I'm Ugly

There's no doubt about it, one of the most important things I took on the last Long Ride was my pair of Ugly Fish Ultimate sunnies.

Considering my 'normal' glasses went flying off the bike on the first day I was bloody lucky that Ugly Fish make perscription inserts for their glasses and motorbike goggles.

Since the original 4000kms the Ugly's have been with me ever since and I couldn't ride without them, regardless of whether I'm wearing the open or full face helmet.  They've now been around for about 10,000k's.

The other great thing about Ugly Fish is that they supported my Long Ride by donating two pairs of their latest sunnies, all up helping to raise around $500 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.  The great news is that Ugly Fish have promised to help out again and come along for the ride and help raise funds.

There's no doubt about it that Ugly Fish are one of the best eyewear companies around especially the support they give to things like the Long Ride I'm doing but also things like the Black Dog Ride, raising awareness for depression and mental illness.

Before we get a few things happening with the Ugly's why not check out their range of great sunnies and get a pair or two for yourself.

Getting Ready For The Long Ride

It's on again, the Long Ride, and this time it will be epic. A 10,000km round trip to Cairns taking in central Victoria; New South Wales; and Queensland before turning right and heading towards Townsville before heading north to Cairns.

The return trip will see a massive ride down the spine of Australia, the Great Dividing Range.

With less than 300 days to go to the start of the ride the actual route has been set and plans are well under way to secure accomodation and set the fuel stops. There's also plenty of plans to get local businesses and community groups along the way involved. If you would like more information on how you can be involved please email me.

More information will be available in coming weeks and months however, the below will give a good guide of the journey taken on my Long Ride.

Saturday, May 4 - Melbourne to Hay

Sunday, May 5 - Hay to Bourke

Monday, May 6 - Bourke to Charleville

Tuesday, May 7 - Charleville to Barcaldine

Wednesday, May 8 - Barcaldine to Hughenden

Thursday, May 9 - Hughenden to Townsville

Friday, May 10 - Townsville to Atherton

Saturday, May 11 - Atherton to Cairns

Monday, May 13 - Cairns to Bowen

Tuesday, May 14 - Bowen to Rockhampton

Wednesday, May 15 - Rockhampton to Bundaberg

Thursday, May 16 - Bundaberg to Toowoomba

Friday, May 17 - Toowoomba to Tamworth

Saturday, May 18 - Tamworth to Bathurst

Sunday, May 19 - Bathurst to Albury

Monday, May 20 - Albury to Mansfield

Tuesday, May 21 - Mansfield to Melbourne

Face For Charity

How good is this?

The Red Bull Formula One team raced with a unique livery for the British Grand Prix over the weekend.  The idea being that 25,000 fans would pay to get their faces applied to the both the cars while retaining the regular Red Bull paint scheme.

Whatever was raised Red Bull would match dollar for dollar with all funds going to their own charitable organisation - Wings For Life.

What is Wings For Life?

“One must never give up hope!” These were the words of Heinz Kinigadner when he was faced with his son’s diagnosis “paraplegia” diagnosis, after Hannes was involved in a crash during a charity motocross race.

Hannes Kinigadner had his accident in 2003, at the age of 19, and has been tetraplegic ever since. His fate is representative of approximately 3 million people worldwide who are paralyzed due to an injury to their spinal cord.

Deeply moved by the fate of his son, the two-time Motocross World Champion founded the Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation in July 2004, together with his friend, Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz.

Inspired by existing successes in research, the ambitious aim of Wings for Life was defined as follows:

In order to realize this vision, Wings for Life supports and finances the most promising research projects worldwide aimed at healing the injured spinal cord. An international scientific advisory board, consisting of the world’s most renowned scientists and medical doctors from the relevant areas, helps Wings for Life to select the most promising research projects.

The world’s leading scientists agree that paraplegia, caused by a traumatic spinal cord injury, will be curable one day. For a major breakthrough in science to be achieved, a lot of research needs to be done. With focus, diligence and the absolute will to reach the aim, our foundation moves step by step towards our goal.

The great initiative for the British Grand Prix saw the team raise 1 million Euros while their fans went for a ride. 

Being a self confessed Formula One nut and a big fan of Mark Webber I couldn't resist the chance to get a ride on a Formula One car, and Webber came through and won the race.

Noot only was this brilliant that Webber won but a great way to help research into curing a disability that shouldn't be a disability.

Enjoy A Night Away

In November last year a number of businesses supported my Long Ride through a number of donations of cash or products & services, all very much appreciated.

With planning for the Long Ride 2013 underway one of the original supporters, the Mercure Hotel, Geelong, has come back on board.

The very generous Mercure Geelong,

no better place to stay.

Mercure Geelong is well positioned in the Geelong city centre within an easy walk to the Geelong waterfront, shopping areas and entertainment options. Located only a short drive from the Great Ocean Road and Avalon Airport, Mercure Geelong features 137 rooms with bay or city views, plus upgraded privilege rooms, apartments and suites, along with the delicious Zenith restaurant and bar, an outdoor swimming pool, a gymnasium and conference facilities for up to 400 guests.

The Mercure Geelong has very generously donated a room for one night, complete with a buffet breakfast the next morning.  What better way to start a ride down the Great Ocean Road or stay at the Mercure on your way home.

In coming months the stay at the Mercure Geelong will be used to generate funds for the Long Ride, stay tuned for how you could get your hands on it.

If you would like more information about the best place to stay in Geelong please visit Mercure Geelong

GoPro ... goes flying

In recent times one of the best ‘toys’ around has been theGoPro Hero and Hero 2 cameras.  If you’re into motor racing or any TV show that does in car reviews you would’ve seen footage from one of these cameras and possibly the camera itself (a little grey box mounted to the windscreen).  These little cameras have offered high resolution images and video at a consumer price, meaning everyone can start recording their favourite rides.

On the last Long Ride I had one that recorded the entire journey and gave me some great photos of the special occasion.  The camera worked flawlessly for the entire 4,000 kilometre ride, in either blazing sun or icy alpine conditions.

Since then it had been used for the occasional ride but only did a few hundred kilometres, the whole time using the rollbar mounting kit to attach it to my bikes handlebars and indicator mounts.  It seemed to be perfect.

Recently I was riding, trying to get some images and footages to promote the next Long Ride, everything was going well as we rode around the Blackwood State Forest in Victoria until we pulled up in Trentham to refuel.  To my horror I was told that something had flown off my bike about 30 kilometres back, at first it was thought to be road debris, it was in fact my GoPro.

There was no way I was ever going to find the camera and what was left of the mounting bracket, and even if I did, what sort of condition would it be in?  At 100kph I doubt that the case would’ve survived let along the camera.



The broken mount with the clamp still attached to the indicator

bracket.



What really pissed me off was that the camera had been mounted to the left rear indicator mount exactly as the instructions suggest and yet the plastic mount for the camera had sheared straight through.  One part of the sheared mount looked like it had cracked while the other looked like it had been flawed right from the start; the break point was clean and straight.

What amazed me was that this camera and especially the mount had been promoted as being for motorsport, hence it being a rollbar mount.  Granted my bike is a V-twin and there’s some obvious vibration but nothing like what you would get in a racecar that this mount is marketed to, and yet it still seems that the vibration (and perhaps the harmonics caused by such vibration) was able to shear straight through the plastic mount.  This would be bloody dangerous if mounted in a racecar and the same thing happened, this new loose projectile could be deadly.

Despite the fact that I suddenly found myself close to $450 down the crapper (camera plus memory card), what gave me a fair dose of the poos was that it seems the GoPro warranty doesn’t cover such a breakage and loss ... what bullshit, it was a clear fault in the mount that caused the problem, especially as I had mounted according to the instructions.



Clearly if the mount can't handle a sluggish old cruiser, it

won't handle a motorsport application ... be careful.



To GoPro’s credit they did offer a replacement camera at half price (better than nothing I guess) as well as a new mounting kit of my choice.  This meant I got a camera with the motorsport mount plus the handlebar / seat post mount, and on top of the rollbar mount clamp that is still attached to my bike but the lesson learnt is: don’t trust the mounts that come with the camera.  The camera might be great but the mounts are shite, obviously not very strong.

My suggestion is to attached some sort of cord to the camera case so that the camera can be tethered to the thing you are mounting it to.  This way if the mount does break the camera still has some chance of surviving and not flying off into the wilderness.  I was also regularily check the mount and the condition of it.

Anyway, out of pocket and slightly pissed off, the new camera will be put to good use and hopefully survive at least the next Long Ride.

The Dirties are back

Thank God they're back ... Dirt River Radio played their first gig for quite some time last night at the iconic Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda, Melbourne.

The gig was a celebration of their new single Antique Store Girl, and what a cracker it is.  This means a new album can't be too far away.  This can only be a great thing, there's nothing better than being on the open road listening to these guys from Melbourne, can't wait for this one.

Check out more of the Dirties are www.dirtriverradio.com

Black Dog Ride

August this year sees the annual Black Dog Rider take place, a one week ride to raise awareness of a disease that affects 1 in 5 Australians - Depression.

This, like many other great rides, started as one man's journey and has since become one of the great motorcycling adventures.  What it has done to help people suffering from Depression and their family and friends is simpling amazing and I for one can't wait to do my little bit to help.

The ride officially starts on August 18 with riders from all over the country starting their journey to the heart of Australia - Alice Springs.  The Melbourne leg will start from the BP service station at Calder Park before heading to Bendigo via Heathcote and Shepperton for the first day of riding.  Here the Lions club will put on a dinner and presentation.

The next day is a ride to Swan Hill for the second night.  While this is probably the extent of my Black Dog Ride it will be a great way to see a little bit of country Victoria, a great way to share experiences with other riders and also a great way to help a fantastic cause.

If you would like to check out the Black Dog Ride and possibly experience the comradeship of such a great event then visit www.blackdogride.com.au for more information, or send me a message and I'll do what I can to point you in the right direction.