Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Bikers gather to pay tribute to one of their own

Oceanside man killed in unavoidable motorcycle accident

Big turnout to honor Hugh Williams at the Kraken
Big turnout to honor Hugh Williams at the Kraken

On February 1, close to 300 friends and family showed up at the Kraken on Coast Highway 101 for a remembrance and celebration of life of Oceanside resident Hugh Williams.

Williams was killed on the evening of Sunday, January 26, while riding his motorcycle above Lake Hodges on Del Dios Highway, near the intersection of Date Lane. He had just left his friends at the Kraken prior to the accident.

Prior to the gathering, to honor Williams, over 75 motorcyclists rode from the family’s Oceanside home to the crash site, and then to the Kraken. Williams’s family traveled with the group in a limousine with Williams's well-recognized custom-built motorcycle being towed behind.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A CHP report indicates Williams was traveling near the speed limit at around 7:00 p.m., eastbound, when a group of five pedestrians, coming off the trail of the Del Dios Highlands Preserve, was crossing the highway. According to other reports, the group stopped in the middle of the road; two pedestrians reportedly decided to run across the eastbound lane.

Williams swerved to avoid the group, hitting and killing one of the pedestrians. His bike then hit the curb and a highway sign. Reportedly, Williams, riding his new Honda Gullwing, was wearing full safety gear and was known for his safe riding practices.

CHP spokesperson Jim Bettencourt labeled the collision a “tragic accident.” In an NBC7 News report, Bettencourt said, “Unfortunately, at this time in the evening, a motorcyclist doesn’t expect a pedestrian to be standing in the road. There was nothing the motorcyclist could do.”

At the Kraken remembrance, several spoke of Williams, who grew up in Cardiff by the Sea, as a “gentle giant.” His daughter said he was a “big marshmallow inside.”

Hugh Williams with his custom bike

Kevin from Encinitas said Williams was nice and kind to everyone he met. “He was never a jerk like many of us are.”

Fellow rider Gary from Solana Beach said Williams's chrome-laden custom bike that he built from the frame up about 15 years ago “is the fanciest of fanciest. He hand-built and engineered everything.”

Disclosure: The writer was a classmate of Hugh Williams from kindergarten through high-school graduation. The two recently became reacquainted at their class reunion last October.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Big turnout to honor Hugh Williams at the Kraken
Big turnout to honor Hugh Williams at the Kraken

On February 1, close to 300 friends and family showed up at the Kraken on Coast Highway 101 for a remembrance and celebration of life of Oceanside resident Hugh Williams.

Williams was killed on the evening of Sunday, January 26, while riding his motorcycle above Lake Hodges on Del Dios Highway, near the intersection of Date Lane. He had just left his friends at the Kraken prior to the accident.

Prior to the gathering, to honor Williams, over 75 motorcyclists rode from the family’s Oceanside home to the crash site, and then to the Kraken. Williams’s family traveled with the group in a limousine with Williams's well-recognized custom-built motorcycle being towed behind.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A CHP report indicates Williams was traveling near the speed limit at around 7:00 p.m., eastbound, when a group of five pedestrians, coming off the trail of the Del Dios Highlands Preserve, was crossing the highway. According to other reports, the group stopped in the middle of the road; two pedestrians reportedly decided to run across the eastbound lane.

Williams swerved to avoid the group, hitting and killing one of the pedestrians. His bike then hit the curb and a highway sign. Reportedly, Williams, riding his new Honda Gullwing, was wearing full safety gear and was known for his safe riding practices.

CHP spokesperson Jim Bettencourt labeled the collision a “tragic accident.” In an NBC7 News report, Bettencourt said, “Unfortunately, at this time in the evening, a motorcyclist doesn’t expect a pedestrian to be standing in the road. There was nothing the motorcyclist could do.”

At the Kraken remembrance, several spoke of Williams, who grew up in Cardiff by the Sea, as a “gentle giant.” His daughter said he was a “big marshmallow inside.”

Hugh Williams with his custom bike

Kevin from Encinitas said Williams was nice and kind to everyone he met. “He was never a jerk like many of us are.”

Fellow rider Gary from Solana Beach said Williams's chrome-laden custom bike that he built from the frame up about 15 years ago “is the fanciest of fanciest. He hand-built and engineered everything.”

Disclosure: The writer was a classmate of Hugh Williams from kindergarten through high-school graduation. The two recently became reacquainted at their class reunion last October.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Best Sports Betting Sites - 10 Online Sportsbooks Ranked for 2024

Best Sports Betting Sites (2024) - Reviews of TOP Online Sportsbooks
Next Article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.