A couple of ticks on the to do list

They might not be the best photos I've ever taken, but I'm smiling when I look at them.

Fire extinguisher is refilled and certified - they're good for 12 months, not 2 years.

Decals are done - this is the one on my bonnet (or is that obvious?).

Tomorrow is tyres.

Friday is checking everything one last time and then Spirit of Tassie sails at 8pm.

Disaster prevented ....

OK, the nice people at Wormold are going to recertify my fire gear tomorrow.

I was lucky - it needs to be recertified, like all pressurised fire extinguishers, every 2 years. And I had in installed in early 2008, so it shouldn't need it until early 2010. When I was picking up the car, I wondered aloud "when does the extinguisher expire?"

So we checked.

And it needs to be checked in Jan 2009, because it was MANUFACTURED in Jan 2007 and installed in Feb 2008.

It could have been an issue - if the scrutineer had noticed it on Sunday (and I reckon he would have), I would have had to find someone in Launceston to do it, or I might not have got a start. Horrible way to miss out on an event I've been looking forward to for nearly a year.

Anyway, that problem is behind me now.

Next we have to have the new decals put on the car (I'll post photos once they're done), new tyres (Thursday or Friday), and a few comfort items, like a spare fire proof balaclava .. It's one thing to wear a smelly balaclava under your helmet for a day on the track, quite another to wear it for 5 days running. Yuck.

I'm sure something will try to bite me between now and Friday, but I'll keep you posted.

Preparation continues

I'm collecting my rally car this morning; after Sunday's very successful shakedown session at Sandown it's been for a spanner & fluids check: making sure that everything that should be tight is, and checking things like my break pads to make sure they've got plenty of 'meat' left in them.

And I needed a new windscreen washer pump and a label for my driving lights. Little things, but they make the difference between an easy drive and a frustrating one.

We've just discovered the on-board fire extinguisher is out of date. So I'll finish this post after I've found someone who can certify it for me ASAP.

A change of pace ...

Today I've swapped 2 wheels for 4 and dragged my rally car to Sandown for it's final shakedown session before I head to Tassie for Targa (http://www.targa.org.au) next Friday.

It's a Maserati Club practice day - I'm very proud to be both a member and on the Club's committee - but not many members run Maseratis.

Lots of Porsches, EVOs, Skylines,Lancers, BMW, an Aussie Race Car series car (go Ruth!), Jags, a couple of Peugeots, Alfas, a very fast Gemini (!), an Ariel Atom and other interesting odds & ends.

Mine is an early Porsche 944. First year of production. Not all that fast, but beautifully balanced and nimble in the twisty bits. Pity that Sandown is more straight than corner, but every bit of practice helps.

http://www.targa.com.au/Competitors/comp_admin/comp_images/uploads/vehicles/3045_1.jpg

A number of people had offs which motorsport for "leaving the track when you didn't intend to". No one was hurt, and they clipped a minute here & there from some of the practice sessions and it didn't slow things down too much.

I only had one incident - someone in a big sedan who was much quicker than me on the straights, but had to start breaking WAY BEFORE I did ... so he was leaving me behind on the straights while in the corners I was almost ramming his back bumper. It's not a race, and there is no passing on corners or under brakes, so he SHOULD have let me through. But he didn't. So I bailed out of that session. I wasn't going to wreck my day, or my car, getting mad about some idiot who didn't know what he was doing. He'll learn (I hope).

And I was 4 seconds faster by the end of the day - an EXCELLENT result.

Ok, it didn't quite go to plan ..

Cycling in a group has all sorts of rules & laws – some are 'written', some you have to learn the hard way, and some are, well,  just obvious.

And the most obvious one is that if you want to ride with a group, you have to go where the group goes.

This morning, my plan was to head into the Dandenongs and hopefully conquer (Ok, ride) Donna Buang. So I met group of guys for coffee at 6:45 (yes, cycling is an EARLY morning activity). I only knew one of the them, but, again, it's one of those things about cycling – if you can keep up, and ride in a bunch (more on that in a minute) - you're welcome. And my being there made a group of 6, so when we were riding 2 abreast no one was stuck talking to themselves.

I tried to steer the decision towards doing my ride, but majority ruled and instead of East we headed South along Beach Rd.

I guess it's a bit like sex – as long as you're enjoying it, does it really matter if you're not doing exactly what you want?

Bunch riding is great – the time & distance fly past as you chat about ... well it's usually about cycling. And  group always moves faster than an individual, especially this individual. So we motored down to Frankston (40k) a few kilometres an hour faster than I would normally ride. Then some hills, coffee in Mornington, some more hills, some sprints (I won one of them!), and then a solid ride home.

It turned into one of those rides that it doesn't matter how far you go, the last 5K is a MAJOR EFFORT. I sort of     hung on, and with the aid of a few very well timed traffic lights, managed to arrive back within a minute of the rest of our little peleton.

More coffee (three for the ride – it goes well with cycling and early mornings) and then home – 125K, at an average of about 30kph (fast for me), and maybe 600m of climb ... Which of course means 600m of fast descent.

And the rules?  You have to learn to sit side by side, and just off the wheel ahead. Ride in a straight line. Maintain the pace. And when it's your turn on the front of the line – do the work or get out of the way. And have something interesting to say.

Heading for Donna Buang

Ok, I've worked out the mail to blogger thing (not at all difficult). So that's one less excuse (not being near the PC)  for not blogging.

I've set myself a huge hurdle to get over tomorrow – I'm aiming for an almost 200 km ride, with a 16.8K climb in the middle: Mt. Donna Buang.  Elevation increase of 1080m, which means it's an average climb of about 6.5%



And there are a coupe of hills in the way between home and the base of the climb.

I'm not worried about the climb(s).

I'm not worried about the distance.

I'm a little worried about doing both together, but I need to get this under my belt well before July.

So now that I've bragged about the effort I'm going to put in tomorrow, I'll have to post some stats when I get home .... Maybe after the shower & something to eat!

Testing

Just testing the mail2blogger thing.