Jim's Rideabout Oz 2018 Final Pre-Blog T minus 1 day

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T minus 1

After nearly 11 months of planning coupled with a heck of a lot support, I'm finally down to my last item checklist. Packing for a trip of this magnitude is a challenge, particularly knowing what ever I take basically needs to fit into the two waterproof duffel bags sitting on my passenger seat. The weather will vary a little but it should be 40-50's at night in Sydney and 60-70's during the day when I arrive. The further North I go the warmer the days will get (nights will be about the same).

I chose this time of year because it is one of the drier times through out the areas I'm going to ride. Here are some fun facts about the trip:

Approximate planned Miles - about 5,000 ( doesn't include side trips decided on while at a location),

25 separate Hotel Bookings (includes both Rideabout OZ and post trip with Karen)

11 flight legs (most post ride with Karen)

Mode's of transport used: Plane, Motorcycle, Car ( out to Uluru Karen), boat (diving) (and for my bike). (Uluru and Ayers Rock are the same)

20 Overnight stay's in Australian cities including the Capital (Canberra)

I will try to blog every other day at minimum and will do my best to keep the pictures flowing (this is the most frequent request I get). I'll have my Go Pro mounted on my helmet and another on the bike along with pictures from my phone. I'll be out of commission for the first few days because of the flights, in fact, I won't experience a September 12th this year. I take off from LAX at 11:15 PM on September 11th and land in Sydney at 7:00 AM on the 13th of September. (Karen won't experience an October 8th this year either 😊

I attempted to acknowledge and thank everyone in my previous blogs but it goes with out saying that this ride isn't possible without a whole lot of peoples help and prayers. One person I didn't get to thank earlier is Steve Scaffidi. Steve is the host of The Steve Scaffidi show on WTMJ radio in Milwaukee. Steve had me on the show to promote the charity ride for Cureduchenne Muscular Dystrophy last Friday.

When its all said and done - its not about blogs and pictures or neat places to visit. Its about raising enough funds to help find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The Millers who founded "Cureduchenne" named it based on their goal. The goal of the organization is one of the first things that caught my attention once I learned about them. Their goal, simply put, was and is to find a CURE for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The Millers (two son's afflicted with Duchenne) are making great progress toward their goal. If you are thinking of donating don't put it off - do it now go to www.cureduchenne.org/Jimsride you can also read about the fantastic successes they are having with trial drugs that with out your donations wouldn't get to the testing stage. *** Don't forget all donations over $100 get a free much heralded "Jims Rideabout Oz 2018" tee shirt!

Talk to you again Down Under.

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