Trail Bike Adventure Magazine

Kerr-ist! July 26

Sunday, 25 July 2010 17:06

Things are getting tight with issue #35. The first deadline was last week, so the pressure's really on now.

I'd set up with the KTM guys to get a close look at Toby Price's Finke bike, and after a few phone calls back and forth I'd agreed with Brad Williscroft that I'd make my way down to the enduro team's headquarters at Appin, south of Sydney. As the days flicked by, I was pretty busy with other things, but I began to get a little uncomfortable about how late everything was getting. The short story is, I drove from Coffs to Appin last Thursday and arrived in the early afternoon. Brad said, "Cool! I'll just go pick up the bike."

When he arrived back with the bike (and Toby Price) we were well into a chilly afternoon, with some heavy cloud building up. It was fairly gloomy with occasional patches of sunlight, and things were deteriorating.

With the bike out of the van, Brad said cheerfully, "We'll just give it a wash. Then I have to put the right forks in it. And the triple-clamps. And a sticker kit. And a new master cylinder".

For the next hour-and-a-half or so I lounged around the workshop and watched Brad, Toby and Mick do the kind of work that breaks a wannabe-mechanic's heart. The front-end of the bike was removed and the new gear bolted on with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of care, and, in this case, all with a great deal of good humour. My favourite part was when Brad undid the final pinch-bolt on the triple-clamp and the fork leg rocketed free and stabbed into the concrete workshop floor like a jet-propelled deep-sea drill bit in the sea bed of the Gulf of Mexico. That's the kind of thing that happens to me all the time, and it's always enlightening to see it happen to the pros. In this case, the general ribbing of the other guys made it even more enjoyable.

Once the bike was assembled and Brad pulled his riding gear on I reckoned we had about 40 minutes of gloomy light left in the day.

Because it was all done so late I really couldn't afford to waste any time, so I drove straight home to make sure the pics were sorted and uploaded the next morning.

You can judge how I coped when you see #35.

The Coolum round of the Motocross Nationals will be finishing up pretty much as I write this, and because my son wasn't riding this year I didn't go. I'm looking forward to seeing how it went and who finished where, especially in the new Vets championship. I really enjoyed watching those "old" guys race last year. I hope that championship expands and does well.

The big news this week of course is Miranda Kerr marrying Fernando Bloom. Miranda's definitely an A List babe. If you looked up "Pert" in the dictionary there should be a pic of her chesticles. This is a family site, but, so I'll keep those under wraps and share this one instead...

Onya Bloomers. You're a lucky hobbit (or whatever you were in that Pawed In The Ring movie).

I also stumbled on to Hey Hey It's 1984! on Werdnesday night, and - DNF me if I'm lyin'! - Kylie Minogue was on, looking so absolutely sensational it was hard to believe (and I do mean HARD). So I want to offer a little mini-tribute of appreciation to Kyles.

Dog bless you, Kylie. My throttle hand is stronger, thanks to you!

TF