Personal entry

What another great year it’s been! At this time last year I decided I had blown the budget and should ease up on the K's after having done 30,000 for the year. I didn't do very well though because I've managed 28,000 this year, which is odd because it feels like I've done a lot less riding this year.

My highlights for the year were;

Going to the Australian Tennis Open in January, which was a good trip even though I’m not really into tennis. I’d probably prefer Melbourne ...

I wrote this the day after Brett died to help me through the 'process' of witnessing a tragedy. It wasn't intended for general consumption, but I have decided to post it after being encouraged to do so by Kari and others. I still struggle with the fact that the incident happened, I speculate on what could have caused Brett to 'lose it', and the fact that, if it happened to any one of those riding with him, we would probably still be here. That he was on this type of ride, knowing the risks to himself, ...

After a busy week at work and sorting a few bits for the 1000Km Ride next week, we had the Training Day at Manfield to look forward to on Saturday. The weather forecast was quite variable all week and on Friday it looked like we might be in for a really crappy day, but a quick squiz at the rain radar at 0530 Saturday morning was reassuring that we should get through most of the day unscathed, however, coming home might be a different story.

With the prospect that the 'wets' could ...

With just one week to go until the Grand Challenge, I've been sorting out my gear and making final preparations. I washed my corduras and retreated them, brought a map and supply of nut bars, I've been looking at helmets to get a new one that will be a bit quieter than the HJC and the bike is booked in for a pre-GC check tomorrow. So I'm pretty much ready.

I haven't done much in the way of duration or night riding lately but I should be OK there and todays ride was totally at the ...

This weeks ride was scheduled as a Wellington Scenic Round-the-Bays, which is a bit dry as far as rides go but provides a bit of variation and is a relaxed social ride.

My gear was getting a bit stinky so I gave it wash on Friday night then Mike rang me on Saturday to see if I could take a pillion and as Ann was busy, I agreed and got away from home at 0840 to swing by Whitby to meet them. That meant we were early enough for a quick blat over the hill and back before the ride. By ...

Nanny Ann bought a Spa Pool last week which was delivered on Monday. I wasn’t that keen and when I realized I would have paint the house starting at that part, I was even less impressed. (I did buy the paint last October but!......I’ve just had too many K’s to do!) Anyway, the pool was delivered Monday but had to be leveled, which was done Tuesday and I went in for a brief, only to find that to own a spa you need to be a chemist as well as a janitor……wow, and I had the privilege of paying for all ...

I think the Weather-gods must be smiling again as Spring is in the air and Motor-Bikelists are back on the roads in numbers. After a bit of a drought in recent months, we've actually had three rides in three weeks as last Saturday, Nanny-Ann and I went up to Taranaki to check out some back roads between Stratford and south of Hawera, doing 650Kms for the day and today we had a Ulysses ride.

It was the first 'short' ride in three months and was programmed with two options to cater ...

Once again, it's been a month since my last ride! This is becoming a bad habit thanks to the crappiest winter weather we have experienced for years.

Anyway, it was decreed that this would be another of our ‘get-away-from-work-weekends’ so weather didn’t enter into the mix and we had been considering a jaunt across ‘The Ditch’ when an opportune thread on KB from Shafty ‘n Gogal inspired us to commit to a long weekend in Nelson. This was great because Nanny Ann has never……I repeat, ...