Eric Haws has passed away

[Phone Guy]

It saddens me to inform you that,

Eric Haws from Westfir Oregon passed away May 4, 2013 from Cancer. I spoke with his Wife Gail yesterday. He hosts the Tynda Rally at his estate in Oregon every year, it has been cancelled this year of course.

Eric has traveled to many many countries on his Moto's with Gail. He will be missed. I've only known Eric for a few years but I can't say I've met a kinder Gentleman. I was proud to know him

[chris]

What a great shame to hear that. I had the pleasure of meeting Eric and Gail in Peru in 2000/2001 and at a Tesch meeting in Germany. He was a really great bloke. My sincerest condolences to Gail and his family.

RIP

[javkap]

WOW! What a sad news!
Also we had the pleasure to meet Eric & Gail but in Argentina,first back in 2002 visiting “La Posta del Viajero en Moto” in Azul for their 10th Anniversary, we rode together for a few days visiting other towns on the pampas, then back in Buenos Aires for few dinners and we finish storing his bike for few months in some opportunities more, giving us the chance to meet him again few other times and hear all his stories like how was ride the Siberia… (I think still having his VHS about…)

We first heard about Horizons Unlimited and the Help Communities from him…

He was a true bike TRAVELER, one of the good old ones, a nice buddy, un buen hombre. He left many friends in common. He will be missed a lot.
To Gail if you are reading our more sincere condolences for you and the girls…

RIP

Javier & Sandra

[DaveSmith]

That's sad. I've only made it to one of their events and I was hoping to make it to this years. I hope Gail is doing well.

[colebatch]

I have been in touch with Eric since the early-mid 1990s, talking about Siberia.

Had the pleasure of meeting both Eric and Gail in Australia in the mid-late 90s to cement our common passion for motorcycle travel in Siberia.

To have had the guts to do what he and Gail did in the 1980s when it was still the Soviet Union is well beyond cool. He was the first to ride the Road of Bones. The first to ride the Western BAM. He was a real pioneer. A Hall of Famer.

Sad news indeed.

[Ken and Carol]

We have been so engrossed in our travels we missed this very sad news. Having only enjoyed one Tynda Burning Moto Man gathering and the pleasure of meeting these beautiful people it is a very sad day to hear this news. Our condolences to Gail and family. Ken and Carol.

[Tom-Traveller]

We had the pleasure & honor to be guests at Tynda's Rally in 2008

Eric & Gail gave us the feeling of being home and welcome

He was a gentlemen for sure and we laughed a lot about his sense of humor

We will miss him ... RIP

Thomas & Andrea

miles-to-ride.com

[mika]

I never had the pleasure of meeting Eric, we traveled the same places but at different times. But I remember people in Siberia showing me pictures of Eric and Gail. Friends in Argentina talked about Eric and Gail. And a friend in Brazil talked about the idea of a "Moto Zimmer" a room in your house free for passing motorcycle travelers, he told me it was Erics idea.

My condolences go to Gail.

RIP

mika

[Phone Guy]

Here is a nice article about Eric and Gail....

ERIC AND GAIL HAWS WORLD TRAVELLERS

[colebatch]

Phone Guy,

I note with sadness that their iconic website seems to be gone. It makes me realise how non permanent digital information can be, if no-one is hosting it ... or if the host passes away.

Please when you speak with Gail again, please ask her to forward detail of their travels for someone to host all that information and pics, even if she no longer wants to. Their rides are totally worth saving. They are part of adventure motorcycling history.

I would gladly host their travel reports myself. And I am sure hundreds of others are too. But a non personal site is better. That way its not subject to someone passing away or someone not having the financial ability to upkeep sites.

People used to say digital information is there forever. This has just made me realise it isnt. Its only there as long as someone wants it there and pays for it to be there.

[Frank on AT]

Just thought about my BIG dream to ride through Russia one day. Remembered Eric and Gail - could not find the Tynda HP, came here and... oh dear, time runs for all of us.

Like most of the guys here, I had the pleasure of meeting Eric and Gail twice in La Paz, where we lived between 2000 and 2005. Bolivia had no HU-community in those days and many riders who came through contacted me. Grant asked me to officially open a HU-community, but one does not get a contract for 5 years abroad, one gets two and prolongations (or the order to move) and so I was never sure about how much time we would have left....

The longer we stayed, the more I fell in love with Bolivia. So when Eric asked me, if I liked to live there, he got washed away by a floodstream of my gratitude and love for that wonderful place.
Eric very dry meant: "I could never live in a country, where I cannot throw my toilet paper into the toilet."

Years later he wrote me an email and asked: "Do you remember us?"
I answered: "There is no morning in my life, I do not remember you!"

Rest in peace Eric.
Our deepest condolences to Gail.

Frank