Motorcycling - The accident

Well, I've had my first (and only, I hope ;) ) motorcycle accident, but it's not very dramatic.
Yesterday, I had fun rolling the bike up and down the driveway, just practicing finding friction point with the clutch and throttle. This morning Brett was going to take me to a vacant carpark and give me my first proper lesson, but before he arrived I decided to putter around the block a few times to get a feel for throttle control and balance. So I got suited up in all my safety gear, wheeled the bike down the driveway, and off I went.
Now, I must stress that I was very cautious. I stayed in first gear, went slowly, pulled over and waited the couple of times a car approached from behind, and even made a point of going counter-clockwise so it was all left-turns. And that all went fine. Balance and steering was easy, and although my throttle control was a bit jerky, I had it fairly smooth fairly soon.
It was the driveway at the very end that was my (quite literal) downfall. I was going too slowly to roll the bike up onto the driveway, and I approached from too shallow an angle. When the front tyre hit the lip of the driveway at that angle and speed, it turned back out towards the road, overbalancing the bike towards the driveway. I tried to hold the bike up but it was too heavy and my footing too awkward. The best I could do was let it down slowly and gently, resulting in some scratches on the rearview mirror and engine. *sniffle*
So I picked it back up, tried to roll it onto the driveway, and found out the wheels wouldn't turn because it was still in gear. Problem was, I couldn't figure out how to get it into neutral again! So all I could do was sit there helplessly until Brett got there, which thankfully wasn't long, and thankfully I think he forgot to take any photos :D
Now, I don't think I made any bad mistakes - just something small that I'll learn from. I'm not upset about that. The thing that really frustrates me is that I somehow managed to sprain my wrist while trying to hold the bike up as it inexorably toppled over, and I couldn't have my lesson with Brett after all!
And it hurts to move my wrist and I'm having to type this one-handed. And it's my left wrist and I'm left-handed. And all this just after my foot finally healed! Grrr!
Ah well, all I can do is be patient and make sure the wrist heals. I remember I've injured this wrist a few years back, too, so I'll have to be careful.

Motorcycling - The gear

I'm all set now! I have the gear and I have the bike. Now I just need to learn to ride it :D

Yesterday I bought all my protective gear:

• Helmet - plain white. A study in Auckland showed that motorcyclists with white helmets instead of black were 24% less likely to be involved in a multi-vehicle crash. I don't know why people rag on white anyway, I reckon it looks fine, and I can pretend to be a storm trooper :D
• Jacket - synthetic mesh for summer, with 2 additional removable layers for winter and rain. Unfortunately the only colour was black, but at least it has a silvery retroreflective layer built into it.
• Pants - kevlar reinforced jeans. No additional padding, but light enough to wear out and about. Interesting fact: normal denim jeans last 0.6 seconds sliding along the road.
• Gloves - lightweight vented leather, additional layers under palms and padding over knuckles.
• Boots - leather & synthetic motorcycle boots. Not that comfortable to walk around in, but should do their job.

Everything but the helmet I was able to get from Fairways Motorcycles, which is coincidentally where one of Sarah's relatives works. Even before I bumped into him there, though, I got excellent service. Much much better than Wurths, where I bought the helmet from a pushy, obnoxious woman. It's really hard to find white helmets though...

I had fun dressing up in it all last night :)

And today Brett and I went around to pick up the bike. It's mine! I can't wait to start riding now :D

Motorcycling - The bike

I'm about to buy a motorcycle!
For a long time, but particularly since I saw The Motorcycle Diaries, I've wanted to learn to ride a motorcycle. I kept on saying I would one day, but never quite got around to it. Well, I'm not sure what finally galvanised me, but about a week ago I got a learner's licence and started looking for bikes. I did heaps of research on the web and trawled through adverts. Here's what I've settled on: a Yamaha FZX250 Zeal.

The used bike market in Rockhampton is... sparse. There's almost nothing suitable for me, and by late last week I was resigned to buying a particular bike from the Sunshine Coast and having it transported up here to me. I tell you truly, I'd gotten quotes and I was just about to buy the Sunshine Coast bike when I had a final glance through the classifieds. I happened to notice a bike in "Park Avenue", which I must have previously assumed was a suburb around Brisbane. This time I thought, "Hold on, isn't that a suburb in Rockhampton?"
Sure enough it was, and it was almost exactly the sort of bike I was looking for! I was obviously meant to have this bike. Brett and I went to check it out today. Nice things about it:

• 250cc - more or less a requirement for learning, but the 4 cylinder engine should have enough power to be fun.
• Lightweight, low seat height, nimble - also good for learning.
• Naked - that is, no plastic fairings. Naked bikes are cheaper to insure and repair. Also, naked = sexy.
• Excellent condition, with low km's (14,200).
• Will hold its resale value well.

The only drawback is that it's an inline-4 engine. I would have preferred a v-twin, which produces torque at lower revs and would likely suit me better (and be cheaper to maintain). Still, that wasn't a deal-breaker, and the inline-4 should have sportier performance which may be fun :)

So now I just wait for the owner to get a safety certificate for the bike, which is required by law. In the mean time, I get to look for safety gear. I want high visibility gear that still looks stylish. That may be a bit of a challenge in a market that appears to think nothing goes better with black than more black...

I'm so excited! :D

Recycling

I like Penn & Teller's "Bullshit!" show - for the most part it's either entertaining or informative, and often both.
There was one episode that I found very surprising, as far as it went. In it, Penn & Teller argued that recycling wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and in many cases waste was better off going into landfill. Their arguments came from several directions, and the two that are relevant here are:
* The process of recycling involves chemicals that are damaging to the environment.
* Recycling is heavily subsidised by government: it is not economical to recycle anything except aluminium, so that money would be better put towards other (say, environmental) uses.

Anyway, while I was in New Zealand I had a chance to talk to my Uncle Robbie, who works as an accountant for Terranova, a private recycling company in Christchurch.
At least in Christchurch, it is economical to recycle all the household materials they collect - paper, plastic, glass, metals. The metals are the most profitable, but they make some profit on them all. In fact, the company is moving to become entirely independent of the local council - there's enough profit to make recycling worthwhile without any subsidies.
According to Robbie, it requires the right infrastructure. If it's done the wrong way - if brown glass contaminates green, for example - the materials become worthless. Apparently Christchurch has the right infrastructure, one of the best in the world. Robbie sounded very proud of his work with Terranova, and rightly so I think. It was very heartening to hear.

That still leaves Penn & Teller's claim that recycling produces chemical wastes that are damaging to the environment, but on the balance of things I think I disagree with them: recycling is a good thing.

Photos from New Zealand

I'm back from New Zealand now, and it's time to get back to work. But first, I've put together some photos from my trip. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this must be a novel.

So, without further ado:

New Zealand Road Trip
Wedding
Family