A lot has happened since my last post including a trip to Japan with some photos I will post shortly, a trip to Sydney and the Hunter Valley for a cousin’s wedding, and a trip to Brisbane to visit my brother where everyone but Monica, Ashley and myself got violently sick! We have bought a new house, some progress has been made on the No Stopping Zone in the Bayside Council area, and we have a female Prime Minister (for now at least)! It has been a good six weeks to try and do things with this body that does not work. The trip to Japan was with friends who are fabulously helpful and at times I was even an asset to have around. Needless to say in the last six weeks we have done enough travel for five-year-old Ashley to now be a silver frequent-flyer! She is very proud of her card and baggage tags.

On Monday evening (2 August) on the 7 PM project show on Channel 10 there will be a story about bicycle registration. It should be an interesting story showing the views of both motorists and cyclists with regard to this issue and I was also interviewed for it. My argument is a little different and I hope it informs the viewers of what registration really means here in Australia. Registration is basically insurance and an administration cost; roads and associated infrastructure is actually paid for through taxes. My argument is not for or against registering cyclists but it is for making the insurance that registration offers available to cyclists. My circumstances, now being a quadriplegic, have highlighted this issue during my experience over the last two years. Tune in if you are interested.
On a recreational front, here are some photos of a recent ride we did together as a family. It was Ashley’s idea to wear the matching shirts!

Days like this are few and far between at this time of year in Melbourne, but the facility provided to ride along the beach path here in Melbourne is second to none. It is a wonderful thing we can do together involving taking Ash to the park as we reach our turnaround point where there is a lovely cafe to have a bite to eat and a play. Things are certainly not great, and the pain levels that I’m dealing with are immense, but days like this are to be treasured.

Cheers,

Mike.