Post NZ wrap up

'Sup

Back in Perth - safe and sound.

NZ was fabulous, gorgeous countryside surrounding Napier and we got to know the towns within a 50k or 60k radius pretty well.

As was to be expected we had a fair few hot weak flat whites to accompany our sossy rolls in some great cafes. 

My sister and I shot around the corner to a cafe near my house earlier this morning. Below is a tat a girl in there had - which she kindly gave me permission to reprint here...

" Death before decaf", 

- that's a barista who takes her job reasonably seriously ...

Back to the ride - we collectively raised US $110k. A fantastic effort by all concerned.

 Fordy  raised almost half of that himself which warrants a special mention. He and Subhash did a 214k day on the Thursday which was also pretty large! 

Massive congrats and well done to our fellow guys and girls who did the ride in Cambodia - quite a few of whom for the first time - a real achievement. 

Fordy is going to send me a few thoughts about the Cambodian experience which I'm going to cut and paste. Obviously I'll sabotage it a little if it reads too well coz he doesn't need to over perform here as well surely.

I've previously mentioned the most creative relationship in the history of music - namely Michael Stipe from REM and Natalie Merchant from 10,000 Maniacs - then an incomparable solo career.  I haven't ruled out Whatsapping her for a catch up. 

Every whisper

Of every waking hour

I'm choosing my confessions

Trying to keep an eye on you

Losing my Religion

REM

Back shortly

Day 5 Cambodia in NZ 120k

Last day. First 40k straight into a fierce head wind. Hard work.

My di2 ran out of charge just before we got to our first hill only 11 or 12k in to our ride leaving me in my big chain ring for the remaining 110k or so - but ride virtually flat so all worked out ok.

Iain navigated our routes and did a magnificent job.

Stopped in at the Cllifton cafe again for a brew

Whilst Bully and I were out riding Grizzy went out on a date with Joey. They at least had the decency to take Harry with them. After a few wineries ,cafe's and general romantic scenic spots they pointed the hire car for home but not before coincidentally spying ( and photographing) two weary travellers en route

Riding quite big k's  for five days with my brother in law in NZ wasn't where either of us thought we'd be this week. As a family we were just rapt Iain was here with us. It was also great to continue with our Cambodian cause and adventure albeit in a place 30 degrees cooler. 

Looking fwd to hearing in more detail how the Cambodia ride (the one actually in Cambodia ) went from the guys themselves.

The Clarkes have just headed back to Singapore. Grizzy has just headed back to Perth. Big love to him for making the trek over, a truer and more generous friend you couldn't find to me , Mike and our whole family.

Everyone regrouping then hot pools this arvo

There will be a wrap up blog by close of business Tuesday

😄😄

Day 4. Cambodia in NZ. 127.5k

Great day. Very few head winds, mostly cross winds couple of drops of rain but barely noticeable.

Whilst the guys and girls in Cambodia may be getting around in Tuk tuks we've found the place where the local version originated from.

Iain was certain he spotted a freshwater trout - I reckon I missed it by a split second.

I mentioned the big Grizzy boys here in NZ and bunkering down with us. He had the decency to scuttle out first thing and see Bully and I off before heading off to Cape Kidnappers Golf Course ( which he'd coincidentally seen on Getwaway just a wee while back. 

 Here's the big boy now

Two items of kit you can't help but look very street in are jarmies and cycling kit

One days cycling to go..

Day 3. Cambodian in NZ.

Awesome. Huge fun. Really scenic.

Went to Cape Kidnappers from home, as scenic a place as I've seen in a while.

Despite only having travelled 25k from home we had to stop and have a coffee and muffin. We actually didn't time it too badly ...they were pulling the muffins out of the oven as we were handing over our cash. 

Here's the muffins...

I've only put this photo of the open fire as the guys in Cambodia probably couldn't comprehend the concept of a fire at this time of year. 

Didn't take a photo of it but we headed to Bridge Pa. It had a Deerstalkers Association next to their Automoblle Club. I took the time to drop in and put an idea into the suggestions box. Suggested they almgamate the two clubs, run the deer over with the cars and save some money on rifles. The bit about the two clubs side by side is factual.

We've fought the (rough) roads and winds so far , all a bit more digestible today and we averaged 29kph or more, combining pretty seamlessly...

Hasn't been easy here keeping on a decent average speed.

Called in and saw Audrey (Dawdsy) ..my Mum, at about 90k in to our ride - she lives less than a k from the Mission Winery ( get there if you can it's pretty good)

Ok. Mum's here and there's an open white, red and rose. In a first in our life times Mums having a Gatorade and we're all having a wine. 

Gotta shut this down - I'm underperforming on the group contribution front.

Stay well 

Day 2. Cambodia in NZ

Day 2. 1 degree when we started. Ridiculously scenic out there today.

 

Stopped in at the Berry cafe. Bacon and egg sandwich, sausage roll and hot weak flat white each. Met the owners who were just delightful and really looked after us. 

Fabulous navigating by Iain (Bully). You see so much more moving round the country by bike (versus your car). People on the roads have been giving us plenty of room and have been really friendly.

The big Grizz man has just arrived ( from Perth) and we're two Peroni's in..Mums delighted to see him. Grizzy used to get up to our house for Xmas from when we first met as 10 year olds. Mum wasn't 10 obviously. Mums massively touched. 

We're all going to scuttle down to  the waterfront precinct for a bit of nosh and maybe a mid strength whilst there's still a bit of sunshine. (Three Peroni's in now - Grizz is talking leaving the Bentley at our hotel and cabbing it) 

What's uppppppp. 

Everyone is getting pretty chipper ( including my lovely mother) - who knows ...I might even jump back in and update the blog later tonite...

Day 1. Cycling in NZ in lieu of Cambodia.

Well...

Alarm off at 4.45am. Quick cup of tea and then out to Auckland airport. Teeming down and windy.

Two quick bacon and egg mcmuffins each (coz that's what elite athletes do.)

Napier an hour later .

Cool but clear.

Assembled the bikes - googled hard man routes over 100k and viola up it popped. 

We took this photo after the ride inserted it now as had no pre ride Mum snaps

Over 130k   ..1200m of climbing...large...

Mid ride - ( above) Iain reminding me who I was riding with

We're underway. Went and intro'd ourselves to the local bike shop 

We're 5 hours in front of Cambodia here in NZ. Just heard from the guys in Cambodia. They are 4k from finishing 

Big day from them!

Chat more tomorrow peeps.

From Cambodia to New Zealand...

Can't stop, won't stop.

No easy way of saying this, Mum really isn't well ( hi Mum) x

My brother in law Iain (Bully) - who most regular readers already know quite well and I are accordingly forming a break away peleton and are now doing the Ride for Nokor Tep in scenic New Zealand versus Cambodia. As Bully said to me he's simply not prepared to stop innovating.

At the end of each day we'll compare average speeds and work out whether we were a break away off the front or we got dropped. That's patently bullshit of course as the "B" peleton (as we've just recently started referring to them as)  are largely off road in Cambodia - for the first few days at least.

Perhaps most importantly we will still be with our group not just metaphorically but physically in shared endeavour.

Here's our ride jumpers which we're about to unveil in sunny NZ

If you look closely you'll be able to see how Bully and I will be able to tell our respective jumpers apart when we pull them out of the washing machine. We ordered the slim race fit ( expecting to each be around 70 kegs at the start line). 

Fingers crossed there's a decent 24 hour tailor in NZ .

We will be based in Napier where my Mum is and can see her in the afternoons.

Ok..off to try and barter some sun screen for some thermals...

See you in blog land Monday good people

Monday 31 August 2015

In a little bit of borderline celebrity news my old cocker spaniel Bruce (Fordy ) Ford was good enough to breeze thru Perth over the weekend. Mostly family stuff but we did manage to jam one quick hills ride in. Anyone who is only here in Perth for a day or two and wants to go for a guided or unguided ride in Perth but can't be arsed packing their bike for just one or two rides check out Velo Bike tours. Started by a guy who rides out of Garlands in South Perth (where we all ride from.) In a word - awesome. I'll put a link in here at some stage. Focus frame carbon fibre bikes with dura ace Di2 running gear. 

Nice to turn the tables on the old Fordy boy, normally it's us going from 4 degrees in winter to 34 degrees in Singapore (or 40 degrees plus in Cambodia) so to have him turn up here without arm warmers etc was a nice change of pace. He's a nuggety sort of a rooster tho so to his credit he just got on with the job. Punched down two back to back flat whites at Halo within moments of getting off his Focus,  and like that , he was gone again. 

Speaking of nuggety roosters here's a picture of my brother Mike. Honestly , what chance have we got of hanging on to his wheel in Taupo in a couple of months when he's parading around in that sort of nick? 

I'm  only chucking this picture in coz my Mums not 100% and she's just auto subscribed to this blog site so I know she'll see this and have to smile at such a great pic of her second favourite son. You'd think he'd do the righty and hoover down a couple more donuts before he rides with us again wouldn't you...

His daughter Rachel (22) did the Coast to Coast ironman earlier this year. Just such a huge achievement - not least at that age.

Ok - closer to home,  just checked the cyclo over - all looks operational. Might grab some eye drops and lip balm before Thursday and then it's hammer time. 

I get to Cambodia late Friday and the ride starts Monday. I'll put up a post over the weekend and until then look after yourselves.

Harry is off on a two night camp tomorrow - first time away from home for that length of time 😔. He's outraged he can't take his iPad. Heaven help us.!

Monday 24th August 2015

Took a bit longer than I'd planned to get my next post up. I don't know why I'm surprised - everything gets a little busier just before launch date.

A fair few of the (10) riders are based in Singapore and as a group they've been doing some long ( round the island) rides 120k plus , especially over the last few weeks. It's pretty warm there and most of us ( that needed to) have shifted a few kilos of pudding.

Between collected funds and committed pledges I think we are approaching A$100k which is pretty good going, would have been nice if we could have attracted a little of that $40b that got wiped off the Aussie sharemarket before it disappeared into the ether. 

Just heard from Matty Talbot , ( who's done all three rides so far ) and was my roomie for the last two. It'll be a little strange without him along this year as he has been such a massive part of the whole experience. Hes going to leave big boots to fill this year , not least in the entertainment arena. Fingers crossed he's back next year. 

Ok, some things to do and then up early tomorrow for Bell Tower ride. 

Back soon. 

It cannot be the 10th, scrap that, the 11th August...

This is just getting ridiculous...

Four weeks from today and we'll have finished day one (1) and be powering through day two (2)..

Been up to Singapore since we spoke last... Loved it, huge fun..we went to one of the water parks there. Adventure rides , gotta love them. Highlight was the Torpedo which just opens up from under you ...like a trap door. Similar to a ride we did in Bali not surprisingly perhaps called the "Trap door". The Grizzies and us went there a few years ago when the H man was only little. No stunt doubles for Grizzy or I. 

Went for a couple of decent rides up in Sing both knocking on 120k with my brother in law big Iain Clarkieeee, Big Johnny Rey ,Big Subash, big Fordy boy joined us for the second day.

Fordy and Iain did a group ride a day or two after I left at over 34kph..pretty darned impressive..

At Perth airport they confiscated this dangerous weapon from me ( John McGyver). I got the customs guy to pose with it so I could buy a replacement for my old mate big Den who had kindly lent it to me only hours before. Den if you're reading this mate I'm on the interweb sourcing a replacement bro.

Just got off the phone from big Stevie J ( that's him in the picture) one of the original riders. He's peaking and tapering simaltaneously, don't know how he does it..before hanging up he confirmed he loves the night life and he loves to boogie.

There's a few committed funds coming thru as I post this so I'll wait a day or two to update the amount raised to date.

Keep those query rolling in. 

"They carried them to the flatlands

And they died along the way

But they built up with their bare hands 

What we still can't to today."

Neil Young

We're going large baby.

It's blog time...

Homies

Finished the TdF ( Strava) Challenge yesterday. Strava is a bit like Facebook for cyclists. Tested the patience of a couple of my little riding buddies during the last week or so - sitting on their wheels - Drew, Dale and Handsome Gaz.

Told the missy but we had to get to brunch so not a huge amount of positive feedback unfortunately. She's pretty good at hiding her admiration the lovely Joanna. I think she thinks Strava is all a bit frivolous. Between Harry and Minecraft and me and Strava I suspect she's been hopeful of some more enlightening conversation at number 74.

She didn't miss the news of the week tho.. Mick Fanning... are you right????

Goodness Gracious.

I've been worried about sharks as long as I can remember. We did the Rottnest swim as a relay six years ago or so and we saw a shark 50m away from the swimmer before me. It wasnt huge and was looking to get away from the boat traffic but I was next swimmer in and despite it looking like it was long gone I literally couldn't control my heart rate.

There will be a new post up over the next few days with news of the fund raising results to date. I'm up in Singapore from Friday to Monday. Several of the riders are based there so will see how there preparations are going. All looking like they are training pretty well and on track.

I mentioned in my last post it's been pretty cool here in the mornings with a couple of the boys turning up with more facial hair than in previous winters. One of the hipsters has passed on this life rule ..

If your Dad hasn't got a beard you've got two Mums.

Talk later in the week

What'd I tell you...

As you all know a post wouldn't be a post from me without my referencing some song. Music is funny isn't it, I read today that in 2010 Sotheby's sold John Lennons handwritten and original lyric sheet for A Day in the Life for $1.2m. It's that song that goes .. I heard the news today oh boy...Surely that couldn't be solely an investment based purchase? That song must have meant something to the buyer when you consider that you could just look the lyrics up online if you weren't certain of the exact words.

Been riding a little bit recently to get ready for Cambodia. It was 1 degree when our group was out on Thursday morning , brrrrr...it's warmer in your fridge.

Given whatever I did in preparation for the ride for the last couple of years simply didn't work when I got over there in the very humid conditions I'm just carrying on with my normal riding this year other than doing a Strava Challenge to up the k's a bit. It's 50% of the Tour de France distance over 23 days and I'm about one third through it. Presumably it's designed to give you an insight into and involve you a little more in the Tour "experience". The irony being that coz u have to do a fair few k's each day you can't physically stay up long enough to watch any live coverage and actually wind up missing most of it.

My brother in law (Iain) is doing the ride this year for the first time. Anyone who has followed my blog from the beginning may remember him from the Wentworth golf pics ( and didn't he look a million bucks) . 

He's taken to riding like a duck to water. Only started riding in late March and is already posting numbers that 2 and 3 year riders would be pretty smug about. It'll be fabulous to have him along and not just that ...he'll add plenty to the "iaintertainment " .. see what I did there...

I've been sharing some of my cycling wisdom with him including  a couple of hard earned cycling credo's to live by including ..."when the market is brisk, the seller does not stop to wash the mud from his turnips"...I suspect he's been finding that calibre of advice very useful with the trip only weeks away. He hasn't said that directly but...

Here's a sentiment that I'll leave you with that also just makes sense. Back in a few days..

Nine and a half weeks.

Not just a movie with Mickey Rourke in it but Monday September 7 2015 (which is nine and a half weeks away) is also the launch date for the 2015 version of the Ride for Nokor Tep in Cambodia.!!
What's up.
It can only be described as high octane despite the fact that nothing whatsoever is occurring.
That's all about to change!!!


I'm sending an email out today to everyone in my contact list today to get the ball rolling.
Boom boom boom , shake the room...


You've got that James Dean, daydream, look in your eye (or eyes?)
And i've got that red lip, classic, thing that you like
Taylor Swift


Now then , down to business...
I had previously thought that one of the great things about having an unstructured blog (unstructured inasfar as subject matter and timetable /regularity is concerned) was precisely that - it's not like a magazine or a newspaper where your editor texts you at 4.55pm. I tell you that as I got some feedback yesterday that some of people reading this shit want a bit of reassurance there will be daily updates for at least the days the ride is on so there's at least five (5) posts i've committed to - Monday 7th til Friday 11th September 2015.


In conjunction with the blog I'm also offering up an advice section this year so if you ride bikes or have been to Cambodia or ride bikes and have been to Cambodia or you are or have been or have thought about becoming a vegetarian feel free to email me with whatever your situation is that needs solving and i'll publicly put forward some helpful hints.  Obviously if they are work related problems you may need to get some input from HR as some "solutions" may qualify as high risk.


As big Grizzy (who most of you know) says, he's a modern man with traditional values so it'll come as no surprise when i say I might drag the big man in (on a consulting basis) if the problem proves  particularly vexing..


Ok, as has been the case in previous years, now that we are live... it's action time.


There have been over 5,000 page views on this blog so  whilst that's obviously not Kardashian level  numbers (and more on them later) there's clearly more than a few people out there with low entertainment thresholds.


Comment on the blog itself or email me on johnquinn@yourclaim.com.au to say hello - the ride has been physically quite demanding in previous years -  the more people who make contact and give me some shit to work with the easier it is to prioritize and spend some time on the blog.


Back soon.