Grant
 

I can't PM you back as i've only made 10 posts and haven't reached the magic figure, but yes please if you could forward my details to Austin Vince i would be very greatfull thanks.

Thanks Maria, glad you liked it! Question - should we shorten the presentation? What should we cut out? Or leave it long and toughen you guys up for the road? ;)

Hi Grant,

Difficult to say what could go out of your presentation. The bit on how to behave/dress/interact with others abroad, I thought was too long and not really necessary.
However, I've travelled enough to know that for some people it might be worth insisting on it. I still vividly remember that young woman, many years ago, dressed in a mini-itsi micro lycra dress, wandering around a soukh in a small southern town in Egypt. I was so chocked! I couldn't stop staring, you could see everything, and she could not possibly have had any underwear under THAT dress! So, yes, maybe that bit on behaviour was a bit too long, in another hand it's worth reminding people that dressing and behaving like the locals, can be a good idea if you want respect!
Anyway overall very informative presentation. And I will certainly remember that it's worth pretending to be Australian! :biggrin3:

Many thanks for a great weekend to everyone there who made it so!

Thanks also to those who sat patiently through my presentations and for the kind words of support (all appreciated to massage the ego y'know ;-)) I've already duplicated one of my talks for a Barnsley based bike club and had at least four people announce imminent departures for Scandinavia, Turkey, Guatemala and the Trans am Trail!

I think this year more than any other the presentations have pushed a few people a bit closer to heading off into the wild blue yonder, and thats got to be a good thing!

Also, many thanks to my two TT-R compardres for that bizzare but excellent days ride out on Fri....There cant be many folks who had a days ride involving fallen trees, football stars, crashed £50000 BMW's, a rocky green lane descent, a broken tractor, and a Paris-Dakar racing truck manufacturer to name but a few... (I'm heading back to see Trevor this Fri with a friend of mine who is going to prepare a whole set of calculation and drawings for him to homologate the vehicle for Paris-Dakar use...!) ... it was a good 'un!!!

Finally my highlight of the weekend and undoubtably the unsung hero's were Danny and Phil at the roadkill cookout. What a duo. The perfect blend of friendly banter, great music, and sublime food. I couldnt believe it when I was still up eating hunks of juicy fire cooked venision and pheasant as dawn broke over the farm! I've not wanted to be up that late for years.

Cheers guys!!!!!

See you all next year (trips permitting).

Dave

fear and loathing at the Farm - retraction
 

It has come to my attention that Grant and Susan were not in a Winnebago luxury trailer at the weekend. It has been suggested that I was hallucinating. This is not true, but I did have drink taken. What I meant was that IF there was a Winnebago then they MIGHT have been in it with the manicurists, which Grant needs anyway after working on his beloved Beemer. But when Susan showed the pic of their lonely tent in the field, I choked a little - and so should you, you heartless lot!

*What I want to know is - WHY were G & S NOT in a silver luxury trailer? It could have been pulled into the field by sweating BMW owners...G&S deserve a bit of luxury ....that's what I say anyway.......


Good roads!

See y'all in a big castle on the German border in Sept! BE THERE!

Err might be better off as a New Zealander... less well known again and less aligned with others ...

I've no idea how long the presentations are .. but after an hour most people need a short break. The key is to break about the middle of a really interesting bit so they are keen to come back! And to get any boring bits out of the way in the first half an hour so their attention can be retained by good stuff in the second half hour. After 3 hours they need at least 30 minutes to talk to themselves... more like 45 minutes.

Touts and how to get rid of them!
 

Frank, I was not talking politics here! One of the discussions was about touts and someone suggested that a way to get less hassle from them was to pretend to be... Australian!
Apparently in some countries (India?) Aussies have reputation of being in tight budget and touts won't bother as they know they won't get any cash out of them :)
No offence I hope!

Althought it will be difficult for me to pretend to be from Oz considering my thick french accent! ;)

Humm On that score are we taking over from the Scotts? :) Ah well it all goes in cycles. Would think the New Zealanders would have a similar reputation as us in that regard.

Wherever I've been it's the Isrealis who have a reputation for parsimony, but pretending to be Isreali might not help you in some places!
M

Mondo Enduro Books
 

BDG:

The Mondo Enduro books are on widespread release (unlike the DVDs which are only available by mail order). You can get them from Waterstones - alternatively if you don't fancy walking into a bookstore, try Amazon or the RippingYarns.com website.

Hope this is useful.

Thanks for that, have subsequently found that out since i originally posted the question, but cheers anyway.