Hey all,

Been a while, sorry about that, but as you might have gathered from the title things have been a bit hectic of late. Nothing in particular, just lots of stuff in general. I know the other two lads are in the same boat as are most of the people I spoken to recently, must be something in the air…

Elbows hurt. No really. Compared to other parts of your body when you bang em into stuff, elbows really hurt. The reason I mention this is cos I’ve got no skin on either of mine at the moment, momentum can be a bitch. You see when I dumped my new mountain bike head first into a creek bed and it stuck … well you get the picture. The bikes still OK though, got a bit of cred now and as we all know, chicks dig scars…

Ummm what else … symmetry dictates that I write a third paragraph that ends with three dots, otherwise it won’t look any good on the screen and as Benny will tell you it’s all about the user experience … ahh yes, Guitar Hero III, that’s been keeping me very busy of an evening. I don’t want to brag too much, but I can hammer a power cord off the back of the couch with the best of them (WARNING explicit nerd content ahead) and the best bit is you can download the theme to HALO II and play it in Guitar Hero, how cool is that!!! Oh yeah, three dots, not exclamation points …

Chucks

So it’s been a while since I posted something and both the other lads got something up this week, so I figured it was time.

So the weekend was spent in Melbourne at my sisters wedding. All really lovely except for the sick little tacker we had in tow. Did discover a new way into East Melbourne though, via the Melba Hwy, just take the exit to Seymour and then follow the road to Yea and on through the Yarra Valley. Gorgeous stretch of road, can’t wait to do it on the bike …

Once back in Canberra the week started at Web Directions South Govt. Big thumbs up to Maxine, John and the crew for a really good couple of days immersed in all things web and social media. Saw benny at the conference, arm all up in a sling, guess we won’t be riding anywhere together for a while (see his post below for details of the dramatic light switch incident).

Had to wear a suit on Wednesday which is never a good start to a day, however I was back on the bike today for the first time in over a week and it felt soooo good.

I love my bike.

Tomorrow is Friday, and I get to ride the bike again so all bodes well for the end of the week.

If anybody sees a purple cow, be sure and let me know.

Cheers

Chucks

Well, will wonders never cease?

For once, it’s not a busted part on my ducati that’s keeping me off my wheels. ON Tuesday night, while shutting down my house for the night, I was switching off the lights in my house and well, I dislocated my shoulder.

For anyone who knows me, I’m kind of like a lego minifig with arms that pop off way too easily.

See, in 2001 my good wife and I got run over by a taxi cab… on a pedestrian crossing….while he had a fair on board and everything.

Since then, I’ve had 19 subsequent dislocations doing anything from opening DVD cases, sneezing, opening a sliding door, sleeping, putting on the reg grundies, falling off the bike (all of them, one for each bike) reaching for toys, and throwing a tennis ball for the dog.

Well Tuesdays was the camel that broke the straws back. I managed to reduce it back into it’s socket easily enough, with some help from my good nurse.. erm… wife. and well snap back in it went.

Problem was, there was no.. “snap” or “crackle” or even a “pop”. Which on the surface, isn’t that bad, but the problem it, it pops, when there is tension on the joint caused from the ligaments and tendons holding it in place.

No pop, no ligaments.

FAIL.

The up shot is this:

…………

There is no upshot. Blunt end, I’m heading down surgury lane. So if anyone knows a totally FRACKING AWESOME shoulder specialist, I’m hunting names. Can travel. It’s my second surgury on this blasted thing, and Donkey want’s off the pop’em sock’em shoulder ride.

So can I go to the BMW advanced rider training course in Victoria later this year? nup.

MotoGP? … Nup.

Ride my bike at all before the fresh rego runs out? nup.

Ultimately I am pretty sure this won’t affect the tour … but it certainly will affect any interim rides in the short term

You should see the state of the light switch.. I totally messed him up so bad his kids will have bruises.

Big thanks to Chucks who kindly offered today to “keep my duke kicked over” for me.

sadly, I may actually have to take him up on that one.

Ok so I have been slack again, but at least this time I have some sort of excuse…….sort of.

Up until recently I have been pretty much house bound recovering from surgery since the end of Febuary, I had these grand plans set in my head to be blogging my little heart out during my recovery, but things just do not always pan out as planned. Firstly I was feeling pretty sorry for myself and could not really sit up properly for very long periods, and secondly, I got to spend a ton of time with the family, these last few months have been the longest I have had off of work since pretty much leaving school back in the 90’s.

My wife and kids (well mainly the kids as my wife was pretty much having to everything around the house while I was out of action) were loving having Daddy home and I was loving watching all the mischief they were getting into while they thought I was not watching.

But now I am back at work and back on the Duke and loving it (The Duke that is), still a little painful but completely worth it. My first run on the the bike after 2 months of gathering dust in the shed was only to the corner store and back and painful as all heck, but I still pulled into the drive way with a grin from ear to ear, it is an insane passion that only motorcyclists will understand, sort of like being a Ducati owner…..crazy.

More recently as Ben mentioned in his last post was rocking up at the first, and hopefully not last, Canberra Bikefest. The Weather was perfect for getting out on two wheels, and for the kick off of a new event I was quite supprised and pleased at the number of people who were there as I rocked up after picking up Nath, an old friend, along the way. As Ben mentioned I was carrying my usual luggage, my lil’ Canon SLR, and took a few candid shots, so I will sort through them and get them posted. To top off a great day, Ben and I pointed our bikes east and headed out to Bungendore and sat down for a well deserved coffee before heading back home to call it a day well spent.

Well that is all I have at the moment so till next time.

Got on the duke for the first time in a long while. Greased the chain, almost washed him but didn’t, brushed off the cobwebs, and put some fuel in, then went for a good old ride!

Saturday was Canberras first Bikefest, and was put on by the good people at KickStart.

There were some great expos from:

Canberra Riders Club

Canberra District Ducati Club

Cunning Stunts

Robbos Motorcycles

and a wide wide selection of others.

Firstly, thank you to the organisers for putting on such a great event, and secondly thanks to all the other organisers, and stall presenters and everyone else who put in such a big effort.

Day was great, I’ve only a few meager photos to share, but Craig was there also with his trusty Canon DSLR so I’m sure there will be more pics to follow.

Keep them shiny everyone.

Your bikes, not your wangs.

Ben

So I’ve been on about test riding something for ages now and you’re all thinking ‘about bloody time!’ … and now you’re all thinking ‘well what did you ride?’ Well as some of you may already know, I am one of those people who when confronted with a task, likes to start at the beginning. Ahhhh so he test rode the Aprilia … umm no. One of the BMW’s then? … nup. OK then, what? … Well, I’m glad you asked …

You see it has been a long week, actually several long weeks and I hadn’t had time to scratch myself (I’m quite fond of a good scratch) let alone find a spare hour to go ride something, but then suddenly there was a break in the chaos, a single ray of sunshine through the clouds and I thought … fuck it!

I was in need of something special, not your run of the mill bike, but something to stir the soul … something new, something different, something fast … something definitely NOT an all roads tourer…

‘Hold on, you’re test riding something for the trip aren’t you? The one you keep going on about?’

Well in theory that was the plan, but I’m also one of those people who has been known, albeit only on very rare occasions, to say screw the plan and just wing it. This was one of those rare occasions and in this case winging it meant a CBR929 Fireblade (for those who don’t know what that is, well it’s big, it’s nearly 1000cc and it’s fast, really, really, fast!)

Well at least my feet touched the ground, good start I thought. OK all the controls are in the usual places, also good. Adjust mirrors, good, little bit of a rev … bugger me I’m going to die! OK side stand up and away we go … umm … bike in gear, and away we go.

Holy crazy motorcycles Batman!!! This thing is insane!!! It doesn’t steer worth a damn at low speed. For that matter it doesn’t even do low speed! It only seems to have two throttle settings, off or on. Only obvious choice was to give it some … arghhhhh … now were moving, oh yeah, clutch, second gear arghhhhhhh!!!! Oh shit roundabout, brake, turn … turn damn you turn!!!

OK we’re on a big road now, third gear, 90kmh and it’s barely ticking over, crap! 100 zone, come on Chucky you’ve got bigger balls than this … well they’re really about avera… arghhhhhhhh, no really, that’s the noise I actually made as approximately two seconds later we hit 150kmh. OK back into traffic … slowing down, there’s no way in the world I could commute on this thing … oh god, another roundabout … turn you bitch, TURN!!!!

So how was it? he asked, a disarming, salesman’s smile on his face …

educational, I replied …

Later … got to go change my pants.

Chucks

So whilst Ben laments the vagaries of language and MSN (… asian dick joke … still funny), I am still feeling older and crankier than I should and as such more determined than ever to maintain forward momentum with our trip planning etc.

So here’s my latest plan, which was actually Ben’s plan but hey, I’m writing about it first, so it’s my plan, right! We’re doing a bike trip, a training run, three days, at least 50% dirt and we carry everything on the bikes. The ‘when’ is obviously an ongoing issue for everything we’re planning to do, but I’m hoping that for a paltry three days the boys can just harden the fuck up and make it happen.

Oh, and here’s the best bit, you do it on whatever bike you have at the time … that’s right, whatever bike you can scrounge, borrow or already have in the garage at the time we all get permission from the tower, that’s the bike you do it on …

OK, I hear you say that’s not very exiting, well that’s where you lot come in … yes you … we want a route, no not that sort of … well … no definitely not. We need a route that meets these criteria – it starts in Canberra, is hopefully a little off the beaten track, can be done in three days and is at least 50% dirt. No hotels, no pubs, camping spots only!

Can you do it? Of course you can, map it out on the mapping website of your choice and add the link as a comment here. Person who supply’s the best route gets a six pack and ummm … does that sound a bit tawdry, oh yeah, forgot, we’re bikers!.

Cheers

Chucks

We’re bikers so it doesn’t matter.

Chucks and I were conversing over MSN the other night, and the conversation led to our expectations about when this ride was actually going to occur.

I was thinking about 2012-ish, so my three kids will be old enough so it’s not such a huge burden of having such young kids to look after on her lonesome, and that they can understand where Daddy is and what he’s doing.

Chucks replied with

C: “WTF? *cough splutter When?!”

B: “2012, four years from now?.. why?”

C: “Have you any idea how old I’ll be then?”

B: “No….How old ARE you?”

C: “Thirty something!”

B: “phh! I’m thirty something! what’s your problem?”

C: “I think my something is bigger than your something mate!”

B: (I’m Thai) pause…”is that supposed to be some sort of Asian dick size joke?”

C: PMSL.

Good old MSN, misinterpreting written intent since 1999.

Safe riding everyone.

Ben

Two years ago, I was riding this horse. An Arabian horse, which was essentially green broke, and was a bit, well… determined.The net result of the otherwise long long story, is that he found the eject button, I found the ground.

I ‘walked’ away from what was quite definitively the worst accident I’ve had in my life. I dislocated my shoulder for th 16th time, and broke my back in two places. I spent 9 weeks in bed drugged up to my eyeballs and the whole exercise I did bugger all except hurt and whinge.

Since then, riding bikes has been a struggle for me physically. I haven’t had the strength, flexibility and indeed balance to really get down on a bike like I used to.

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to have a long cup of coffee with an old colleague of mine, who also has a fascination with speed (of the tin lid variety) and he’d had a few accidents also. So I got to thinking about my ability to actually do this ride, and I think there are several dimensions on top of the standard ones for preparing for a trip like this.

By the end of 2008:

- I will have seen a specialist fitness trainer (courtesy of my aforementioned colleague) who specialises in “life fitness”. I used to push a lot of iron a few years ago, was a lot trimmer, and about 2 shirt sizes larger, sadly now I’m sporting a ‘consultant special’ waistline, and all of my shirts … fit now.

- I will have sold my beloved Ducati, (email me for enquiries if you wish through our Facebook, or a comment here) and hopefully acquired a new machine, which will suit me better in terms of less crouching and reaching. At the moment, I’m looking to a BMW 650 GS, or Aprillia Pegaso.

- I will have done at least one 1000+ klm trip on that bike

- I will have booked into BMW Motoraad Off road skills training course for 2009.

For 2009:

- I will have moved well on my way to resolving my back and shoulder strength issues, and will be focusing on my rider skills. Being a predominantly road type guy, I have a LOOOOOONG way to go here…. and well, that’s as far as I can get in my thinking so far.

I think physically I have a long way to go, because my back, shoulder, knees are in such poor shape I’m likely to be more of a hindrance than a help to my buddies on this tour.

So I’ll work hard, and keep my commitment to them as well as myself, I hope.

Ride safely everyone.

Benji

Obviously one of the biggest decisions for this trip is going to be what bike to take. For those of you who ride and probably many of you who don’t, bikes are a very personal choice, one that should be made with at least as much reference to heart as to head (probably more so!)

So when it came to thinking about what we would choose to ride we were kind of looking forward to a battle of the bikes, each of us choosing our preferred bike and then the inevitable piss-taking and one-upmanship that would ensue as things went wrong or right on our trip.

The latest advice we have received however, suggests that as we’re traveling unsupported, we should all be on the same bike … it makes sense actually as we only have to carry spares for one model, thus allowing us to spread them across all three bikes. I like to think that we would have worked this one out for ourselves, but I guess if you knew it all, the whole notion of advice would be redundant wouldn’t it…

Anyway what it comes down to is that now we ALL have to be happy with our choice of bike, this is where I can see things getting messy. For starters … well there’s no easy way to say this … Ben is short, not pick him up and throw him short, but let’s be honest we’re not getting him on a KTM without a step ladder! Actually that’s a bit harsh, cos none of us are particularly tall, so maybe seat height won’t be that big a deal, but there’s still that heart thing to be contended with. We’ll be on the road for a long time, so we’re really going to need to be happy with our bikes.

Anyway keep your eyes on our bike page as we’ll be adding photo’s, links and our own personal impressions of the possible bikes over the coming months.

Cheers

Chucks