Herceptin Riders Peaceful Protest Ride

[ynot slow]

Well done to all involved and organizing people.

Gotta keep all the polly's up to date, even the friggin pricks doing the end of tour trips overseas ,most paid by us,shit the cost of business class to England return would give treatment to one person.Hope they remember we vote them in.

[Nasty]

YAY .. it was on the one network news ... Good job Max

[ynot slow]

Just checked teletext,was on pg 131 about the ride and what it is about.

Not bad because teletext is usually as up to date as yesterdays news placed tommorrow.

[maxworldbiker]

Huge thanks go to Nasty (who actually isn't - sorry to blow your street cred, hon, but you're a TOP lass and one I'd ALWAYS!!!!!!!!!! want to have on board). My laptop aint worth shyte, I've discovered, so me getting on line to keep everyone up to date warn't a happenin thang. The daily updates were just one of the breaches this lovely woman stepped into en route.

Thanks go too, to all on KB who were positive, encouraging and supportive of this event in the various ways it came together. I'm happy to say that it pretty much achieved its aims. It really WAS hard for people to ignore us, and I have to say I was slightly concerned at a few clouds of black smoke that materialized when we were asked to do a rev at the foot of the parliament steps. Nobody blew their engines out, thank God, and we made quite a statement. We've struggled in various places to get media coverage, but we got plenty of it where it was really needed, so that's what matters, and I've met so many fantastic people, it more than makes up for the very few assholes I've come across that for whatever reason chose to tell me I was wasting my time with this protest, and made a conscious choice not to get behind it. Being taken into Masterton on the backof the Mayor's bike, after mine temporarily died, was one of the highlights of the whole week for me, and the hosted afternoon tea with the extraordinary women of Tokomaru Bay was up there with it.

The team were just fucking awesome, too. I couldn't have wished for better people. I can't thank them enough for their spirit, their belief, their riding skills and their tolerance of the various glitches a weeklong event of this kind can throw out. We got on top of all of them, and it was largely thanks to so many of the team being solution rather than problem focussed.

I have been asked to do a South Island run, and I've agreed to. I will organise that for the coming spring, with the focus on fundraising rather then politics, which is now up to the Gods (or is it the courts?).

So anyone keen on doing that run, probably for a week again, can watch this space, and I'll float the details when I've pulled them together.

I still have a wee few t-shirts left from this event, so if anyone wants one,PM me and I'll chuck one in the post to ya.

Cheers one and all, we did it, we did it well, and thanks most of all to those KB Mods who agreed to give the Herceptin Peaceful Protest Ride the profile most people agree it deserved.

[Grub]

And few will ever know Max what this cost you personally in time, anguish, broken vehicles and loss of your life as you knew it for such a long time.

Big Ups girl ... and for the last time since there's no traffic lights here

[SDU]

Aawesome thing that all involved has done especially Max
Everything little thing helps bring more awareness to the public = more pressure on the govt & pharmac
Glad you have all made it safely to the beehive & got some coverage.

[maxworldbiker]

And few will ever know Max what this cost you personally in time, anguish, broken vehicles and loss of your life as you knew it for such a long time.

Big Ups girl ... and for the last time since there's no traffic lights here

Thanks Grub. It was such a joy to meet you and have you along with us for the time you were able. As to the time/anguish thing, it was all good at the end, wasn't it?

As for the broken vehicle, my truck (Tyota Hilux Surf 2.4 Turbo diesel automatic) is stranded in Napier, and the AA won't help, owing to a long story. Condensed, some twat that renewed our premium over the phone didn't give us our AA Plus coverage that we've had for twelve straight years, and we didn't know this, so we never expected to be told today that the AA won't help us. Nor will they take any responsibility for their employee's spectacular rudeness and denseness.

Piggy bank is nearly empty, truck has (we believe) a blown head gasket and/or some oil leak issue that renders it not driveable. Also, because it is an auto its not rope-towable either. Hmmmm.......................

If anyone can help us out by getting it to Wellington's Ferry Terminal for us, we can sort out the Cook Strait/Picton/Nelson end. But we need real help here, so if anyone can, or knows someone who can, help us without it costing us all of our remaining arms and legs, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers.

M

[Maha]

truck has (we believe) a blown head gasket and/or some oil leak issue that renders it not driveable


Why on Earth didnt you get that seen to/fixed in Auckland? The support truck was all the talk on Friday night, and the problem with it was rightfully diagnosed (a blown head gasket) by the driver and others gathered. Didnt this problem with the truck start soon leaving Taranaki? Solutions were offered up the time but i guess not heeded, ah well, Bugger!

[Lissa]

Bloody Awesome!!!! Wish I could have rode with you guys some way, but had to go to work... (I was the one that popped into the Solway Park to see Nastygurl!) The time and effort you all put in to this is amazing, and I'll be in for a t-shirt! Well done!

[maxworldbiker]

truck has (we believe) a blown head gasket and/or some oil leak issue that renders it not driveable


Why on Earth didnt you get that seen to/fixed in Auckland? The support truck was all the talk on Friday night, and the problem with it was rightfully diagnosed (a blown head gasket) by the driver and others gathered. Didnt this problem with the truck start soon leaving Taranaki? Solutions were offered up the time but i guess not heeded, ah well, Bugger!

The initial problem you're referring to actually was fixed. It was a different problem further down the line, three days later, with a different hose that was fine at the time the other one blew out, and an oil leak that developed after a long haul up a long hill with a heavy trailer.

Nobody on board had a crystal ball. Helpful suggestions will be of more use here now than retrospective observations (accurate or otherwise), I think.

[ynot slow]

AAplus,yep is good,we blew a radiator in Napier last year after Claptons' concert,filled the car with water,got to Hastings and thought bugger it,rang AA,got a towie from Hastings to Norsewood pub where we were staying,must have got the same firm,but our case was the towie(60yr plus)was stoned,nearly lost the truck once.Only thing was we had std cover at time,now have plus cover for both car and bike.

Can you arrange for those mobile headgasket guys to do a repair,seem cheap if only a gasket,fyi it cost us $320 to go from Hastings to Palmy with two companies.

Will put my notice in now to try to do South Island,work permitting,i.e not close to xmas lol.

Now it's over I guess ya can look back and think what was I worried about,yeah right.But sounds like it was a great group of committed people with a great motivation to knock the bastard off,bastard being Sir Eds' favourite word and Lance Armstrongs name for chemo.

[maxworldbiker]

For those who are interested (?) the result of the Judicial Review is out, and the judge has ruled that PHARMAC did not adequately consult before refusing to fund the full 52 week course of Herceptin to women with aggressive early-stage HER2+ breast cancer, and that...

THEY NOW MUST DO SO!

.. and QUICKLY!

This is a really good initial outcome for the women of New Zealand, especially for the many unsuspecting ones out there walking around who absolutely WILL get this horrible, random, murderous disease. This initial victory offers real traction, and we can move forward with that.

My phone is ringing off the wall. My inside people are telling me PHARMAC is stunned at the outcome. It wasn't what they anticipated, and they are tonight in consultation with their legal people about how best to respond publicly to the ruling because they have absolutely NO CLUE how to avoid a lynch mob confrontation if they put one word out of context.

This is the absolute best time to keep up the pressure on the government. If enough people howl with enough force, PHARMAC can't walk away from the cancer funding issue that is bringing this country to its knees, or keep sticking their heads up their asses trying to pretend it doesn't matter.

So, get on yer bikes, peeps, one and all, and join us for Susan Marshall's fundraiser. It will be another high profile Herceptin Riders event, and it will be all the more so with numbers to support it.

[ynot slow]

Could be getting better on the oncology side of things,read that 2 german radiographers are coming to Wellie,and Palmie has a new machine being set up all of $7mill worth.

Know of a guy down in Palmie supporting his wife,he met a few other partners in waiting area(as you do),said he thought a guy looked familiar,and was an ex NZ cricketer from late 80's,whose wife is having treatment.Goes to show this disease has no bounds,well done to all participants for getting the media interest.

The TV3 news had a clip of you girls riding to parliament.

[maxworldbiker]

The TV3 news had a clip of you girls riding to parliament.

Not just the girls, either! There were plenty of strapping fellas there too, on the day! Sources tell me the Wairarapa did another spread on us yesterday too. Nice that its still got so much momentum. All the better to build on, methinks... lets keep turning the screws! Its obviously working...

[ynot slow]

Not just the girls, either! There were plenty of strapping fellas there too, on the day! Sources tell me the Wairarapa did another spread on us yesterday too. Nice that its still got so much momentum. All the better to build on, methinks... lets keep turning the screws! Its obviously working...

Didn't really look at sex of bikers lol,was impressive sight on tv.

Gotta keep turning up the screws,the polititians are thick as.At least maybe time for a party to grab a few votes with the health debates.At least we know the Labour parties idea on health issues and pharmac.