I was born in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape, as the third of four children. One of my early and happy childhood memories was my great granny falling asleep while reading me stories. Each time I woke her she would faithfully continue. 

At an early age I developed a love for playing rugby followed closely by a passion for riding motorcycles. On road, off road, entering enduro races, anything as long as I was on two wheels with an engine that was way bigger than I needed, I was happy. My motto for a motorcycle is “give me too much power and it is almost enough”. On the rugby front, the Springboks’ World Cup winning record is a source of both pleasure and pride for me. I believe the Springboks brutal determination to achieve a positive outcome for the sake of the people, works to their advantage when playing at the Rugby World Cup. This same grim determination was evidenced by the Boers when they took on the full might of the British Empire during both Anglo Boer Wars.

Besides these great loves of mine I enjoy a wide variety of sports and activities. Snow skiing, swimming, tennis, squash, and padel are all fun to play. For me golf is an excursion to enjoy the company of friends but when it comes to choosing between playing golf or riding my Adventure Bike, it is no contest. Golf, being a harsh mistress, punishes me severely for my lack of dedication to the game.

While enjoying sports during my schooling, academically I was far from a good student.With hindsight knowing now that I have ADD explains the difficulty that I had in concentrating during class. I was unable to secure a study bursary based on my matric results, so I joined a Bank and completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree on a correspondence learning basis. Upon securing a position at a London based Merchant Bank I followed the BCom with an MBA from Warwick Business School, which I completed part time.

I woke up one morning and found that I was married with four daughters and had expanded my career into Private Equity. My passion for motorcycles had not dwindled. I remember a colleague of mine who saw me arrive on my bike at work when I was in my forties saying that clearly the fact that I had a motorbike meant that I was going through a mid-life crisis. I agreed with him and said ‘yes, it started when I was six’. Another comment I get from a lot of men is how they love bikes, but their wives won’t allow them to own one, to which my standard retort is “yes, I understand. My first wife was the same.”

Moving on to family, I have been married to the same woman for almost 40 years. We have four daughters, and we did our best to raise them as ‘can do kids’. I always tell them that ‘can do people‘ have more fun than those who always present a solid case for not leaving the house. At the age of 13 each child did a tandem skydive, qualified as scuba divers, and have enjoyed adventure holidays of the likes of quad biking, scuba diving and white water rafting. Introducing them to quad biking was one of the smartest things I did as I could enjoy special times away together while pursuing my passion for biking.

I was blessed to marry a woman who always gave me space to do the things I enjoyed and supported me as I built a career. I reciprocated as best I could and poured all my energy into activities with the girls on holidays. That recipe worked well for us, and we have ended up with a closely knit family unit which has now expanded to include 4 sons-in-law and 8 grandchildren.

It is easy to write about the happy things in life, but it would be remiss of me not to mention that I have faced many challenges and trials along the way that at times brought me to tears. The mistakes that I have made are many and the thinking that went into key decisions was often flawed. These events and experiences shape and mold us as individuals and help to develop the wisdom that we so desperately required when we were younger. As Mark Twain once said, ‘The problem with learning by experience is that the test always comes before the lesson.’

With my love of speed and adventure, it’s a testament to God’s grace and keeping power that I have made it this far. I look forward to the journey of life that is before me.