6/02/2018

Cover Photo: Jenny’s Iron883, On Nanga Brook Road, during a 200km+ ride a couple of weekends ago.

By Will

To begin with Happy Wedding Anniversary to Jenny & I, on this day 25 years ago we were married in front of about 40 guests at the Ravenswood Hotel. The day started with rain (highly unusual for mid summer) & ended with gusty winds, which made the photographers life challenging.

Jenny & I have amazingly been an item for 30 years, teenage sweethearts. Like everyone, there has been ups & downs but we have managed to figure out what works for us….Being best friends first & caring about each other’s needs.

So far it has been a wonderful journey with each other, l love you Jenny, let’s aim for another 30 magnificent years together.

So what’s been happening ?

“Don’t tell yourself, I’ll do that one day ! Just get on with it, because one day you will wake up dead”….
Good advice from a long ago workmate at Broad Arrow Mill (a now decommissioned  Gold Processing Plant). Just north of Kalgoorlie, where I worked for a year back in 1988/89. I recall his name was Dave ?

 

Working at the Broard Arrow Mill in 1988/89, I was 19yo back then & my sweetheart, Jenny was just about to dropout of University & move to Kalgoorlie….(yeah that’s a young Will in the photo).

So what is your reality, are you happy, unhappy, weighed down by debt, don’t know what to do with your life ? Do you have a plan or is your plan to just “Wing It” & hope for the best ? If you are one of the lucky few maybe you have the job of your dreams & love your current life, if that is the case then good for you !

As for the rest of us, how are you going to make your own dreams happen ? One thing I’ve learnt is you can’t do it all, but you can filter through your dreams & wishes, prioritise, then select the most achievable ones & tackle them. It maybe to Cycle somewhere for a month, join the Vanlife movement, be the best Parent or Dog owner you can be….become your own Boss ?

Maybe the Sailing RTW Dream can wait until later ! Who knows, only YOU can make things happen !

At the moment Jenny & I are ignoring some of our own reality issues. I hate to admit it but we are presently living beyond means. Not overly but by a enough that eventually it will matter. Our lifestyle is slowly eroding away what is really a small amount of hard won capital. If we faced our own reality we would take measures to mitigate the current problem, like cut costs.

 

On Australia Day we rode our Thorn Nomad Bicycles out to the Dawesville Cut & back, 40kms. So many people out in their boats enjoying the beautiful summer weather.

Off loading some of our excess internal combustion powered vehicles, therefore getting rid of some registrations & insurances, that is an immediate answer. No more international travel is another.

The possibility of going back to work, may be seen as an obvious solution or just get smarter with what ever equity we currently have at our disposal ! (Invest More & Spend Less)……ah Bitcoin anyone ?

At least we’ve identified, there is an issue. That is always the first part of the problem solving process, then deciding your next move. For us at the moment going back to work, no more travel or having a big sell off isn’t the answer to our present situation. We do have the luxury of postponing the hard choices for the immediate future. We still have that spark for Adventure & Travel, so that is what we are going to do & deal with our “reality” as a mid term plan….

 

We are also making the most of the folding bikes. We pile the Brompton’s & Jenny’s, Mum’s folding Polygon into Lorraine’s Honda & head over to the Estuary for an easy 12km ride. Great Fun 😀👍🚲🚲🚲

 

We also caught up with some family near the Port Bouvard Tavern.

So let the wiljen’s adventure continue, let’s try & stretch this wonderful gig out for another 12 months, who knows what opportunities may pop up along the way.

What Training & Why : Some big plans on the horizon, later this month we head to Tasmania for a Motorbike Tour. Neil (Jenny’s step-bro) his wife Tracey have been kind enough to offer to host us. They are currently going through their own downsizing experience over in Tassie, but just before the big sell off have said,
“Come over & let’s go on a Motorbike tour of Tasmania before we sell these excess bikes”.

Next up after Tassie & later in the year it’s over to Canada. Where we commence our (last for awhile ?) epic multi-month, Bicycle Tour along North America’s West Coast. Reportedly one of the best Cycle Tours on the Planet. We will be totally unsupported on this trip & are hoping to ride 5000kms+ on our Thorn Nomad Bicycles, from Calgary to San Diego (or possibly beyond ?). Can we do it ???

 

Jenny took the Linear Recumbent for a 15km spin, nice and comfortable.

 

Lots & lots of two wheeled action for Jenny & Will over the past month, it has been very enjoyable.

This means we have been…training, training, training ! Aiming on cycling 30-50kms, 3 times a week. So far so good, there has also been Yoga training (stretching) for 30 minutes nearly every morning since our return from the UK. Both of us have dropped a couple of kilos, but there is a long way to go.

If we can get up to 50kms, three times per week we will be in a massively better position than when we arrived in Spain, back in March 2015. It shouldn’t take long to get up to full cycling fitness if we can maintain our training. I’m guessing once we arrive into Canada we will only need a couple of weeks on the road at the beginning of our Tour to obtain close to our full cycle touring ability.

 

Last Sunday & Monday team wiljen rode 74kms with our Cycling Friends Allan & Julie (who we originally met on the Munda Biddi 1000km cycle trail back in 2014). Allan & Julie had ridden down from Booragoon, Perth, so they did 100kms…well done, good luck with your European Ride Julie & Allan !

Some Motorcycle training for Tasmania as well, last Saturday we went on a 360km Motorbike Ride with some biker mates up to Spencer Brook. This was organised by our friend Simon who works for McCulloch Suzuki in Vic Park…..no hard sell from Simon, but if you want a new Vstrom or other bike he is the man to see !

Jenny & I are doing our best to keep our finger on the pulse with the Motorbikes, doing at least one big ride (200kms+), once per week.

This post has turned into a bit of a “gunnadoo” write up but this year’s tours will happen & our next blog post will be from Tasmania. We have also chopped up perfectly good passports with 2 years remaining on them, so we can get new Passports. Then we can apply for extended B1/B2 Visas for the USA. Hoping for 5 year Visas, we will find out fairly soon.

I’ve also done some upgrades to this blog by adding categories, which will make locating specific interests a heap easier for you, the reader. Just go into the menu & scroll down, all the various categories are there.

Thank You for reading…team wiljen 🙂

 

It’s not always about riding, sometimes it is about going out for Breakfast & later on Beers 😀👌🍺🍺