Tebs, you were a legend, an inspiration to all. You lived for your kids & for your riding. Thanx for all the awesome rides we had throughout the 14/15 years. A good friend of mine once said "once you've ridden with someone for 200km, you know everything about them". Well Tebs, I can only concur. We shared stories, experiences, laughs, falls, what was on our "bucket lists" . . . You reminisced about races & training rides with exact details as to location, weather details, break-aways, comments made, results achieved, average time etc. I grew to know your family from your proud fatherly updates. Little did I know that Saturday would be our very last ride together, ever. The "Baker Brothers" are well known in the cycling fraternity. On Saturday as we passed a bunch of riders, one of them turned around & said, "The Baker Brothers". The lady who was so grateful to you on Saturday for giving her a push up the hill, probably sat around the lunch table & relayed the story to her family, not knowing that the enthusiastic cyclist who had saved her day, never returned home to his. If at any stage you were passed by cyclists & happened to catch up to them at a red robot, it was Terry who said "If you take our drugs, you can ride like us", he loved to watch peoples reaction to this absurd comment! Riding will never be the same again . . . I would like to clarify what happened on Saturday as there are various stories: Terry, Glen (brother)& myself (Tessa) were on our way back from our usual Cradle ride. We had turned from the R28 onto Hendrik Potgieter. Glen was slightly in front on the left hand side of the emergency lane while both Terry & I were slightly behind on the right hand side of the emergency lane. Terry & I sat-up to allow a taxi to move from the emergency lane onto the road. As we gunned it down the hill, heads down, as all cyclists do, the taxi came back into the emergency lane between Glen & us & stopped suddenly for no apparent reason as there was no one around! I screamed for Terry to swerve out, he didn't hear me & rode into the back of the taxi. Glen & I felt absolutely helpless as there was nothing we could do. An ER24 car arrived about 10-15min later & confirmed the above. It is the most horrific experience I have ever had & it will haunt me forever. Thank you to the many cyclists who stopped on the side of the road on Saturday to offer assistance & support, it meant a lot. My deepest sympathy to Debbie, Shannon & Farren as well as to Geoff, Glenn, Wayne & the rest of the family. Glen, you have to get back on your bike, coz that's what Tebs would want. Tebs was a truly remarkable man & he is going to leave a huge void in the lives of many people. "Til we meet again, Tebs" with all my love, Tess xx
