Where it all began

Thinking back, I have to blame Ewan McGreggor and Charley Boorman.  It was their Long Way Round motorcycle adventure that first planted the seeds of wanting to ride a bike.  The show itself I found compelling viewing - frustrated watching it only in weekly installments, we went out and bought the DVD so we could binge on the rest of the series!

Then came Long Way Down, Race to Dakar, and Charley Boorman's "By Any Means", followed closely by train cancellations galore courtesy of Connex who are incapable of running Melbourne's train network when the temperature gets above* 30 degrees.

Somewhere in there, my brother and his wife got their bike licenses and started riding to work, and I have thought about their descriptions of arriving at work refreshed after a fun ride in while I sat on an overcrowded platform waiting for a train that never came.

This is a bit unusual for me.  By and large I'm risk averse.  I have a little daughter and I worry about her growing up fatherless.  Oh and did I mention, if I died in a motorcycle accident my wife would kill me?  And yet, thinking about shaving between 30 and 60 minutes a day off my commute, not to mention the adventure of learning to ride and buying a bike, has me thinking that this is a really viable idea to explore.

So here we are on Day 1 of the journal - exploration continues, and I'm booked in for me Learners test next weekend!

* or below, apparently.