3rd Month – Project Shifts into 3rd Gear

As the 3rd month of planning our trip draws to a close, I can’t help but reflect how far suddenly we have come since January!

This 3rd month, though starting slow, suddenly shifted up a gear when I finally passed my motorcycle test mid month.   Two clutch levers, a broken indicator light and a few scratches later, it finally happened, and my instructor, Mark at M&C Training, smiled through it all, giving me plenty of grief along the way to make sure that by the time I passed, I really was a safe rider on the roads.  What a star!

It was with this pass that gears changed on the project with JustGiving finally sending me the documentation to set up the charity, the press release going out and sponsorship, more by accident than intention, suddenly coming into the spot light.  Sponsorship is a whole new territory for me.  I obviously see the best in what we are doing, but so glad that Richard at Trail Quest was on hand to put me into the right perspective and lead us in the right direction.  All this whilst my head was full of flu!

When all was said and done at the end of last week, I am pleased to announce that ADVMoto is now sponsoring us; we are going to be featured on Adventure Bike TV several times, who will also feature updates during out journey and help with editing for YouTube posts; Overland Magazine is setting up a radio station this year dedicated to adventure and have asked if we would like to feature regularly during our journey with updates.

So things are generally moving along well, and looking forward to going to the Overland Event in June and meeting lots of people, and hooking up with the team there, as well as Rev’it who have also expressed an interest in sponsoring us.

On the Sofia planning side, we have hit a slight snag in that it is clear that she will not cope well with a permanent place in a mainstream school, even with support.  So now the planning for secondary school, which she will be entering on our return, has also shifted gear as I look for a suitable placement for her, and attempt to get as much of the application process completed before we leave.   It may be that we don’t know the results before we leave, but will have to stay close to what is happening whilst we are away, to ensure we can get as much planning and prep. done with Sofia before we return.  A really special thanks to her school, who are just an amazing support.

So we go into the month of April hoping to secure a bike with sidecar and raise money through sponsorship!  This project is gaining a life of its own, so I am excited to see where we will be in a months time and what my monthly update will be saying.

Please donate and help us get to Africa with Autism http://www.gofundme.com/africawithautism

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Second month of Planning – By hook or by crook!

It has now been 2 months since I seriously started working on this project and I’m still going strong.  However, this doesn’t quite give the picture of what it is like to actually be planning a project like this.

My main focus this past month has been two fold, firstly to get my motorbike license and secondly to start sending a press release out to the local press.  On both these tasks I can’t exactly say I have met my target!

The motorbike testing has somewhat stalled at the moment.  In the UK the test involved a theory test, which I passed, a Module 1 and a Module 2.  The Module 1 is the control test that takes place in space specific for the test and set up with cones.  One follows a sequence of exercises (exactly the same every time) which test slow control, stop, speed and avoidance.  Sounds easy right? WRONG!   well for me anyway.   Of course I have ability to pass it, I’ve practiced it perfectly enough times, however, I seem to have a psychological issue with tests, and seem to be making silly mistakes.  Of course it is all good extra experience, so I don’t complain, but really would like to get on with the Module2 road test and get the licence so I can move forward with my plans.

I was hoping to have my license before sending out a press release, however, as this happened yet, I’ve been working on it anyway.  We visited Motopodd , who have since offered to sponsor us with training, to at least have some pictures with us and a rig, looking ready to go.  It was also an ideal opportunity to bring Sofia a step closer to the reality of being a monkey (term used for the the person who sits in the sidecar)

We got some lovely pictures on the training bike, and also some little video clips, my favourite of Sofia having her first ride in a side car which I will post at the end of this blog.

The press release is now in review and will hopefully have it out to local press in the next week.  I can’t keep waiting on the test.  I will pass it, but there are so many aspects that need to happen in this year of planning, I have to push ahead so I don’t loose valuable time.

My out look on all this, is that life is always working out perfectly and exactly the way it is supposed to.   I know that this trip is going to happen, so when time lines start to get a bit mixed up like this, then I will find out that it is precisely what needed to happen to get a result I really want for this trip.