The journey of Biker Bob took another series of twists and turns on Friday, with several people offering information about the man whose cremated remains were discovered in a bottle, along with a note, on the shoreline of China Beach.
The final word was given to his widow, Maudine Previl. The Nanaimo woman told CHEK News that the remains are those of her husband, Robert Nisbet, who died on Aug. 10, 2013, from injuries suffered in a Saanich motorcycle accident four days earlier. He was 71.
The makeshift urn discovered on Feb. 20 by University of Victoria student Caleb Harding was a large beer bottle equipped with a swing-top cap. The 21-year-old political science student came across the bottle containing the ashes of Biker Bob while strolling on the beach with his girlfriend.
Tucked inside, amongst the remains, was a note that read: “If you find me, turn me loose.”
Previl said she wrote the note in tribute to Nisbet, and threw the urn containing some of his ashes in the water near Nanaimo’s Jack Point. “I threw that bottle in there so that he could travel and that no one could keep him down.”
Harding told the Times Colonist on Friday that he and his girlfriend have been given Previl’s blessing, and intend to extend Biker Bob’s journey with a send-off this weekend in Tofino.
The urn was first discovered by Justun Bevis of Nanaimo, who put the bottle into the water near Dallas Road in November — after taking Biker Bob out for supper and celebratory beer. The ceremony this weekend will extend Biker Bob’s journey for a second, unexpected leg, and at least one more beer, Harding said.
The story prompted a wave of emails from readers saying they were family, friends or acquaintances. But, it seemed, no two Biker Bobs were the same.
“He lost his leg in a bike accident,” said Bill Parr, of Petersfield, Man. “I know exactly the turn on the road where he lost it.” Parr figured his Biker Bob, born Robert Fowler, had been dead 15 years, at the very least 10.
June Bender got in touch, hoping the Bob she knew was the unidentified man in question. After a short deliberation, Bender realized her late Salt Spring Island friend, Bob Simons, was pedal-powered not fuel-injected. “All the Saltspringers would know him as Bicycle Bob,” Bender said.
Mitch Rivest also knew a Biker Bob who lived at West Bay Marina in Esquimalt.
So the mystery of Biker Bob is no more.
Previl said the sudden news involving her late husband was enough to move her to tears. “It’s gorgeous, it really is.”
CHEK News video report: Biker Bob was her beloved husband
