Following the amazing weekend last weekend with the boys doing the charity ride to help me get to Project Walk in the USA in early February, I was finally discharged from hospital on Wednesday.  It was an amazing feeling to leave and head to the outside world with Moni and Ash by my side who have supported me unbelievably from the moment I landed at death’s door in hospital on the 28th of June last year.  I think the most pleasing thing for me is that the word “can’t” will no longer be jammed down my throat by the wonders of the public hospital system that we have in Australia.  There is a wonderful man who works at Royal Talbot who I’ve talked about before and it is Campbell.  Campbell is a paraplegic and he has really helped show everybody out there that dealing with this condition is all about what you can do.  It is a real shame that the system that he works in continually tells you what you can’t do.  I will leave it at that, but now it really is about what can I do!

I would like to thank individually the boys who did the charity ride in my honour last weekend.  Their efforts have allowed us to stay for an extra three weeks in San Diego to attend Project Walk and I do not intend to disappoint them giving the best effort that I can give to the program whilst I am there. So thank you to Peter Grant, Mark Mathews, Adam Conquest, Andrew Leyden, Kent Cuthbert, Nathan Gridley, Paul Grant, Graham Gee, and Mark Crudden in an amazing effort where they covered nearly 400 km in two days to help me out.  An absolutely humbling experience.  It was awesome to meet up with these guys in Port Melbourne and do the last 8 km with them.  It was absolutely appropriate that it was headwind to plough into to finish and I would be lying if I didn’t say I was absolutely buggered with about 2 km to finish!   The day itself was an amazing milestone for me knowing that I was checking out of hospital three days later I look forward to going for a ride of my own while guys like this go for a ride of an appropriate distance and meet them at the end of their ride a lovely cafe breakfast! Now this is living in anyone’s language!

Now for Project Walk.
With six weeks intensive physical work I am aiming to be able to use my function to transfer in and out of the wheelchair.  To go from bed to chair or chair to couch or chair to car using my own function will mean a massive life change.  I’m also hoping that this sort of function will be a stepping stone to greater things.  My goal over the next year is to be ready to walk my daughter to school on her first day in late January 2010.  I will need to cover the distance of 200m, but luckily friends of ours (Cam and Michelle) have bought a house exactly halfway between us and Elwood Primary School.  It is very considerate of them as there is no doubt I will need a rest halfway!  At the very least, I will need a refreshment!

Also a thankyou to Anthony for his work in organising a benefit dinner, of which you will hear more in the next couple of weeks.  The dinner will be held on 28th March as a bit of a welcome home when we return from Project Walk so pop that date in your calendar and hope to see you there.  Oh, and a last quick note: the wonderful cycle kit that appears in our photos is available now at Spoke(n) and both the CBD Cycles stores in the city.  Thanks to the guys who run these stores for having the gear for display.  Get in there and check it out.  It is selling really well and I look forward to seeing more of it out on the road.

Thankyou to everyone for all your support, visits, food, good wishes, thoughts and motivation since my accident.  I look forward to seeing you all when I get back.  So I look forward to joining you on a ride the cafe pitstop upon my return or seeing you at the dinner to really celebrate life and what it has to offer despite the odd bumpy road.

Keep well.

I know that Sparky and Mike will both be doing posts so will keep this short and sweet ….. Forbesy loved his “long ride” – a very emotional day – he saw it as a huge milestone. He went out just with his mates for a ride! I will let the boys tell the full story b/c truth be known I was just chatting to the girls and minding the BBQ while the boys were doing all the hard work but all I will say was that the way I saw it……………. there were a whole lot of guys bludging off Mike’s wheel as they came in to Elwood!

Seriously though – as one of the guys with us at Elwood said when we saw them riding along the path to the ride finish “it just gives you goose bumps”. Thankyou to so, so, so many people – Peter and Sparky for organising the ride and their mates to do it (although I am not sure how popular Sparky is after setting the course to include a 15km climb with a 1km vertical climb to finish on day 1 and then having a training course overseas so he couldn’t actually do day 1!!). To Sparky for jumping straight off an overnight flight and on to his bike to ride as far as he could with the boys. To Fi for driving half-way around Melbourne to help Sparky do that. Obviously to all the boys who rode the full distance – you are truly amazing and an inspiration to us. It was incredibly humbling. To Peter’s aunt and uncle and Kent’s girlfriend who travelled with the boys to make sure they were safe and all together and had enough water and supplies. To Rob and Jack without whom there would have been no food or beverage at Elwood Park. To Chris, Marlin and Adam who literally picked Mike and his bike up and threw him in the car to take him to Port Melb. To Jules for the kit which is awesome – the boys looked spectacular riding in a group in the kit.  And thankyou to everyone who came down to meet the boys at Elwood – it was great to see you all there, even if we didn’t manage to get around to everyone and have a chat. I will have forgotten to thank any number of people individually but thankyou, thankyou, thankyou. Oh, and to Cam – thanks for coming down on your birthday and slaving away over a hot BBQ!

Collectively the boys raised enough money for Mike to stay in the U.S. at Project Walk for an extra 2 weeks which is just amazing- thankyou so much. I know Mike is going to do a post where he will let you all know what he hopes to get from his time at Project Walk but for now just a quick post to let everyone know that the boys made it safely to Elwood and Mike can now be entrusted to his mates whenever they want him (guys, every Saturday or Sunday works for me!).

Right about now, there’s about a dozen cyclists somewhere south of the NSW border who are riding 360kms this weekend from Yarrawonga to Melbourne as a fundraiser for Forbesy. This ride was the idea of fellow Melbourne Triathlon Club member Peter Grant. Peter’s motivation to organise the ride is summarised in his statement “Given the amount of time that I spend on the streets of Melbourne on my bike, my love of all things triathlon and cycling related and the similarities between Mike’s family situation and mine this accident was a little to close to home. I felt I had to do something to to help.” Anyway, help he has. Peter is no stranger to raising money for charity, having raised many thousands of dollars over the last 2 years when he supported The Kids Foundation as a competitor in the 2007 (same one as Forbesy) and 2008 Australian Ironman Triathlon. Peter has mobilised his network and a few fellow MTC mates to raise money to support Forbesy’s visit to Project Walk in February.

The 360km ride signifies two Ironman bike rides…… 180kms for Forbesy and 180kms for each of the boys on the Long Ride. The details of this weekend’s ride are:

Saturday – 170kms, Yarrawonga to Mansfield via Wangaratta and Whitfield (over the edge of the Vic Alps) Click on this link to see map of Day 1 ride course

Sunday – 190kms, Mansfield to Elwood via Yea and Yarra Glen (rolling hills throughout) Click on link to see map of Day 2 ride course

Mike will be joining the boys for the last few kilometres of the bike ride on his new recumbent trike on the trip from Port Melbourne down to Elwood. Weather permitting, the boys are expecting to finish the ride between 1 and 2pm.

We will be at the BBQ/kids playground area next to the tennis courts at the Elwood Beach carpart from about 12 until about 4. I will have some snags, bread and hopefully some snacks for the riders.

For those who want to ride, the meeting point is the large rotunda on the foreshore at Port Melbourne – just south of station pier. I would guess that they would be riding from there somewhere between 12:30 and 1:30. They will be texting Mike when they are about 1 hour away so if you want me to text you – please e-mail your mobile number to monica@michaelforbes.org and I will make sure I send you a text to give you an hours notice.

Again, a long time between posts. Mike is definitely leaving Talbot next Wednesday so lots of packing up at Talbot and moving things home and trying to find room for them here!

Mike is loving scuba and this week managed to work out a way to use a normal scuba mask, rather than the special one they had thought he would need. It is really good to see him problem solving ways to try to use “normal” equipment slight modified rather than specialist equipment. He says it is so he can be more flexible and just use whatever is around (eg, just going to any cafe or hiring any scuba gear) rather than having to take special stuff but I think it is because I keep losing the special things or forgetting to take them so really he is just adapting to his wife’s incompetence!  Anyway, as part of using normal equipment, Mike had to prove that he could hold his breath long enough to get the spare breathing mask in to his mouth. Scarily, despite his reduced lung capacity and the fact that his diaphragm doesn’t work he could hold his breath longer than I could! How embarrassing! I was going to suggest this was because I no longer get to do any exercise but we decided that really it just meant that Mike was still full of hot air! Thanks to Sam and Mick for running the scuba courses at Talbot – it is absolutely fantastic and Mike loves it. Also to Campbell for organising it and making it happen. We’re thinking that next summer he will try to work towards riding his bike to Rickett’s point and then will go for a snorkel or scuba with Ash and who-ever else wants to head down.

It won’t be this summer because we are confirmed as off to Project Walk for 6 weeks from the beginning of Feb. Yipppeee! We finally managed to convince the passport office that we are Ashley’s parents and that we really do want her to have a passport. It took 4 attempts but success is all the sweeter for the numerous trips to the post office!

I am still trying to get some of the video footage of Mike on his bike but if you want to see him in action …… block out some time this Sunday afternoon. A crew of amazing people are doing a charity ride this weekend (let’s hope it cools down a bit for them) to raise money to get Mike more sessions at Project Walk to maximise the benefit of his time there. Weather permitting, Mike will be joining them for the last section of their ride from Port Melbourne to Elwood. I’m sure they will be more than happy for others to join them for the last bit of the ride. Once they are done, we will enjoy a well deserved BBQ in the park behind Elwood Beach. It is called Elwood Park if you look in the Melways and is near the end of Vautier Street just next to the tennis courts and Elwood Beach House. There are a couple of BBQ’s and tables and a park for the kids. Would be lovely to see whoever is around as a bit of a leaving Talbot celebration.

Finally, on the riding front – the kits have arrived and they look awesome and they are super comfy to wear. I am dropping some off at Spoke(n) in St Kilda today and hopefully by the end of the week they will be available at CBD and Pro Motion as well. Alternatively, I can send them directly to you (e-mail me at monica@michaelforbes.org). Jersey’s are $80, bib and brace knicks are $90 (shorts are $80) or you can get a set for $150. The gear looks and feels great so this is a good deal and it helps raise funds for the trip to the states. I am in the process of getting some photos uploaded but when I tried it didn’t work!

Enough from me, better get back to de-cluttering the blessed blue house. Hopefully see some of you on Sunday. I will do another post on Friday sometime to confirm approximate times for Sunday.

After a whirlwind Christmas and New Year, we are starting to pack up things at Talbot to head home.

Official leave date is 21st January but Mike is very keen to have everything in place to leave next Friday…. I just see that as 3 less days to have the house ready! We will be home for a few weeks and then all being well (ie, Ashley’s passport coming thru) we will be off to Project Walk in the first or second week of Feb. The wonderful Anthony is looking at organising a big fundraising dinner when we get back at which hopefully Mike will be able to show off some new skills.

No posts recently because I have been attempting to get a passport for Ash which with a dad who can’t sign and a mum who was born in a remote village in Fiji and does not have a birth certificate has been proving challenging!!! I think the guys at our local post office deserve a medal in patience!! Hopefully the 4th attempt is sufficient and it will go thru OK this time! I have already told Mike that if it doesn’t he is off to the states himself!!

On the weekend we were able to establish that Mike definitely did not incur a brain injury as part of his accident. Being a nice day and all, we went for a ride with Chris and Jules and their little girl. Plan A was to try to get to North Point Cafe and the park there ….. we got there, the girls jumped off the bikes and we went off to play in the park – Mike looked at Degeers and they went off for a further spin to Brighton Baths – he came back puffing and blowing so obviously some effort was put in. THe 10km ride completely wiped him out and landed him in bed with light-headedness for the rest of the day which only served to prove that he is just as stupid when it comes to pushing himself as he was before the accident so tick – no brain injury! Thankfully there is no clock on my mountain bike so I have no idea how fast he was going but it was an OK pace for Jules and I to ride with kids on board, so it was faster than I had expected.

The ride was great and we will look at setting up a last Sunday in month type arrangement where who-ever is around can come for a spin. Initially probably just along the beach path to a park or cafe but over time we will start trying new bike paths.

Hope to see as many of you as possible before we head off in early Feb.

Finally, the wonderful folk at Supersprint are letting us do a raffle and some fundraising up at their Great Ocean and Otway classic ride. It is a 145km ride from Torquay, with a 65km support event on 28th March. We are expecting to be back from the states are are planning to get Mike down there …. was hoping they might run a 10km support event!! Log on to the supersprint website if you want more details or to enter – I just wish I was fit enough to contemplate it! Even if you don’t want to ride it, we will need some volunteers to help sell raffle tickets so think about heading down.

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Christmas and safe and happy new year.

We had a very busy but fun Christmas period. Lots of family around so lots and lots of help around the house, with Ash and with Mike so it was really quite relaxing. Even managed to get a few jobs done. Now much time to be spent watching the cricket! We have now got a standing frame so Mike watches a few overs standing up or on his FES bike. The standing time is great for his leg strength and control – now all I need is a device which will work on his hands so that I can get him to do some dishes!!

Mike was determined to start this new year like all others – with a ride! Despite our best intentions it did, in fact, rain on his parade – outrageous really!!! We didn’t make it for the first beach-path ride and cafe stop but a few mates did drop around and we went down to the local school for a pedal – I think they were most impressed and I am pretty sure that Sparky has some video footage to pop up here in the coming days – so keep your eyes peeled. The pedal strokes are not quite what they were but we will cut Mike some slack because really it is amazing that he can pedal it at all! We need to work out a way to get a speedo on the little wheels so we can track his km’s. If the weather stays good today we are planning on heading down for a spin this afternoon.

Just a quick post to put up some details of a wonderful person who each year does some sort of charity initiative – and this year Peter has decided to do this for Mike. On January 17th and 18th he is a doing a 360km ride with 3 others from the Murray in to Melbourne to raise funds for Mike. I have asked he and Sparky to put up a few details about the ride. We are hoping to get Mike to ride the last little bit with the boys and will let you know details as soon as I have them! He is asking for people to sponsor him for the ride – you can put the money thru 4wheels4sean – michael forbes account (please refer to the fundraising page).

With us leaving Talbot on the 21st January, the money raised will go towards our trip in early February over to Project Walk and for on-going therapy at home – Mike has decided to make the next 12 months about being “the best that I can be”.