TMC, Passionate About The Long Ride

"It isn’t a formulaic process, finding the best job for our candidates. Neither is finding the best candidates for the job,  It demands a tailored approach and it’s something we’ve been passionate about since we opened our doors," is how TMC Agency describe the process of finding the best team members for a number of organisations, and it's exactly what they do.

TMC Managing Director, Annette Briffa says it's all about passion.  Passion is something that TMC always provide and it's their passion and support for the Long Ride and the PCFA that helps drive me.  

Since taking on my first Long Ride TMC have been there right behind me, not only supporting the fundraising for the PCFA but also coming along for the ride passionately supporting what we do.  It's fantastic what TMC and greatly appreciated, this is also reflected in the way that they do business.  Without the support of people and businesses like TMC the aim of the Long Ride would simply be lost.

Annette, TMC, thank you.

Medical Marijuana for the Terminally Ill?

After catching up on Channel 7's Sunday Night program tonight, it highlighted just how narrow minded Australian politicians are both the state and federal level.

Reporter, Helen Kapalos says this is the debate Australia has to have, too bloody right it is - should medical marijuana be made legal?

The story was essentially about 24 year old Dan Haslam who started using medical marijuana to ease the awful side effects he has to go through after regular chemotherapy treatment for a terminal case of bowl cancer, something he's been battling for 4 years.

Chemo can be as insidious as the cancer itself and if marijuana is a way of easing the misery then yes, it should be made legal.

For Dan, it has helped him battle his disease. He has been able to rest, eat properly and more importantly overcome some of the mental issues he faces due to the illness. Dan was very reluctant to use marijuana, primarily due to his father and the position he held as a former detective who fought against the illegal drug trade. Dan's mother, a former nurse convinced him to give it a go and now the entire family, including his father support the need to make medical marijuana legal.

The story went on to show how Dan and his family are forced to source their marijuana illegally and then Dan has to 'refine' his own cannabis oil, this takes a great deal of what he has left of his precious life. Yet he, and his family, are prepared to do this to ensure he does have some level of quality of life before he loses his fight with this terrible disease. The fight he seems destined more to lose is that against the narrow minded politicians who simple refuse to debate the merits of using marijuana.

Please, don't get me wrong, I have seen two close friends go through drug addiction, one who finally succumbed to the horrors of greater addiction which eventually took her life and the other who sustained severe mental illness due to using 'just' marijuana, so I am not an advocate for making a wholesale change to the law to make all marijuana legal however, if it can be used medically to treat such things as cancer then yes, it should be made legal for medicinal purposes.

Surely for patients who are terminally ill commonsense should prevail so that these people, who are suffering enough, have some form of life quality before they pass away.

Dan, and the whole Haslam family, my heart goes out to you all. Keep up the good fight and hopefully one day the leaders of our nation will come to their senses, on at a least one thing. Dan you're an inspiration to all of us.

Griffith Motorcycle Centre Gets On The Long Ride

Events such as the Long Ride simply wouldn't exist without the support of local businesses and communities, one such businesses is Griffith Motorcycle Centre where the Victorian up and over riders will be spending the first night of the Long Ride.

GMC have come forward with very generous support of the Long Ride and therefore the PCFA. Griffith Motorcycle Centre is a family owned and operated business in the heart of the Riverina. Providing friendly personalised service for all your riding needs. They sell, service and repair motorbikes and pushbikes, power equipment, and mobility scooters.  In fact if it moves it GMC are only too happy to have a look at it for you.

The team at GMC also supply motorcycle accessories, merchandise and apparel.  They offer great service and support at a very reasonable price.  Located on the corner of Burrell Place and Wakaden Street, Griffith - just across the railway from the post office, I can't wait to get to Griffith and meet the fantastic and very generous team at GMC.

Sunrise to present from the Long Ride

News has come through today that the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia has secured James Tobin, from Channel 7's weekend Sunrise program to ride the full distance from Sydney to Uluru.

Tobin will present the weather during the ride giving the Long Ride plenty of television coverage before he rides on to Uluru with a number of riders.  I hope he's upgraded since starting on a 250cc Intruder.

The channel 7 presenter has been on numerous charity rides although this will certainly be the longest and most demanding.

Crunchy Granola, sweet!

Whilst on the last Long Ride I realised how unfit I was, not grossly overweight, although I did look like I was 8 months pregnant.  It was during the long stretches that it was really highlighted how much fitness affects concentration.

With this in mind I thought it was time to do something about it and get ready for the next Long Ride, the goal to get down below 90 kilograms.

Setting myself this challenge I started on a fitness program, eating healthy and shedding some weight while hopefully building muscle mass similar to what I had in my twenties.  The fitness wasn't too much of a problem as long as I could stay motivated, it was the eating healthy that was a problem, eating crap was a favourite pastime of mine, especially breakfast.

To me eating something like granola was akin to eating freeze dried sawdust, this was going to be tough, until along came Jordan's Cereals.

Jordan's has been in the business of good food since the 1800's however, in the 1970's they discovered granola on trip to the United States and as they say in the classics, "the rest is history".

The Jordan brothers were convinced that the idea of granola would go down well at home in Britain,  who could resist a great tasting whole grain cereal that offered all the nutritional goodness that other producers were taking out?

They set about on a mission to convert Britain to wholegrain granola goodness. They bought a second-hand oven from an old bakery and converted it to toast the cereal. In 1972 the brothers created their own version of granola called “The Original Crunchy G” and then tirelessly toured country fairs selling it to a fast-growing group of converts until it was eventually taken up by health food shops and enlightened supermarkets.

Today the company makes more than 30 different healthy, natural and delicious cereals that are enjoyed by people in over 30 countries!

With this in mind I gave it a go and bloody hell it was good, really good.  It's now my breakfast of choice and even a great snack when a little hungry.

The Jordan's granola has helped me start getting into shape over the past few weeks and in fact have lost over 5% of my starting body weight.  It's hard work but rewarded with the knowledge I can have a bowl of Jordan's granola.  Check out their great range at jordanscereals.com/en-au