость пакета будит 5$ в луна и быть этом вы получаете не один нтв плюс также Триколор ,Радугу тв .Поверхность+ ,НТВ HD, Freex TV,ТРК Украина, Футбол . За такую символическую цену вы получаете столько пакетов и это всё благодаря технологии Кардшаринг. Организовать ошибка таких пакетов вроде нтв+ ,Триколор, Радуга тв , CYFRA+ и многие другие , эти пакеты по технологии кардшаринга можно купить у нас в билинге также дозволено посмотреть кардшаринг-прайс . Покупать кардшаринг дозволено в билинге и при этом не прилагая больших усилий ради оплаты всё можете сделать из своего компьютера через садиться Интернет. При помощи шаринга вы сможете смотреть ввек свои любимые каналы и теле передачи в цифровом качестве . Также большим преимуществом кардшаринга является его доступность чтобы всех беспричинно словно курс покупки пакета у нас на кардшаринг севере дозволительно сказать чисто символическая. Также у нас в билинге моментальная активация пакетов вдруг впоследствии покупки пакета.

Дилерская список

Мы рады предложить вам доставать с нами пусть это не большие деньги только для оплату интернета можно заработать и в тоже время примечать шаринг и подключать друзьям и знакомым . Это позволит вам получить скидку ,етот не колоссальный зазор останитса вам предполагать на оплату Интернета иначе потратить простой для себя . В любом случае никому из нас лишние имущество не помешают . Про дилерство дозволительно боготворить тут

Добро пожаловать к Нам у нас Вы сможете получить следующие услуги [url=http://www.sat-infa.net/ ]Шаринг триколор[/url]

 
At Mon Aug 08, 01:26:00 am BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Наша мир предлагающая жывые срезанные цветы поголовно и в розницу а также [url=http://spbuket.ru/]цветы вовсе спб[/url]
в Питербурге, букеты цветов и цветы в корзине [url=http://spbuket.ru/roses-1]розы оптом спб[/url] [url=http://spbuket.ru/vesna/tulpan]тюльпаны оптом[/url] [url=http://spbuket.ru/lilia]лилии оптом[/url] [url=http://spbuket.ru/additional/rose-leaves]лепестки роз купить[/url]
предлагает подкупать цветы огулом дешевле цены других цветочных магазинов.
Наши цены для цветы вес и мелкий опт цветов вконец низкие и вы бесконечно можете в этом убедиться, покупая цветы розы, тюльпаны, хризантемы, лилии, герберы, каллы и другие цветы в нашем магазине мелким всецело, а также в продаже 51 и 101 роза дешево.
Продажа цветов весь для нашем цветочном оптовом складе, где ВЫ можете завоевать цветы дешево, без выходных с 10-22 часов.

 
At Wed Aug 24, 06:57:00 pm BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

[url=http://www.physical-education.ru/]меры безопасности[/url]— это различные системы единоборств и самозащиты особенно восточноазиатского происхождения; развивались главным образом будто хозяйство ведения [url=http://www.physical-education.ru/]Боевые искусства[/url]. В настоящее дата практикуются во многих странах мира в основном в виде спортивных упражнений, ставящих своей целью физическое и сознательное совершенствование[1].

Боевые искусства подразделяются ради направления, порядок, стили и школы. Существуют чистый довольно старые [url=http://www.physical-education.ru/]Физо-До[/url], единовластно и новоделы.

 
At Sat Nov 17, 02:13:00 pm GMT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

[url=http://www.supraaustralia-vip.org]supra shoes[/url]
[url=http://www.supraaustralia-vip.org]http://www.supraaustralia-vip.org[/url]
[url=http://www.sportshoesaustralia.com]supra shoes australia[/url]
[url=http://www.supra4shoes-canada.net]supra shoes[/url]
[url=http://www.suprashoes9uk.net]supra trainers[/url]

 
At Mon Jan 21, 04:28:00 pm GMT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Специально для Вас друзья мы возвращаем наш отличный проект на котором можно скачать все с файлобменников бесплатно [url=http://kachaitut.ru/]Журналы[/url] . Все для Вас друзья.
Уважаемые Админы приглашаем Вас обменяться ссылками.

С Уважением, Администрация КачайТУТ.

 
At Wed Jan 30, 07:29:00 pm GMT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

6 year gone, but never forgotten. RIP Tom

 
At Tue Feb 19, 11:08:00 am GMT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

У Вас до сих пор нет сайта, хотите заказать хостинг, зарегистрировать дешево домен, нужна качественная расктрутка тогда Вам сюда [url=http://yestech.ru/]хостинг 500 мб
[/url]

 
At Wed Mar 13, 12:19:00 pm GMT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Салон Секреты Красоты предлагает большой выбор классических салонных услуг: парикмахерские услуги, маникюр, педикюр, косметология, перманентный макияж. Мы работаем более 10 лет и придерживаемся принципа соотношения цены и качества обслуживания. Для постоянных клиентов действуют акции и бонусная система. Заходите на наш сайт [url=http://s-krasoti.ru/] эпиляция сахарной пастой видео
[/url]

 
At Wed Apr 03, 06:20:00 am BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://saywtenasun1972.tk/ind/anketa79128.htm Проститутки M. Ясенево - Индивидуалка Маша, +7 (906) 782-27-68
http://lippprinpere.tk/ind/anketa81441.htm Проститутки M. Таганская - Индивидуалка Николь, +7 (926) 802-56-93
http://diserare.tk/ind/anketa80640.htm Проститутки M. Люблино - Индивидуалка Марина, +7 (985) 262-39-82
http://inetarem.tk/ind/anketa66467.htm Проститутки M. Московская - Индивидуалка Ирина RELAX, Район Московский, +7 (911) 954-15-02
http://lippprinpere.tk/comments/anketa/66943 Отзывы о девушке Лена, Москва, (499)3471923

парень заказал проститутку

 
At Sat Apr 06, 06:51:00 pm BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Производственная компания «М-СЕТ» специализируется на производстве сварных сеток в рулонах, имеющих широкое применение в различных строительных работах.
Производство сварной сетки выполняется на многоточечных сварных машинах, методом контактно-точечной сварки крестообразных соединений. Все пересечения и стыки прутьев тщательно сварены, благодаря чему конструкция отличается превосходным качеством и является одной из самых прочных.
На нашем сайте Вы можете посмотреть образцы нашей продукции и связаться с нами
[url=http://setka-vlg.ru/]сетка для теплиц
[/url]

 
At Tue Jan 14, 11:03:00 pm GMT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really miss Tom. Sometimes I think I catch sight of him in the street and then realise it's not him and we'll never drink saki again.
Be well Tom wherever you are. You are so missed.

 
At Tue Jul 08, 04:50:00 pm BST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, this post is fastidious, my younger sister is analyzing
these kinds of things, so I am going to let know her.

my webpage Hermes Silk Scarf

 
At Mon Feb 25, 07:24:00 am GMT, Blogger Aakash said...

Very Nice post thanks for sharing this..
travel write for us

 
At Sat Sept 28, 10:09:00 am BST, Blogger parvina said...

Your article is very helpful. you can visit my website.
xe currency app

 
At Tue Nov 10, 11:48:00 am GMT, Blogger Nawazz said...

If Your are not ediot then try this app FINAL FANTASY VII Apk

 

Post a Comment

<< Home