There and back to see how far it is

THERE AND BACK TO SEE HOW FAR IT IS...

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS


OVERVIEW: How do you describe what brought you to a time in your life where you contemplate Riding a Motorcycle 2,555km just to see how far it really is. In January this year my partner expressed an interest in doing exactly that. My Response, "that's fine dear as long as we get to stay in hotels with a spa bath at the end of the day " Smile. So Began the planning phase for this wonderful trip.

Our scheduled departure date was set for the 21st of July 2006. But there is so much to do, so much to plan and so much to prepare. These next few pages will explore what is involved in planning and executing a Road trip on Motorcycle from Melbourne to Alice Springs.

{c.red}PREPARATION:Commencing on the 7th of January an intensive route planning exercise began. Which roads would we take, where would we stop, where would we stay, where were fuel stops along the way, How long would the riding episodes be between stops????

Then we planned and executed training runs on weekends. Eight hours of straight riding. Small stops for a bite to eat and refuel. All a part of our intensive training period.

We purchased and learnt to use our intercommunication devices.

Spent weekends configuring, reconfiguring and triple configuring our packing of equipment.

Became knowledgeable with the roads we were to travel, using travelmate.com

http://www.travelmate.com.au/Home/Home.asp

Learnt to be Bike Savvy, knowing what maintenance would be required and being prepared for any problems along the way.

And began our personal training and nutrition program. ( Riding Motorcycles requires a tremendous amount of strength, energy and stamina. I was very out of shape and so from February 19th till July 1st i lost 15kgs and exercised using interval training and kickboxing for a minimum of 45 minutes per day 7 days a week.

Finally, Knowledge of first aide, god forbid we would need it. I am a nurse but if anything were to happen to me, Trev needs to know enough to get me to Medical Aide.


ROUTE MAP:Travelmate.com



THE PARTICIPANTS:
TREVOR: Well he said he's a tall, dark and handsome stranger. Witty, intelligent and most of all Modest....smile.
In Reality he is a tall not so dark but incredibly handsome and definitely not a stranger. He is witty and incredibly intelligent and yes....i must admit, for the most part he is modest...smile
Trev is in his early 40's, loves scuba diving and riding his two bikes ( Sprint and GPX). He works for the department of justice and lives for those times when work is far away and he is doing what he loves to do.

Deborah: I'm definitely Miss Universe material....well if he can do it so can i...smile.
Deb is in her early 40's, loves to scuba dive, ride her motor bike (ER6) and take photographs both under water and on dry land and then Scrapbook them. She is a Registered Nurse who works at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.

Between the two of them they have 22 beautiful little rattie girls and about 100 community fish.

They have both been motor bike riding for 2 to 3 years and this will be their first long road trip. There and back to see how far it is.

THE BIKES:

TRIUMPH SPRINT ST 955:Trumpie is a 955cc English racing green monster, fully faired, with heated handle grips, GPS system mounted on handlebars, a 30litre top-box and 2 X 25 litre side panniers.

KAWASAKI ER6:Emma is a 650cc Silver and red Naked, with touring screen, heated handle grips, a 42litre( converts to 86 litres if needed) Riding bag on a ventura Pack rack,a 40 litre pacsafe lockable bag sitting on the rear seat and 2 25litre soft side panniers.

Next episode:

From Springvale to Renmark, the first leg of the journey