With extreme sadness I write that Matthew Kilby, a friend and work colleague from a previous employer, passed away yesterday morning. After being dealt such an unfair hand, he lost his cancer battle that I first posted about in September 2011.
Matthew, about 6 years younger than me, opened my eyes to mountain biking. We were working for the same employer when I bought my first MTB. He
mentioned he had a mountain bike that really needed to be put back into
action so we organised to go out and find some tracks he had heard about at Lysterfield. Every Wednesday afternoon we
would split from work bang-on 5 o’clock and drive out to Lysterfield to spend the next hour or so picking our way around some groups of
trails that we were getting to know. What started as 10 to 12km sessions
gradually became longer loops that found us conquering hill climbs that
looked way too menacing in the first weeks, but, we discovered,
rewarded us with great fun descents. Tramline Track was a favourite, and a climb that used to lead off the northern end of it up to where you enter the rock garden section of the Commonwealth Games track. The access roads had names but
there were no sign posted single tracks and there was not even a hint of
a future Commonwealth Games track.
Matthew was the main audience as I made the transition from platform pedals to SPD's, and so he witnessed many amusing displays of my unsuccessful attempts to ride through technical sections or over obstacles.
The last time we rode together we headed out to the You Yangs, both riding Specialized Epics and riding sections of trails we would only have thought were possible to walk, back in those 10 to 12km Lysterfield sessions.
Matthew was a guy that got things done but drew very little lime-light upon himself. He was amazingly balanced in manner and attitude. He was also a perfectionist, any project he took on would be done to finite detail, whether it was at work, building his own home or working on his long-time project race car. When I visited him in early December he was telling me what his next plans for the Ford Escort were.
You'll be missed, Matty, it has been a privilege to know you. Rest in peace, mate.
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