The Good News...
At 7am today, I finished my last shift at work for at least 9 weeks

. I'm leaving at 3am tomorrow to ride to Sydney (about 1000kms). Should be there by about 3pm if all goes well. Last time (February) I made it in 9 hours 56 minutes riding time

(our speed limit is generally 100kph on the highways). Only got pulled up once, but talked my way out of it. Been looking forward to it for months. Got heaps of rides lined up when I get there & plan to clock up as many kms as I can in the next two & a half weeks. Should return on the 7th or 8th of Dec. 40kms over the limit here & you lose your licence, so keep your fingers crossed for me...
The Bad News...
When I get back, I have to have surgery that comes with a big chance of going wrong with some icky consequences. If all goes well, I'll be in hospital for about a week. But that's not the worst bit... It's unlikely I'll be able to ride for a good few months after that

! (Hence the urgent need to clock up kms.)
So...
Feel free to be jealous over the next few weeks as I traverse the wonderful Australian country-side (catch you soon, Larry), but spare a thought for me after that as I'll probably be spending many an hour down in my garage, staring at the Storm & sobbing into my Smirnoff.