'Friendship demands the ability to do without' ..... Ralph Waldo Emerson
I first met Alan Kelly back in 2004. Although we were both living in Braintree, we actually met at Santa Pod for the beginning of the Nick Sanders' Moto Challenge GB. We accidentally became team members of ''Hap Hazard" atop an anonymous junction on the M4 along with 2 others, ... Lee Crahart and Mark Wallis. It was a chance meeting of lost and disparate souls that developed into true friendship. For 8 long days, we rode 'Point to Point' against the clock around the British Isles, we raced against others on Hill Climbs and Short Circuits, .... and team Hap Hazard ended the challenge victorious. Well, .... we came home in third place, ..... but it was a moral victory for the team that redefined the term 'Under Dogs'.
There is something inherently good in the hearts of 'Bikers', and for the generosity of Alan Kelly, Mark Wallis and Lee Crahart, I will be eternally grateful, ....... enuf said.
Initially I had planned to use a Yamaha XT600 for Poor Circulation, .... light, simple, reliable .... cheap. However, whilst the XT was ideal for my perfect form, Alan. aka 'Herman freeking Munster', made it look like a Honda Cub. Hey Ho, ..... Alan already owned a Triumph Tiger 955i, all glistening black and shiny new, ...... so it seemed easier for him to use the bike that he fitted rather than trying to shoehorn him onto a moped. And so it was, ....... I needed to lay my grimy mittens on another cheap Triumph, ... and so the Tiger Hunt began. We could have each used a different make of bike, .... but having to carry two sets of spare parts around the world would have been a pain in an already sore arse. Also, ... the fact that it would be a Triumph seemed to fit with the Thomas family tradition, .... and Poor Circulation was afterall, a 'Family' adventure, ... of sorts. The better compromise was for me to ride a Tiger that was too tall, too heavy, too complicated and too expensive, .. but apart form that,.. an ideal choice really.
'Compromise' is a word that we will come to understand over the coming year. To say that Alan and I are different, ... would be the truth. I'll say no more at this point except that the term 'Passport' did not translate easily into his perfect estuary tongue.
www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas
I first met Alan Kelly back in 2004. Although we were both living in Braintree, we actually met at Santa Pod for the beginning of the Nick Sanders' Moto Challenge GB. We accidentally became team members of ''Hap Hazard" atop an anonymous junction on the M4 along with 2 others, ... Lee Crahart and Mark Wallis. It was a chance meeting of lost and disparate souls that developed into true friendship. For 8 long days, we rode 'Point to Point' against the clock around the British Isles, we raced against others on Hill Climbs and Short Circuits, .... and team Hap Hazard ended the challenge victorious. Well, .... we came home in third place, ..... but it was a moral victory for the team that redefined the term 'Under Dogs'.
There is something inherently good in the hearts of 'Bikers', and for the generosity of Alan Kelly, Mark Wallis and Lee Crahart, I will be eternally grateful, ....... enuf said.
Initially I had planned to use a Yamaha XT600 for Poor Circulation, .... light, simple, reliable .... cheap. However, whilst the XT was ideal for my perfect form, Alan. aka 'Herman freeking Munster', made it look like a Honda Cub. Hey Ho, ..... Alan already owned a Triumph Tiger 955i, all glistening black and shiny new, ...... so it seemed easier for him to use the bike that he fitted rather than trying to shoehorn him onto a moped. And so it was, ....... I needed to lay my grimy mittens on another cheap Triumph, ... and so the Tiger Hunt began. We could have each used a different make of bike, .... but having to carry two sets of spare parts around the world would have been a pain in an already sore arse. Also, ... the fact that it would be a Triumph seemed to fit with the Thomas family tradition, .... and Poor Circulation was afterall, a 'Family' adventure, ... of sorts. The better compromise was for me to ride a Tiger that was too tall, too heavy, too complicated and too expensive, .. but apart form that,.. an ideal choice really.
'Compromise' is a word that we will come to understand over the coming year. To say that Alan and I are different, ... would be the truth. I'll say no more at this point except that the term 'Passport' did not translate easily into his perfect estuary tongue.
www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas
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1 comment:
You've missed the important part. Who is she? Is she going with ya?
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