Well today was the first weigh in on the weight loss challenge at work. I was down about 3lbs - not what I was hoping for, but of course, I did really well for 3 weeks and then this week ahhhh, kinda slipped. But at least it was down. Im in forth place at the moment, and with a $300 pot to win. I have to step it up because that would go towards a new bike. Im really hoping I get this VStrom from a friend of mine. Or I may use it to buy fabric for my daughters wedding dress. June 16th is the wedding day and I am making her wedding dress for her. It will be my first child to get married. Its going to be exciting, and interesting.....well actually I will say it, its going to be weird, hard breaking and heartwarming all in the same moment.
Seeing my ex with my ex best friend, seeing the ex's family whom most chose to cast me aside. So its going to be a trying time for me. But maybe I will just arrive on my motorbike and that will give me the guts I need for the evening. haha oops that wont work, I will be taking care of my two grandchildren so the bike is out. Besides, helmet hair wouldnt do for mother of the bride now will it?
I missed my ride tonight with Dar, I had to go and get my 2 year eye appointment done. Need new glasses again! Seems like my eyes just dont stop changing. But I am going to give contacts a try again. I want to use them just when I am riding so that I have better peripheral vision. Wearing glasses is a little harder wearing a helmet as it restricts your vision a little.
So I wonder - last night coming home from my ride with Dar, it was dark and I had a truck behind me with his highbeams on, what do you do to get their attention to turn down their lights. I was on a road where it was unsafe to pull over as I was in a rural area. I tried hold my hand up and then covering one mirror hoping he would get it, then I tried flicking my headlight on and off highbeam. What else can you do? What I did to help was lean right fwd so the lights werent in my eyes, but thats a little hard to maintain. lol plus it probably looked funny. haha
Well its time to put the computer away and get some sleep - YAY TGIF tomorrow!! Woo hoo Dar we have to go riding saturday morning.
Transplanted kiwi now living in Victoria Canada. Have discovered a passion to ride motorcycles and an even bigger passion to ensure riders safety on the roads. Follow me on twitter@Kiwi_Deb
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Scarlet and Rascal adventures
Tonights post will be a little shorter I think. Im pretty tired, had a good day at work and then was happy to see the weather get better this afternoon that meant "another Rascal and Scarlet adventure".
Todays riding was good - we met up after work and then headed for Dars place as usual when we would part ways and head home. Today we both decided we werent ready to head home and put the bikes away. Instead we donned on our safety vests and headed out. We did some night riding and highway riding. Since we are both directionally challenged, I let Dar & Scarlet lead the way since they knew this area better than me and Rascal.
I did take issue with one cager tonight - I was riding through an intersection, put on my blinker and then pulled off the road into the gas station with Dar ahead of me when a stupid cager started laying on the horn at me??? I have no idea what it was about. But as we talked about it while filling our bikes with gas, a taxi driver called over to us and said we did nothing wrong. He said he must have had small man syndrome! haha That was good to have it confirmed.
Well Dar and I realized tonight, with riding together we were able to see that our safety vests werent as visible as we thought they were in the night. So this weekend I intend to sew reflective piping all around my vest and my riding pants. It was interesting, Dars TourMaster pants were very well reflecting in the lights, but my Joe Rocket pants have absolutely nothing refective on them at all. That is not good. I think that I may just write to Joe Rocket and mention this to them. The only bit that is reflective is the reflective strip I put around the hem of the pants.
Well time to say goodnight, so happy riding dreams everyone.
Todays riding was good - we met up after work and then headed for Dars place as usual when we would part ways and head home. Today we both decided we werent ready to head home and put the bikes away. Instead we donned on our safety vests and headed out. We did some night riding and highway riding. Since we are both directionally challenged, I let Dar & Scarlet lead the way since they knew this area better than me and Rascal.
I did take issue with one cager tonight - I was riding through an intersection, put on my blinker and then pulled off the road into the gas station with Dar ahead of me when a stupid cager started laying on the horn at me??? I have no idea what it was about. But as we talked about it while filling our bikes with gas, a taxi driver called over to us and said we did nothing wrong. He said he must have had small man syndrome! haha That was good to have it confirmed.
Well Dar and I realized tonight, with riding together we were able to see that our safety vests werent as visible as we thought they were in the night. So this weekend I intend to sew reflective piping all around my vest and my riding pants. It was interesting, Dars TourMaster pants were very well reflecting in the lights, but my Joe Rocket pants have absolutely nothing refective on them at all. That is not good. I think that I may just write to Joe Rocket and mention this to them. The only bit that is reflective is the reflective strip I put around the hem of the pants.
Well time to say goodnight, so happy riding dreams everyone.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
The start to a new week.
Yesterday when I got to work, Rascal was so excited because she got to park beside the bike of her dreams. The BMW F800, this is what she aspires to be when she grows up! lol I couldnt resist with all the empty motorcycle parking, I just had to park next to this lovely bike. I am so luck also that the brand new motor cycle covered parking was just built and right behind my department!
Both yesterday and today the Moto Mamas got out for a ride together in the sunlight - who says its still winter?? Although today's ride was a little shorter - but still a good ride through lots of traffic, over the Bay St bridge. We had a little hiccup in our ride home tonight because alas, Miss Scarlet had a flat battery. But never fear Motorcycle Man to the rescue - aww how sweet and on Valentines Day too! Dar you have a good man! A couple of runs down the parking garage ramp and motoycycle man had miss scarlet gently growling again ready to ride.
Well today of course is valentines day - and you cant escape all the romantic things people are doing and also all the advertising. Amazing how flowers cost so much more at this time eh? But even though there isnt a significant other in my life right now....my son left me a red rose in my door for me to find when I got home from work today - he really is a great son. I also was lucky to have some tulips on my desk. One of the young men in the office was thoughtful and bought flowers for the two single unattached woman in the office. It was such a considerate thing to do. I did think the day would be kinda down because it is days like this that make me think about what has happened in the last few years. I am a hopeless romantic and it really does suck not having someone to lavish all the things I like to do for someone. lol Well I guess its my Rascal that I can lavish it all on now!
So today I have realized that I really dont know a lot about what I can do if I have any problems out on the road. So for those that are reading this, what do you think I would need to learn before I hit the road on some road trips?
Sunday, 12 February 2012
A weekend with me
Well I have told you all about my dad. He is now home and doing well. After many attempts at getting his surgery just right - the surgeon finally got it right and now he should be on the road to recovery. I did phone and talk to him the other day, he was happy to be home and looking forward to getting out on his BSA and riding around the airstrip again.
Mum isnt doing as well, the chemo she has been having has stopped working as well so the cancer on her liver has spread a bit and now the next chemo will start and this time she will be losing her hair. I am crossing my fingers that it will work this time.
Pictured above from left is my oldest daughter, then my son, then my little brother who at 44 still rides motoX and then me. My brother came out to visit me last summer for the first time ever. It was a wonderful visit.
So this weekend I spent a lot of time riding my motorbike. I have as you may know a small Suzuki DR200. I have finally settled on a name for her and she is called "Rascal" - very suiting for her and me. Yesterday I rode 150km. I took Rascal out on the highway and I found this time out on the highway I had not worries at all. Since I have been riding to work and back every day, I am gaining confidence on her. Wet roads dont scare me anymore, icy slippery roads still do of course, but not enough to stop me from riding. Now riding in the wind has been interesting for sure - since my bike is so light, 275lbs, we get blown around a fair bit on the exposed highways and close to the ocean on windy days.
I am sure though that all my yucky weather days of riding are good experience for doing road trips later on. I do want to do some road trips and experiencing all the bad weather will mean I wont be surprised and scared of it when it happens. But I have to admit, I sure will enjoy the sunny weather riding when it comes. But getting back to riding Rascal and getting more confidence. I found this weekend being out on the highway and over the Malahat, a twisty windy road over some hills. I found I could keep her up to the speed limits and found that even though she is small, the confidence and the ability to relax meant that she was a lot more pleasurable to ride and felt a little less bumble beeish. haha I know thats not a word but you get my idea.
I may have an opportunity to purchase a friends Vstrom if he decides not to ride it anymore. I am really glad that he is thinking of helping me out by selling it to me and at a good price. He knows of my struggles to finally get my very own very first motorbike. I have been on my own now for ......wow I can't believe it - its now going on 6 years!! I didnt realize so much time has gone by. Its taken me most of that time to adjust to the situation I found myself in after 24 years of marriage in a relationship that had been very trusting, no fights, no real arguments and great parenting to 3 great kids. But never ever be complacent because that is when the rug can be pulled out from under your feet and leave you reeling and in free fall. That is what happened to me and to say that I felt like a boat that lost its anchor in a stormy sea, was an understatement. But maybe another time I will share my story and what I learned from that situation. But today I am a happy person again, I feel free and found the excitement and freedom of owning my first motorcycle.
I took the riding courses for basic and traffic, then got my motorcycle license. I discovered my passion for riding after a friend I met and dated for a while took me out on his motorbike. I was hooked! Wow, I will always remember that first ride. Always! And not just because I got to sit behind him and hold on to him! lol
I had ridden a scooter when I was a teenager and remembered how I loved that too. So after that, I started looking into classes. Now being on my own changed a lot of things and the biggest thing it changed my my financial status. It was tough living on my own financially. But I managed to save up to take the two courses. The main reason I took them was because we rode their bikes and could use their bikes for the road test. So off I went, got my license, but had to wait just over another year before I could afford to by my bike. So October 13th 2011 was the day my little Rascal came into my life. She has been great. I met this friend of mine with the VStrom and have enjoyed his company and listening to his stories from his life and riding experiences. But he has unfortunately run into some medical issues that most likely has to end him riding the VStrom and sticking to his Bergman Scooter - which will make him stay on paved roads and not tempt him to take the gravel roads like he can with the bike. So with him knowing my struggles to get a bike, and the plans I have to do roads trips on my bike. He understands that I want to get another bigger bike so I can handle the road trips. But this is all dependent on the bike being able to be lowered enough for me to be able to handle the bike. I really hope this all works out because even though I love me little rascal, I really want a bike with some more power to be able to do longer trips on.
What I enjoy about riding is that, its expected and accepted that you can be out riding on your own as a single womanm but for me I find I feel more self conscious if I am out in my car or just walking by myself. But on a motorbike is absolutley awesome and accepted as being "cool". haha thats my story and Im sticking to it!
Time for dinner.
Mum isnt doing as well, the chemo she has been having has stopped working as well so the cancer on her liver has spread a bit and now the next chemo will start and this time she will be losing her hair. I am crossing my fingers that it will work this time.
So this weekend I spent a lot of time riding my motorbike. I have as you may know a small Suzuki DR200. I have finally settled on a name for her and she is called "Rascal" - very suiting for her and me. Yesterday I rode 150km. I took Rascal out on the highway and I found this time out on the highway I had not worries at all. Since I have been riding to work and back every day, I am gaining confidence on her. Wet roads dont scare me anymore, icy slippery roads still do of course, but not enough to stop me from riding. Now riding in the wind has been interesting for sure - since my bike is so light, 275lbs, we get blown around a fair bit on the exposed highways and close to the ocean on windy days.
I am sure though that all my yucky weather days of riding are good experience for doing road trips later on. I do want to do some road trips and experiencing all the bad weather will mean I wont be surprised and scared of it when it happens. But I have to admit, I sure will enjoy the sunny weather riding when it comes. But getting back to riding Rascal and getting more confidence. I found this weekend being out on the highway and over the Malahat, a twisty windy road over some hills. I found I could keep her up to the speed limits and found that even though she is small, the confidence and the ability to relax meant that she was a lot more pleasurable to ride and felt a little less bumble beeish. haha I know thats not a word but you get my idea.
I may have an opportunity to purchase a friends Vstrom if he decides not to ride it anymore. I am really glad that he is thinking of helping me out by selling it to me and at a good price. He knows of my struggles to finally get my very own very first motorbike. I have been on my own now for ......wow I can't believe it - its now going on 6 years!! I didnt realize so much time has gone by. Its taken me most of that time to adjust to the situation I found myself in after 24 years of marriage in a relationship that had been very trusting, no fights, no real arguments and great parenting to 3 great kids. But never ever be complacent because that is when the rug can be pulled out from under your feet and leave you reeling and in free fall. That is what happened to me and to say that I felt like a boat that lost its anchor in a stormy sea, was an understatement. But maybe another time I will share my story and what I learned from that situation. But today I am a happy person again, I feel free and found the excitement and freedom of owning my first motorcycle.
I took the riding courses for basic and traffic, then got my motorcycle license. I discovered my passion for riding after a friend I met and dated for a while took me out on his motorbike. I was hooked! Wow, I will always remember that first ride. Always! And not just because I got to sit behind him and hold on to him! lol
I had ridden a scooter when I was a teenager and remembered how I loved that too. So after that, I started looking into classes. Now being on my own changed a lot of things and the biggest thing it changed my my financial status. It was tough living on my own financially. But I managed to save up to take the two courses. The main reason I took them was because we rode their bikes and could use their bikes for the road test. So off I went, got my license, but had to wait just over another year before I could afford to by my bike. So October 13th 2011 was the day my little Rascal came into my life. She has been great. I met this friend of mine with the VStrom and have enjoyed his company and listening to his stories from his life and riding experiences. But he has unfortunately run into some medical issues that most likely has to end him riding the VStrom and sticking to his Bergman Scooter - which will make him stay on paved roads and not tempt him to take the gravel roads like he can with the bike. So with him knowing my struggles to get a bike, and the plans I have to do roads trips on my bike. He understands that I want to get another bigger bike so I can handle the road trips. But this is all dependent on the bike being able to be lowered enough for me to be able to handle the bike. I really hope this all works out because even though I love me little rascal, I really want a bike with some more power to be able to do longer trips on.
What I enjoy about riding is that, its expected and accepted that you can be out riding on your own as a single womanm but for me I find I feel more self conscious if I am out in my car or just walking by myself. But on a motorbike is absolutley awesome and accepted as being "cool". haha thats my story and Im sticking to it!
Time for dinner.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Dad is home!
Well my daughter who is living in NZ tested me today to tell me that dad is now home from the hospital and she says he looks good. So I quickly called him on the phone and he sounded as cheery as ever. The first words out of my mouth were "its about time you were home, anyone would like you liked it there" and his response was, "well the nurses just wouldnt leave me alone and they couldn keep their hands off me"!! lol he is so funny. I think at some point I will get my daughter to read this blog to him. I think it will touch him very much - but also I know his response will be "who the heck are you talking about - you must be talking about someone else" he is a very humble man. Another of his admirable qualities.
I will keep you posted on his progress, and by the way, he is rearing to get back out on his bike and ride around the private airstrip! haha of course without mum knowing about it until AFTER he has gone riding.
Well yesterday was a wonderful day for riding. My riding buddy Darlene - Princess Scooterpie, decided to meet up after work and ride around the outskirts and coastline from the University to down town Ogden point. What a beautiful ride. We are as she says, ying and yang or peanut butter and jelly or marmite and toast! haha had to throw in a kiwism with the marmite haha.
Here is my riding buddy Princess Sccoterpie on her wonderful Miss Scarlet - isnt Dar beautiful and look perfect sitting on Scarlet and I loved the way her reflective strips were just glowing in the sunlight. Yes I had to steal these pictures from her blog - oops! And the next one again from Dar's blog.....ME!! right beside her on my Little Rascal. That is what I settled on calling my bike. She is like a little rascal always getting up to mischief with me in tow. Very suiting name for her. And she is very adorable.
haha oh I just realized, I was smiling nicely for the camera when Dar was taking the picture - you cant see much with the helmet on!
Boy - helmets give us big heads dont they? And all those layers we wear!! Ok who am I kidding, more exercise and keeping on with the diet. But weigh in is tomorrow, I know I has lost some weight this week so I will let you know my progress next time I blogg.
So any suggestions for clip on sunglasses? While I was riding yesterday, my visor was up and the wind actually flicked my sunglasses off! Luckily they were magnetic and they still held on enough for me to grab them. I guess keeping the visor down is the solution, but in the summer I am going to want to ride with the visor up. Another thing I have been thinking about - inventing something to make putting glasses on after your helmet is on, easier and less destructive to your glasses frames.
Well it is now after midnight and I have to be up early for work, so best leave this for now and continue on tomorrow. Goodnight my friends.
I will keep you posted on his progress, and by the way, he is rearing to get back out on his bike and ride around the private airstrip! haha of course without mum knowing about it until AFTER he has gone riding.
Well yesterday was a wonderful day for riding. My riding buddy Darlene - Princess Scooterpie, decided to meet up after work and ride around the outskirts and coastline from the University to down town Ogden point. What a beautiful ride. We are as she says, ying and yang or peanut butter and jelly or marmite and toast! haha had to throw in a kiwism with the marmite haha.
Here is my riding buddy Princess Sccoterpie on her wonderful Miss Scarlet - isnt Dar beautiful and look perfect sitting on Scarlet and I loved the way her reflective strips were just glowing in the sunlight. Yes I had to steal these pictures from her blog - oops! And the next one again from Dar's blog.....ME!! right beside her on my Little Rascal. That is what I settled on calling my bike. She is like a little rascal always getting up to mischief with me in tow. Very suiting name for her. And she is very adorable.
haha oh I just realized, I was smiling nicely for the camera when Dar was taking the picture - you cant see much with the helmet on!
Boy - helmets give us big heads dont they? And all those layers we wear!! Ok who am I kidding, more exercise and keeping on with the diet. But weigh in is tomorrow, I know I has lost some weight this week so I will let you know my progress next time I blogg.
So any suggestions for clip on sunglasses? While I was riding yesterday, my visor was up and the wind actually flicked my sunglasses off! Luckily they were magnetic and they still held on enough for me to grab them. I guess keeping the visor down is the solution, but in the summer I am going to want to ride with the visor up. Another thing I have been thinking about - inventing something to make putting glasses on after your helmet is on, easier and less destructive to your glasses frames.
Well it is now after midnight and I have to be up early for work, so best leave this for now and continue on tomorrow. Goodnight my friends.
Saturday, 4 February 2012
My dad is awesome and my inspiration!
Well tonight I decided to get some more added to my blog since the weekend is going to be busy. Have to finish rearranging my furniture and the spring cleaning, and also the weather is supposed to be great for this time of year, so I am off for a ride in the morning.
I found that the place where I am going to look at tyres for my bike, has a Suzuki Gladius for sale. Im excited but not sure that I can pull off buying a new bike just yet.
Since I started writing a little bit about myself and my family, I thought I just had an ordinary life if somewhat a little boring. But from the kinds words of those following my blog, I am inspired to write a little more. I wanted to tell you about my dad this time. Thinking about my dad brings a smile to my face. I miss my dad a lot, I left NZ to settle in Canada 24 yrs ago, and in that 24 yrs I managed to get back to NZ two times. Christmas 1999 for my brothers wedding with my kids & my then husband. And the second time Christmas of 2010, I won a trip home for Christmas. My dad and I are very close and I am a lot like my dad in temperament. Calm and easy going.
My dads story starts a long time ago - before I was born and up until I was 5 yrs old. My dad at that point in life was in a band and travelled a lot around NZ. The band was called the Harmonikiwis. There was two brothers and my dad. My dad played a triple decker harmonica and a double harmonica that was about 3 feet long and also a regular sized one as well. They did very well, played on the radio and also cut a record. They were meant to move to Australia and tour around there as well, but they all decided to just stay in NZ and the band folded. I remember when I was 5yrs old coming home from school to hear my dads band playing on the radio! It was a cool experience.
A few years later my dad decided to take up speedway racing and spent many years in the speedway organization as a racer & president of the Kihi Kihi speedway that is still running and racing today. Dad built his own cars. These cars were called TQ's or three quarter midgets. They used motorbike engines from Triumph, BSA, Norton & JAP to name a few.
Every weekend mum would pack up a huge picnic lunch and dad would load the midget onto the trailer, then we all loaded into the car and we traveled hours every saturday to get to the speedway for racing. The first car dad built did not have the roll cage like this yellow one. They started off with a roll bar that was lower than your head!
Here to the left is the second stage before the roll cages. These roll bars where higher than the head.
Then eventually they mandated roll cages as above.
So after a number of years racing dad decided it was getting too expensive to continue on without a sponsor and for one season drove another car for a Suzuki Dealership.
Dad won many trophies as a driver and was very good at getting around that dirt track drifting in the corners.
My dad was a mechanic, he could fix any kind of vehicle and worked on motorbikes right through to cattle trucks, from mechanical thru to electrical to actually making or creating parts.
Since I was the only girl in the family, I could always get dad to fix my car or my scooter and of course my 3 brothers always thought it unfair as he wouldnt fix theirs. He always told them to learn and fix it themselves! haha of course I was spoilt by dad.
After dad gave up speedway, he took up another hobby - building and flying scale model remote control airplanes. He love his planes and spent a lot of time with this hobby, we all used to pile in the car and go out with him and watch him fly his planes. It was great fun. The picture below here the plane had a little accident and went through the hedge leaving the wings on one side and the body through on the other side. haha
Dad kept up this hobby for a number of years until he unfortunately had eye sight problems, a speck of glaucoma in one eye right in his centre vision. Made flying planes a problem as he would lose sight of them which resulted in some crashes and had to give this hobby up.
It was about this time in our lives that it was discovered that my mum had breast cancer. A very tough and traumatic time for my whole family. Dad was extremly stressed while this was happening and not knowing what could happen. Also during this time, the older of my three brothers used to ride trail bikes and was always out riding trails in the forests. During one of these rides with his buddies, he hit a wash out over the crest of a hill and went over that handle bars and broke his neck. He became a paraplegic this day. My brother had a bit of dad in him too and was so determined to get a car have it converted to hand controls, that he never had time to go through any of the "7 depression stages" that the doctor told us he would go through.
The next hobby dad got into was rebuilding and restoring motorbikes.
Ducatis.
He started because he was always helping the boys with their motorX bikes as they were always going somewhere every weekend racing and then come home and need dad to help them get their bikes back in shape for their next races.
Dad was also working as a Mazda and Suzuki dealership mechanic. Through out this period of time and up until he retired he was riding and restoring bikes at home after work and on weekends.
Above was a parade in my home town of Te Awamutu where they displayed the vintage bikes. Dad and his favourite BSA are in the lead here.
Throughout this later part in his working life my dad got pretty sick and in the end when finally given the right diagnosis, had colitis, which resulted in dad having a colostomy. This has been a disease that has given dad so much trouble in his life from many surgeries to get it right, to cross matching his blood in one surgery and almost killing him. Dad has been in and out of hospital so many time with this disease, that we have all lost track.
So in between hospital stays, dad has kept up his riding, kept working and always kept a fantastic attitude. No point worrying about it just keep on going.
While my dad worked as a mechanic at the dealership, he was lucky to be able to have his boss employ my middle brother to be dads apprentice mechanic. They worked very well together and my brother passed his exams and became a mechanic working with dad as well.
One friday night just as work was ending, dads boss had some reason to get mad at my brother Wayne.
That weekend, two of my brothers packed up their bikes and headed to Rotorua for motoX racing. When they got there, the racing had been cancelled because of the rain and the tracks were not rideable. The boys headed home. Unfortunatly, they didnt make it back. They were involved in a head on collison and my brother Wayne, dads apprentice mechanic, died instantly in that accident.
My dad had to identify him.......that must have been the hardest thing my dad ever had to do. I dont want to dwell on this, but from it - my dad told me he had a change of heart and they way he looked at life. He said to me, that after Wayne died, he realized theres not point being mad about things, you might as well enjoy life because you never know when it can be taken from you. He also told me that his boss, an old family friend, to this day was upset that he had lost his temper with my brother and that the last time he ever saw him, he had been yelling at him. This is something I have learned from - to remember that what you say or do to a person should always be kind because you never know if its the last thing you say or do with this person. I was not in NZ at this time and was not there to help my family. I had just had a baby and was not able to travel.
Dad continued his riding and restoring - making lots of friends and taking road trips with his buddies all the time. He joined vintage motorcycle groups and was having a good time. One day when he was out riding on his own, he was t boned by a car. Dad was in the right on the main road and as usual, a car driver didnt look and pulled out right into my dad. Below is the bike dad was riding when he was hit.
Dad was wearing full leathers and didnt get a scratch, but after he got up and called an ambulance and he walked to the ambulance to be taken to the hospital for a check up - they discovered from the xrays, that he too had broken his neck. Dad the ended up in surgery to put him in a halo - the sort that is screwed into your head. In fact his doctor told him he was extremely luck. He had the same kind of broken neck that Christopher Reeve had (Superman) and that kind of break goes either of two way, quadriplegic like Christopher or walk away like my dad. So his walking away left him in a halo for 9 months, then months of physical therapy.
My dad always kept up his humor, telling me how whenever he went near electrical things that he got a buzz in his head, how when it got cold he would drape a towel over the halo and create his own personal tent, because the cold air made the steel rods going into his head cold which travelled right into his head giving him headaches!! haha - yes he thought this was funny too.
So of course during this year, he could ride his bikes, couldnt work on his bikes and totally missed being able to do anything. Mainly watched tv and he could get comfortable in bed, spent most of his time in his arm chair.
So when the day finally came that the halo was off and the therapy was done so he could turn his head properly, and the doctor reluctantly gave him permission to ride again, he did. He had a wonderful week or two of riding, and the worst happened. He came home from a ride, sat down to watch some tv and thought that the tv was broken. But no...my dad had had a little spot of macular degeneration, and this day it had suddenly sprung a leak and he became blind just like that. What a devastating blow to dad, after all this and he then became blind.
But once again, my dad is not to be kept down for long, once he became comfortable with his legal blindness, he had a slight amount of vision in the lower quadrant of his eyes. He also told me its like looking into a thick fog where everything is gone. He got right back into working with his hands, he kept restoring and fixing motorbikes by feel and with his hands.
Above here is dad replacing something in the starter motor???? on the bike he had kept there just for me to ride when I went back there in December 2010.
And another note to shock you all - my dad keeps his baby - his fully restored BSA motorbike out at a friends private grassed airstrip. He knows that airstrip like the back of his hand. Yes you guessed it. He gets taken out there and he rides his BSA around the airstrip as often as he can when mum doesnt know!! haha. If you would like to see my dad riding his bsa while blind, I am inserting a link to my youtube page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LwMwnxCk-k&list=UU_v_Ayn-Dm-pFizn9NAkAEw&index=1&feature=plcp
Let me know if the link doesnt work for you - I hope it does. And yes he got in a lot of trouble from mum when she saw this video I took because he didnt have his helmet on. Oh dear....he just said he likes to feel the wind through his hair. :) haha
So everyone, this is the story of my dad, my hero whom I love very much and miss so much. I have lived more than half my life in Canada now and even though my kids have all left home and one daughter lives in New Zealand in the town of Te Awamutu where mum and dad live, I cant just move back there to live as my adult life has been here. I feel guilty and wish there was a way to be able to be in two places, but I cant. But I have discovered my love of motorbikes and riding. And I have made some wonderful new friends that I know are only going to become better and better friends as we start sharing the motorcycle parts of our lives.
My dad does have a tiny bit of vision that he manages to be able to use a computer with a special program on it. He loves getting emails, he has a youtube account and a facebook page. I email him and I send the text a little bigger than normal and white text on black, then he manages to read it. Yes he has learnt to use the computer, use a video camera, and to skype. He amazes me more and more.
In December 2011 dad finally got into hospital again after waiting 3 yrs for a hernia operation. The hernia came about from all his surgeries he has had over the years. Surgery went well, but afterwards lots of issues with healing. He got home mid january, was home a few days, back in hospital because some thing was closing up the shouldnt, so more surgery, back home, then back to hospital because the surgery site was leaking - yup back into hospital for massive amounts of antibiotics. He is still there now, mum says he is getting better.
I hope that he is finally on the mend so that he can get home and start to enjoy life as much as he can.
Now just another note, I will of course start writing some more about me and then onto my daily trials and tribulations of a kiwi transplanted in Canada and of my riding adventures - mum and dad are also dealing with the fact that last year mum discovered that she has cancer again - a different on to last time but similar. While dad is in hospital she is visiting him every day and also going for chemotherapy.
And to conclude this book long blog...........throughout all this adventure in my dads part of life - he inspires me because you cant keep him down. He says to me that he has changed since my brother was killed, but I always tell him - he was always my inspiration and was always a tough old buggar - this is what he calls himself. The human spirit is undefeatable in my dad - I just wish for him that the rest of his retirement, can be uneventful so he can relax.
Thank you all for reading this and if there is anyone who would like to get to know dad or even email him - let me know. I hope no one is feeling down after reading this because please be inspired by him. I am. Dad is only 76 yrs old. He has a sharp mind and a quick wit - makes me laugh all the time.
Take care everyone and good night. Thanks for reading.
I hope this blog wasnt too long, but I just couldnt stop once I got started.
I found that the place where I am going to look at tyres for my bike, has a Suzuki Gladius for sale. Im excited but not sure that I can pull off buying a new bike just yet.
Since I started writing a little bit about myself and my family, I thought I just had an ordinary life if somewhat a little boring. But from the kinds words of those following my blog, I am inspired to write a little more. I wanted to tell you about my dad this time. Thinking about my dad brings a smile to my face. I miss my dad a lot, I left NZ to settle in Canada 24 yrs ago, and in that 24 yrs I managed to get back to NZ two times. Christmas 1999 for my brothers wedding with my kids & my then husband. And the second time Christmas of 2010, I won a trip home for Christmas. My dad and I are very close and I am a lot like my dad in temperament. Calm and easy going.
My dads story starts a long time ago - before I was born and up until I was 5 yrs old. My dad at that point in life was in a band and travelled a lot around NZ. The band was called the Harmonikiwis. There was two brothers and my dad. My dad played a triple decker harmonica and a double harmonica that was about 3 feet long and also a regular sized one as well. They did very well, played on the radio and also cut a record. They were meant to move to Australia and tour around there as well, but they all decided to just stay in NZ and the band folded. I remember when I was 5yrs old coming home from school to hear my dads band playing on the radio! It was a cool experience.
A few years later my dad decided to take up speedway racing and spent many years in the speedway organization as a racer & president of the Kihi Kihi speedway that is still running and racing today. Dad built his own cars. These cars were called TQ's or three quarter midgets. They used motorbike engines from Triumph, BSA, Norton & JAP to name a few.Every weekend mum would pack up a huge picnic lunch and dad would load the midget onto the trailer, then we all loaded into the car and we traveled hours every saturday to get to the speedway for racing. The first car dad built did not have the roll cage like this yellow one. They started off with a roll bar that was lower than your head!
Then eventually they mandated roll cages as above.
So after a number of years racing dad decided it was getting too expensive to continue on without a sponsor and for one season drove another car for a Suzuki Dealership.
My dad was a mechanic, he could fix any kind of vehicle and worked on motorbikes right through to cattle trucks, from mechanical thru to electrical to actually making or creating parts.
Since I was the only girl in the family, I could always get dad to fix my car or my scooter and of course my 3 brothers always thought it unfair as he wouldnt fix theirs. He always told them to learn and fix it themselves! haha of course I was spoilt by dad.
After dad gave up speedway, he took up another hobby - building and flying scale model remote control airplanes. He love his planes and spent a lot of time with this hobby, we all used to pile in the car and go out with him and watch him fly his planes. It was great fun. The picture below here the plane had a little accident and went through the hedge leaving the wings on one side and the body through on the other side. haha
It was about this time in our lives that it was discovered that my mum had breast cancer. A very tough and traumatic time for my whole family. Dad was extremly stressed while this was happening and not knowing what could happen. Also during this time, the older of my three brothers used to ride trail bikes and was always out riding trails in the forests. During one of these rides with his buddies, he hit a wash out over the crest of a hill and went over that handle bars and broke his neck. He became a paraplegic this day. My brother had a bit of dad in him too and was so determined to get a car have it converted to hand controls, that he never had time to go through any of the "7 depression stages" that the doctor told us he would go through.
The next hobby dad got into was rebuilding and restoring motorbikes.
He started because he was always helping the boys with their motorX bikes as they were always going somewhere every weekend racing and then come home and need dad to help them get their bikes back in shape for their next races.
Dad was also working as a Mazda and Suzuki dealership mechanic. Through out this period of time and up until he retired he was riding and restoring bikes at home after work and on weekends.
Above was a parade in my home town of Te Awamutu where they displayed the vintage bikes. Dad and his favourite BSA are in the lead here.
Throughout this later part in his working life my dad got pretty sick and in the end when finally given the right diagnosis, had colitis, which resulted in dad having a colostomy. This has been a disease that has given dad so much trouble in his life from many surgeries to get it right, to cross matching his blood in one surgery and almost killing him. Dad has been in and out of hospital so many time with this disease, that we have all lost track.
So in between hospital stays, dad has kept up his riding, kept working and always kept a fantastic attitude. No point worrying about it just keep on going.
While my dad worked as a mechanic at the dealership, he was lucky to be able to have his boss employ my middle brother to be dads apprentice mechanic. They worked very well together and my brother passed his exams and became a mechanic working with dad as well.
One friday night just as work was ending, dads boss had some reason to get mad at my brother Wayne.
That weekend, two of my brothers packed up their bikes and headed to Rotorua for motoX racing. When they got there, the racing had been cancelled because of the rain and the tracks were not rideable. The boys headed home. Unfortunatly, they didnt make it back. They were involved in a head on collison and my brother Wayne, dads apprentice mechanic, died instantly in that accident.
My dad had to identify him.......that must have been the hardest thing my dad ever had to do. I dont want to dwell on this, but from it - my dad told me he had a change of heart and they way he looked at life. He said to me, that after Wayne died, he realized theres not point being mad about things, you might as well enjoy life because you never know when it can be taken from you. He also told me that his boss, an old family friend, to this day was upset that he had lost his temper with my brother and that the last time he ever saw him, he had been yelling at him. This is something I have learned from - to remember that what you say or do to a person should always be kind because you never know if its the last thing you say or do with this person. I was not in NZ at this time and was not there to help my family. I had just had a baby and was not able to travel.
Dad continued his riding and restoring - making lots of friends and taking road trips with his buddies all the time. He joined vintage motorcycle groups and was having a good time. One day when he was out riding on his own, he was t boned by a car. Dad was in the right on the main road and as usual, a car driver didnt look and pulled out right into my dad. Below is the bike dad was riding when he was hit.
Dad was wearing full leathers and didnt get a scratch, but after he got up and called an ambulance and he walked to the ambulance to be taken to the hospital for a check up - they discovered from the xrays, that he too had broken his neck. Dad the ended up in surgery to put him in a halo - the sort that is screwed into your head. In fact his doctor told him he was extremely luck. He had the same kind of broken neck that Christopher Reeve had (Superman) and that kind of break goes either of two way, quadriplegic like Christopher or walk away like my dad. So his walking away left him in a halo for 9 months, then months of physical therapy.
My dad always kept up his humor, telling me how whenever he went near electrical things that he got a buzz in his head, how when it got cold he would drape a towel over the halo and create his own personal tent, because the cold air made the steel rods going into his head cold which travelled right into his head giving him headaches!! haha - yes he thought this was funny too.
So of course during this year, he could ride his bikes, couldnt work on his bikes and totally missed being able to do anything. Mainly watched tv and he could get comfortable in bed, spent most of his time in his arm chair.
So when the day finally came that the halo was off and the therapy was done so he could turn his head properly, and the doctor reluctantly gave him permission to ride again, he did. He had a wonderful week or two of riding, and the worst happened. He came home from a ride, sat down to watch some tv and thought that the tv was broken. But no...my dad had had a little spot of macular degeneration, and this day it had suddenly sprung a leak and he became blind just like that. What a devastating blow to dad, after all this and he then became blind.
But once again, my dad is not to be kept down for long, once he became comfortable with his legal blindness, he had a slight amount of vision in the lower quadrant of his eyes. He also told me its like looking into a thick fog where everything is gone. He got right back into working with his hands, he kept restoring and fixing motorbikes by feel and with his hands.
Above here is dad replacing something in the starter motor???? on the bike he had kept there just for me to ride when I went back there in December 2010.
And another note to shock you all - my dad keeps his baby - his fully restored BSA motorbike out at a friends private grassed airstrip. He knows that airstrip like the back of his hand. Yes you guessed it. He gets taken out there and he rides his BSA around the airstrip as often as he can when mum doesnt know!! haha. If you would like to see my dad riding his bsa while blind, I am inserting a link to my youtube page.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LwMwnxCk-k&list=UU_v_Ayn-Dm-pFizn9NAkAEw&index=1&feature=plcp
Let me know if the link doesnt work for you - I hope it does. And yes he got in a lot of trouble from mum when she saw this video I took because he didnt have his helmet on. Oh dear....he just said he likes to feel the wind through his hair. :) haha
So everyone, this is the story of my dad, my hero whom I love very much and miss so much. I have lived more than half my life in Canada now and even though my kids have all left home and one daughter lives in New Zealand in the town of Te Awamutu where mum and dad live, I cant just move back there to live as my adult life has been here. I feel guilty and wish there was a way to be able to be in two places, but I cant. But I have discovered my love of motorbikes and riding. And I have made some wonderful new friends that I know are only going to become better and better friends as we start sharing the motorcycle parts of our lives.
My dad does have a tiny bit of vision that he manages to be able to use a computer with a special program on it. He loves getting emails, he has a youtube account and a facebook page. I email him and I send the text a little bigger than normal and white text on black, then he manages to read it. Yes he has learnt to use the computer, use a video camera, and to skype. He amazes me more and more.
In December 2011 dad finally got into hospital again after waiting 3 yrs for a hernia operation. The hernia came about from all his surgeries he has had over the years. Surgery went well, but afterwards lots of issues with healing. He got home mid january, was home a few days, back in hospital because some thing was closing up the shouldnt, so more surgery, back home, then back to hospital because the surgery site was leaking - yup back into hospital for massive amounts of antibiotics. He is still there now, mum says he is getting better.
I hope that he is finally on the mend so that he can get home and start to enjoy life as much as he can.
Now just another note, I will of course start writing some more about me and then onto my daily trials and tribulations of a kiwi transplanted in Canada and of my riding adventures - mum and dad are also dealing with the fact that last year mum discovered that she has cancer again - a different on to last time but similar. While dad is in hospital she is visiting him every day and also going for chemotherapy.
And to conclude this book long blog...........throughout all this adventure in my dads part of life - he inspires me because you cant keep him down. He says to me that he has changed since my brother was killed, but I always tell him - he was always my inspiration and was always a tough old buggar - this is what he calls himself. The human spirit is undefeatable in my dad - I just wish for him that the rest of his retirement, can be uneventful so he can relax.
Thank you all for reading this and if there is anyone who would like to get to know dad or even email him - let me know. I hope no one is feeling down after reading this because please be inspired by him. I am. Dad is only 76 yrs old. He has a sharp mind and a quick wit - makes me laugh all the time.
Take care everyone and good night. Thanks for reading.
I hope this blog wasnt too long, but I just couldnt stop once I got started.
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
A new resolution and a bit more about me.
Ok here is is February 1st 2012. Today I gave myself a challenge, actually a friend of mine spurred me on to make this challenge with myself, and also to prove something to him, that starting tomorrow the 2nd February, up until (and forever afterwards) he leaves and gets back from a motorcycle trip to Alaska. I am starting a weight loss and fitness challenge. In part its because I need to and have to and finally want to. Second its because I want to be more agile on my motorbike and because I want to be able to do some trail riding. And thirdly, because I want to be a hot motorcycling grandma!! haha No not really the third one.
For me, from that first time a friend gave me a ride on the back of his bike - I was hooked. My family has ridden for years.
My dad and his beloved Beeza (his restored BSA) here he is ready to ride around the grassed private airstrip. By the way - my dad is legally blind. You cant keep a good biker down!
Then there are my brothers, the youngest who owns a Yamaha dealership in NZ. But he only deals with farming bikes and motorX.
For me, from that first time a friend gave me a ride on the back of his bike - I was hooked. My family has ridden for years.
My dad and his beloved Beeza (his restored BSA) here he is ready to ride around the grassed private airstrip. By the way - my dad is legally blind. You cant keep a good biker down!
Then my other brother - the oldest of the 3 boys, used to ride bikes, did lots of trail riding until the accident that left him a paraplegic at the age of 21. A few years ago he built himself a 4 wheel drive hand controlled car to be able to get off road again.
My middle brother used to ride motoX as well but unfortunatly a the age of 24, was killed in a car accident when the two brothers were on their way to a motox race. Here he is riding. RIP Wayne.
So when you see all this, its a wonder I didnt start riding earlier eh? Well when I was younger I did start with a scooter before I got my car. I rode that scooter ever where! But until my kids had grown up, a marriage break down and a new begining for me......the timing was finally right for me to do something for me, and it was to take the motorcycle basic and traffic riding courses. I fell in love with riding even more.
It took me a year after getting my license, to finally be able to afford to buy my very first motorbike, and here she is.
I am thinking, thanks to a friend, of calling my bike Joey. haha its a funny story for another post.
I am hoping that this isnt too boring to read, but I will bring you up to date more as time goes by.
Here is my parents and my two brothers and my middle daughter who is living in NZ in the same town as my parents. I was lucky to win a trip to NZ for the christmas of 2010 - another story to fill you in with some time.
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