[PATTERSON]

Pat isn't writing this message - he can't do it himself, so I'm writing it for him. (I'm David Petersen, Mr. BestRest on this forum, Pat's longtime friend and riding buddy.)

I'm sad to report that Pat is at the VA hospital in Seattle, dying from a lung cancer. He has a few days left.

Pat has ridden a variety of motorcycles over the years, and by his reckoning he has more than 750,000 miles under his belt, most of them on BMW's, the last 110,000 on his LT.

As Pat and I reminisced about life, I asked him which road was his favorite. He thought for a long time as he looked out the window of his hospital room. Then he replied, "Whatever road I was on, when we were riding together." Wow. I am truly humbled.

I will be checking Pat's forum account in the coming days, passing along any comments you all might have.

After Pat is gone I will be keeping his '05 K12LT on the road. It seems fitting to add Pat's bike to my fleet, riding those same roads we enjoyed together for the past 20+ years.

Wave if you see me on Pat's bike, and if I can see you through the tears I will wave back.

 

[Dick]

Man, that is tough to hear, David. We certainly thank you for the strength and honor to post this for the community. Been enjoying Pat's contributions here for a long time and will surely miss his presence and posts. Do tell him that we'll have him in our thoughts and prayers, and give him our thanks for being a forum participant. I imagine there will be many candles lit among the forum readers, with special thoughts for Pat and family.

Thanks again, David. Thoughts and prayers are plenty for yourself as you go through this time.

 

[Mr. BestRest]

It's a bittersweet thing to be joining this Forum...

Until now I didn't have an LT so I didn't have a reason to belong. But now I'll be riding Pat's bike.

I hope I do as well on the LT as he did.

 

[sanjaun2]

Very sorry to hear about this. I did a ride or two with Pat many years ago. He is a great guy. Please give him and his family my best regards. From now on it will be all curvy roads on sunny days.

 

[BennyBob]

Vaya con Dios, Pat! Look back on your fondest memories and smile. Look forward to the unknown with expectation. Wipe the tears from your eyes and ride on.

 

[DanDiver]

What a great way to honor your friend. I know he appreciates what you are doing and having been involved in a similar situation, not too long ago, my hats off to you to both.

I know how hard it is and I'm wishing you'all the best of everything on a peaceful journey..

 

[AlaskaFish]

From a fellow Vet, Thank you to Pat for his service! And bummer! But just think of the curvy roads ahead waiting to be ridden! Great roads and sunshine forever Pat!

And major Thanks to you David for letting us know!

John

 

[jzeiler]

Pat so sorry to hear you are not riding anymore. I never met you personally but we shared many exchanges on maintenance of the LT and I enjoyed conversing with you. See you again some day on the fine curvy roads above my friend.

 

[Mr. BestRest]

Update - Monday Feb 22, 2014. 1030 hrs. Once again Mr. BestRest is writing this on Pat's behalf.

Well, the suffering is over. Pat is gone. I wasn't there when it happened but that's OK.

In Pat's final days I spent as much time with him as I could. We talked family, we talked friends, we talked motorcycles. We covered the important things. When that got too thick we joked about the stupid things we had done together. We reminisced about the roads we'd ridden, the places we went, and we dreamed about the destinations we had hoped to someday visit. It was quality time for both of us.

We talked for hours about his bike. He described in detail every control, every peculiarity, all the mods, how things were wired, what needed servicing, etc. I tried to remember most of it, but admittedly it was overload. In the coming months I'll be posting messages asking how things work on an LT. Forgive me, I'm a GS guy at heart.

Pat made his peace with God. I was there when he prayed and I consider those moments to be the highest pinnacle of our friendship.

Ride Safe Pat Patterson

 

[katnapinn]

Thanks for keeping us updated David. I know it has to be very hard to loose such a dear friend.

RIP Pat, God speed my friend.