Jim's Rideabout Oz 2018

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Pre-Blog #1



Hello Folks,

It has been about 10 months since the last posting of the 'Gaelic Turas ride 17' through Ireland & Scotland. Those of you who are first timers on the blog can still go into www.mytb.org/Jimbmw and read excerpts and view pictures from last year’s motorcycle ride through Ireland and Scotland.

If you've been around following the blogs over the years, you know that I dedicate my rides to Cureduchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Over the years many of my local friends and relatives, along with my extensive fastener industry family here in the US, Asia and Europe have donated over $30,000 to the Cureduchenne cause. I'm looking for sponsors this year to help move the donation dial -100% of donations go right to Cureduchenne and are used to help find a cure. You can go onto www.cureduchenne.org to donate at any time and look for "Jim's Rideabout Oz 18" to donate online. The rideabout theme ties in with the aboriginal rite of passage when the young man is sent out on a spiritual journey (walkabout) for as much as 6 months to make the transition into manhood. While it would be a stretch to call me a "young man", my wife is still waiting for me to grow out of my adolescence stage so perhaps this journey will help 😊

This year’s ride will be the most challenging of all the 7 previous major rides from both a riding standpoint and from a planning perspective. The Alaska Bucket List ride 2011 (ABL) was previously the longest in both distance (7,000 miles) and length of time (22 days). However, the Aussie Rideabout Oz ( I borrowed the Oz reference from rideabout Oz -motorcycle rental company) while not as long as the ABL in miles at just under 6,000, will be the longest in terms of days to complete at an estimated 32 days. I originally had planned to circumvent the continent in the time allotted but as I did my research and spoke to locals I was told " Yea you can do Australia in 30 days or less but why would you"? It is roughly 8,300 miles around the perimeter of Australia and roughly another 1,000 each way if you also include a trip to Alice Springs and Ayers Rock in the inner sanctum of the Northern Territories. The point the locals were making was that you could go back home and say, "I drove the perimeter of Australia" but you will have virtually seen nothing of Australia.

This is the first trip I've planned where I have never been on the continent that I'll be riding. I've found over the years that listening to those with local experience makes for a much safer and more enjoyable ride. I have had the good fortune to have found both an expert and a local to help guide me on my trip around the land of Oz. So far on my two previous rides off the continent of North America, namely the Principalities of Europe 15 & Gaelic Turas 17, I've shipped my bike over on one trip and rented on the other. While shipping the bike is moderately more expensive then renting and takes some extra planning there is certain peace of mind that comes from riding your own bike. When I checked into renting, I knew from the Gaelic Turas ride that I would only rent if I could rent my full size K1600 GTL touring bike. Last year I rented a R1200GS which is a great bike but it is a sport touring bike which means it is smaller and is not nearly as comfortable as my bike. When I contacted the premier bike rental company in Australia - www.Bikeroundoz.com. I was fortunate to be put in touch with Mark. He explained that the biggest BMW they rented was the R1200GS, but here's what I love about motorcyclists!! . Even after I explained to Mark that I was going to ship my bike, he was willing to give me advice on the trip, review my itinerary and point out suggestions and/or possible pitfalls. Based on many of Mark's suggestions I have significantly altered my route. Mark was kind enough to let me know if I would be dealing with paved roads the entire trip. I.E. Mark cautioned me that when I'm making the ride down from Ayers Rock to Adelaide - I should stop riding an hour before sunset and not start riding until an hour after sunrise. He said because in between sunset and sunrise the critters own the roads. I imagine some of those cold-blooded critters like to use the warm pavement as a sauna 😊 I rarely ride at night anyway but you can bet I'll heed Mark's advice on this one! Now you can see why finding a guy like Mark is so helpful. We shared info and plan to meet up when I'm down under.

This year’s trip will take place in Oz's spring (September -October). The dates for the ride are something like September 12th to October 13th. I have a little bit of lead way build in because I haven't figured out how I'll ship my bike yet. Karen (my wife) will fly down and spend some time with me after the ride. She has enough common sense to see Australia via 4 wheels or thru the air. I chose Spring because it seems to offer the best combination of dry versus heat. Imagine planning a motorcycle trip to the US where you are going to be in the North and the South during the trip. I also chose our fall because I was planning to be retired by then. The new owners of All Integrated Solutions (MSC) have invited me to stay on for a year. I thought about postponing the trip but I'll already be 61 when the trip starts and well.... let’s just say I'm not getting any younger and leave it at that.

The map of Australia (above) shows the initial route I've laid out with diagonal lines where I intend to stop. This route will more than likely change depending on where Karen wants to go after the ride. Normally I book hotels through at least the first half of the trip, however except for cities which may be tough to get rooms and my stop in Sydney to recover from the jet lag, I will leave my itinerary open.

I'll do at least one more pre-blog before I start in September but this note officially kicks off this year’s cureduchenne ride. Oh, and BTW I'm bringing back the much heralded and often sought after OFFICIAL ride T-shirt. My niece Jen Ruetz (no not my daughter -yes there are two Jennifer Ruetz's) is designing this years "Jim's Rideabout Oz 18” shirt. Donations over $100 dollars will get one for free!! The shirts are compliments from me, so no donation money is used for the shirt costs. Sponsors can also get their name on the shirt (if they want) with a donation of $500 or more.

Talk to you later.

Thanks,

Jim

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