A Big Week Before The Final Push

What a week the last seven days have been, and now with less than another week to go to the start of the Long Ride things are really starting to come together.

Thanks to Frontier Touring for

Bryan Adams tickets & signed book.

The great news started just over a week ago with the Bryan Adams signed book and concert tickets being purchased through auction by Karin Ewart.  Karin purchased the tickets for her mum who is a huge Bryan Adams fan and were therefore given to her as an early Mothers Day present.  I really hope Karin's mum enjoyed the show, and a massive thank you to her for helping the fund raising.  I've really got to thank Frontier Touring for helping out with the donation to help raise funds.  Thanks guys.

 

Things continued throughout the week with a few smaller fund raising efforts taking the total up closer to the $10,000 mark, before a few personal donations then a great corporate donation by Saferay Pty Ltd took the total raised well beyond the magical mark.

 

Saferay is an industry leader in offering safety standards solutions for ionising radiation used in medical applications.  Saferay offers a comprehensive, prompt and reliable radiation safety service which is backed by over 35 years experience in radiological and nuclear medicine physics and radiation protection.

 

Already involved in this very important branch of medicine and experience with treating cancers Saferay have come onboard to help with the Long Ride.  I can't thank Saferay director Ray Budd enough.

 

With the fund raising efforts in full swing and edging ever closer to the target of $15,000 one thing that had to get done was a major service of the XV1600.  This fell to the hands of Python Choppers in South Melbourne.  Not only was a service needed, but also replacement of the brakes and a new rear tyre.  The bike had also developed a major backfire which caused some concern.

 

George and his team at Python Choppers were a little perplexed to start with.  Was the backfire being caused by the wrong jetting in the carburettor, after all the bike was fitted with a K&N airfilter as well as opened up pipes.

 

The carby was checked and seemed to be in good order, through a careful examination it was soon discovered that the manifold had a crack in it, essentially there wasn't enough back pressure and therefore the bike was 'farting' a bit too much.

 

The guys did a great job and got the bike sorted and is now back on the road running as good as it ever has, it's certainly ready to go.

 

The last week before the ride will see more fundraising and preperation ... the count down is really on.

Get Ugly And Win A Pair Of Sunnies

One of the businesses that has helped me enormously is Ugly Fish Eyewear. To show their support of the Long Ride, Ugly Fish are offering us (well you guys, motorcycle riders) a pair of Rocket motorcycle glasses with smoke lenses. I'm a user of Ugly Fish glasses and I have to say that they are the best I've been able to find.





Ugly Fish, these Rockets could be yours by just sending me
a pic of you and your ride.

To win a pair of these, plus a prize pack with case, cap, strap etc all you have to do is send me a photo of you with your bike, but because this is an 'ugly' prize I am open to something which is considered very ugly ... and that's a bribe (after all this is about raising money and will be donated straight to the Long Ride fundraising). The winner will be the one with the best picture (and also maybe the 'ugliest' bribe).

I'll keep this competition open right up until the dinner in Cairns and will present it there. So pics of the Long Ride and the adventures we are having will certainly be considered as winners.

If you would like to send a photo (and maybe a bribe) please email me at leigh.wilkins@bigpond.com or reply to this post the same can be used for any questions too.

Long Ride Goal Back On Target

After a few months of worrying whether the $15,000 target for my Long Ride would be reached it seems it could be back on target with some great fund raising, donations and pledges in the past week or so.

 

Firstly a very generous pledge has been made by GBC Neopost Australia, who have committed a fantastic amount to the Long Ride and join an already impressive list of companies who have offered to help raise funds.  I can't thank Rod and Pauline at GBC Neopost enough for their help, and as I have said numerous times, the donation will go a very long way.

 

Neopost Australia (GBC/Fordigraph Pty Ltd) is the recognised market leader in Business Mailing and Document Finishing Solutions with a reputation for quality, reliability and service. Neopost Australia provides equipment, supplies, service and in-house finance within the Australian market.

Neopost Australia is a subsidiary of The Neopost Group; based in Paris, France. Neopost, the European leader and world's number two supplier of mailroom equipment and logistics solutions; supplies the most technologically advanced solutions for franking, folding/inserting, addressing, tracking and tracing of letters, parcels and of the supply chain. Neopost anticipates the needs of its sector and its customers by bringing new services and technological innovation to the market, with products and services marketed in 90 countries and subsidiaries in 20 countries.

Neopost Australia's head office is located in Regents Park, Sydney and they have branches in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Perth; along with authorised dealers in South Australia, Northern Territory, Tasmania and New Zealand.  If you are keen to find out more about GBC Neopost to see how they can help you please visit www.neopost.com.au

 

While the coporate donations have been greatly received so have the fund raising efforts of many

Vanda & Linda ... I can't thank these guys enough for the help
they have given me and the Long Ride.

individuals, most impressively Linda Kolics from Computershare.  Linda has again selflessly been busy cooking her delicious food to have a sale at work and has managed to raise over $360.  Linda was up all night the previous day and started woprk early so that she could prepare the food which was a hit with her co-workers and sold out within 30 minutes.

 

I can't thank Linda enough for her effort and very kind support of my ride, despite the fact that she put up photos of me and my bike with my head replaced with a very good looking egg.  Thanks Linda. And a thank you must also go to Vanda Pacheco and Linda's sister, Laura who also helped.  Thanks to the other guys who helped in some way too, I really apprecaite it.

 

Lyn Wyatt reluctantly shows off
her Ugly Fish sunnies.  She loves
the sunnies, hates the photo.

At the same time as the lunch we gave all of our supporters a ticket to win a pair of fantastic Ugly Fish 'Rocket' sunglasses.  The lucky winner was Lyn Wyatt, who has been a huge supporter of my Long Rides for prostate cancer, so she was a very deserved winner and it was a real pleasure finally seeing Lyn win a raffle.  Well done Lyn and thanks for your continued support.

 

I must also thank everyone who bought a lunch and especially those who showed the great support of the ride by asking all about it.  Your enthusiasm really makes all of the effort worthwhile.  The amount now reached is over $9000, and seems to be growingly rapidlyso the target certainly isn't too far away.

 

As for the ride itself there is now less than three weeks to go and things are progressing really well.  The 1600 is currently at Python Choppers getting serviced, where they have found a cracked manifold, that explains all of the popping and farting it has been doing lately.  Can't wait to see what great work George and the guys at Python Choppers will have done on the bike.

 

Plans have been made for a number of events along the ride, with a number of towns putting on events and even media interviews, some of which will be seen on television.  The excitement is really building and it seems we will have a record number of riders come along on this one.  Can't wait to meet everyone.

 

 

Pat Takes Victory With Signed Ball

Thanks heaps Pat

There's no doubt that the community support for my Long Ride has been fantastic but one organisation that has helped a great deal is the Melbourne Victory Football Club.

 

A proud supporter of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, the Victory kindly donated a signed ball to help raise funds.  The auction for the ball started a little slow however, once up and running Patrick Drew came through and took ownership of the ball, pretty apt considering how big a fan Pat is.

 

Thanks a tonne mate, I really appreciate your support and congratulations on your recent engagement.

 

The total now raised is over $8700.