Friday Fling

Friday morning. Trail conditions are just perfect at the moment, so what better way to kick start the day than with a fling to the Eastern Escarpment?

Dr Geoff had an appointment to keep, so the pace was going to be hot (for me).

Darren, the destroyer, metered out the pain. I tried not to blub........too much.







Have a great day and an awesome weekend.

Now That All The Rain Has Gone

Just a day after we received about 150mm (6 inches) of rain, I thought I would head out and see how the trails had held up...........

Move along please.  Nothing to see here..........

My God! Look at My Gear!!

So, the new blue bike sitting patiently in my shed waiting for the rain to stop wasn't totally an impulse buy. No, over the last six months I have slowly had the motorcycling fires rekindled within. Between my brother getting back out on the road more and blogging about it, to some guys at work leaving the odd AMCN lying around the flight deck and my mountain biking acquaintance, NitroNick, with his toy shed, I have thought quite a bit about the many years that I  spent hurtling around this fine brown land on the back of a motorcycle. Some bloody good times, some pretty ordinary times too, but all great memories to me.

As I mentioned in a previous post, you can rationalise things away. Pretty much anything can be examined until it fits neatly into the pigeon hole you need it to. Of this I am certain.

Here is my thinking from early 2002.

Fat, dumb and happy. From here it was a short few months to denial, then resistance and finally on to acceptance.

Technically, I have only had a two year hiatus from motorcycles in total. My last bike being my hairy chested Husky TE510 (too much bike for me!!). The R1 went to a New Aussie from the Mother Country in mid 2005, so it had been about six years since my road kit had a work out.

Exhuming it from the cupboard to test ride the new bike proved a bit of a shock. My much used, much loved leather jackets were covered in mould!

Last summer here in Brisbane we had many metres of rainfall and ultra high humidity. Leather jackets and humidity are arch enemies as can be seen by this photo of my old Brando style jacket. Not sure what to do with this little number as it has given twenty two years service, but seems a shame to just give up on it. The jacket from my two piece suit is at the dry cleaners for a resurrection, but after purchasing that suit in 1993, I will have to pay pretty close attention to the stitching. The leather looks fine, but it might come apart like the proverbial "cheap suit" if I have the misfortune to rag doll myself along the tarmac!

My AlpineStar boots had been trying to shed their soles for years, so it was pretty much a no brainer here. Straight into the bin with those. I note that my brother had two pairs of AlpineStars over the years and both of his pairs lost their soles too. And it isn't like we were big walkers back in the day! Another pair will not be on the shopping list as a result. Time to try another brand.

My expensive, much love, little used helmet was a bit of a disappointment as well. The liner was dotted with mould, while the neck seal at the back was leaving little balls of black sticky stuff all over my head and neck. Bugger!!

Now, this puppy (an Arai Quantum e), while being a 1998 model worn by some Japanese GP rider whose name now eludes me, has had less than 15 000 kilometres of use and being in bloody good nick apart from the black balling issue, I will definitely be trying to breath life into it lest this return to motorcycling turn into a financial black hole!

Hang on. Isn't this one of the reasons I got out of it..............????

On another note, this is an anniversary of sorts for A.V.F.A. This being the 100th post!! Like most things in (my) life, I wasn't sure where this blog would go and personally I am finding it very interesting , every now and then, to go back and see where I have come from and see what I have done. I am under no illusion as to the insignificance of all these ramblings, but despite this insignificance, these postings are the content of my life and hold true to my very first post.

Thank you for looking in and I hope you get a laugh or at least a smirk from time to time. I know I am having fun. Thanks for tagging along........

Holiday Ideas

Well, the wife has returned from nearly three weeks in London and Paris with her family and has okayed a couple of weeks away for me! Good Karma for letting her slip away at christmas!

Now, down to the serious business of coming up with a possible destination. Some destinations would be better ridden sooner rather than later........


Although, New Zealand is much closer and there are sooo many sweet trails.

So, armed with cheapish air travel and a couple of weeks off (yet to be booked), where would YOU go? I would love to hear some of your dream destinations and why you would go there. And remember, there is always room for a riding partner.........

What Have I Done Now ?

Waaaay back in 1990 I bought my very first motorcycle. It was a 1984 Honda CBX 750F. It looked all Buck Rodgers (kids, ask your parents) and I was hooked by the two wheel bug.

Over the years I upgraded to bigger and better bikes. Some Honda,

                                                                        some Kawasaki

                                                                   sometimes multiple bikes

Some race bikes

but, my last road bike was a 2000 model Yamaha R1.

Ahhh, the R1. To me, the most perfect sports bike I had ever ridden. It had massive amounts of power. It had huge brakes and you could use them while cranked over, in a corner, without the bike trying to run you wide and spit you off. And you could tour on it. And I loved that bike more than all the others.

Unfortunately circumstance conspired against me and in a fit of logic (be careful about letting your head rule your heart) I decided to stop road riding and get into dirt bikes. The dirt was good fun. No speeding issues, no traffic in the bush, but also no one to find you if you had a close encounter with the shrubbery. This meant always riding with others. The downside to this was that organising a ride partner became mandatory for a ride to happen. Just another hurdle erected in front of a ride.........so the dirt bikes went as well. For the last four years I have been getting my two-wheel-fix riding mountain bikes and reaping the benefit of hugely improved fitness as well.

I look forward to the mountain biking continuing, but the velos needs to be kind to their new stable mate.......

I always liked the blue R1 more..........

And Straight into 2012

I was correct. I didn't even make 8pm.

Declining a cycling friend's invitation to dinner and drinks for NYE was a wise, if disappointing, decision as I was awakened by the birds chirping, feeling refreshed and quite frankly, GREAT!

Donning my riding kit, I snuck out while everyone was still asleep. With a self imposed upper heart rate limit of 150bpm, I took a most enjoyable roll around the Redlands.

And finished it off with a strong, smooth, steaming coffee.

Welcome to the future people..........I hope it is a great one for you as well.

Where did it go?

Well, here we are at the end of 2011....already!?!

I had great intentions of putting together some stats of rides I have done, people I had enjoyed being around, places I had flown to, bits I have broken (or had broken me!) and other such intriguing stories, but to be honest, after my first week back at work I am simply toooo munted to do anything much really. I doubt that I will make it past 8pm tonight! I may still carry through with this retrospective, however I guess it will lack all relevance when delivered a week or two after new year.

Suffice to say that 2012 will be a year where I will make more time to spend with friends, help out some strangers, train with more focus and I will tell my family that I love them, more often . Yes, all very Dudley Doo Right, but I do need to try harder.

Oh, and I might ride my bike some too........

See you all in the new year.