Update
SEDGEFIELD NEWS - What would have been a pleasant joy ride ended in sadness when an avid Sedgefield motorbike rider, Jules Absillis (67), lost control of his BMW GS, crashed and died on the Outeniqua Pass on Sunday 13 May.
"We had just had our usual Sunday ride and pizza and were on our way back home at 12:00 when the accident happened," said one of his best friends, Eddie Trauschweizer, who found him lying next to the road, already deceased.
Just moments before, Trauschweizer had turned around and gone in search of Absillis when he could not see him and Tess Didiro, his girlfriend, behind him anymore.
"We think he had a blackout and lost control of his bike. He had been suffering from heart problems for three years… He was a great guy, always friendly and well-liked and ready to give support. He loved the outdoors. We had been friends for over 30 years."
The accident happened in a straight section of the pass on a downwards bound lane. At the scene, near the Montagu Pass turn-off, Trauschweizer found the bushes nearby flattened and gathered that Absillis had swerved off the road onto the embankment and then back onto the cemented road drainage channel, where he had crashed to a halt.
Jules Absillis.
Didiro, who had been hurled off the bike, sustained injuries and was taken to George Hospital for X-rays.
The police, traffic and three ambulance services were at the scene.
The BMW bike belonging to Jules Absillis was loaded onto a bakkie while officials cleared the road.
Before Absillis emigrated to South Africa he was a restaurateur in Belgium and owned an Airbnb at Myoli Beach in Sedgefield.
He leaves behind a six-year-old son.
Read a previous article: Motorbiker dies on Outeniqa Pass
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