..is something at which my wonderful wife excels (although, like the guy in the picture, it is often prompted and assisted by copious amounts of coffee)
When I went to the Island Classic a few weeks ago, I was fortunate to have a good mate from down the coast who travelled with me there and back. Wombat is a terrific guy with a fund of funny stories about his days racing sidecar motocross that could fill a book and keep you chuckling for a long time. Together with my contributions on things motorcycling we managed to make both the trip down and the trip back (over 2000kms in total) not only enjoyable but also more economical as we shared the cost of the petrol. The major benefit, however, was that, our constant banter and joking made the trip go much more quickly than it would have gone otherwise, so it was a win-win-win situation.
I was hoping to repeat the scenario next week when I return to the Island for the WSBK event (my media accreditation arrived yesterday – whoohoo). However, I have been unable to find anyone who is going down who a) needs a lift, b) can leave on Wednesday morning and, perhaps most telling of all, c) wants to travel with me!!
Discussing the problem last night, my wonderful wife asked, “Well, why don’t you fly down, air fares are pretty cheap now, you know.” I explained that I did know that but that, were I to fly it would involved parking my car at Sydney Airport for 6 days ($120) and hiring a car at Tullamarine to drive around in while I was down there. The total bill would far exceed the cost of driving myself, boredom notwithstanding. Then the lateral thinking kicked in…
“But isn’t Smithy flying down and renting a car?” she smiled sweetly.
Light bulb. Perhaps I’d better explain. Len Smith is an old buddy of mine from over 30 years ago. I met Len when I was still photographing the bike races back in the late 70’s. Len was the rep for Mars confectionery in southern NSW and we formed a very quick and solid friendship based on the mutual love of motorcycle road racing, photography and Snickers bars. We would travel to meetings together and compare results once our films had come back from processing. Len’s employment meant that he could afford pretty good equipment and he was the first person that I knew to buy the then brand new and whizz-bang Canon A1. He took it to England with him on a short holiday where he managed to not only visit relatives and friends (he’s an ex-pat Englishman) but also attend some racing including the Mallory Park Race of the Year, one of the blue ribbon events on the British racing calendar. I still have the metal badge that he brought back for me as a souvenir of that trip.
Our respective employments took us in various directions later and we lost contact as you so often unfortunately do. Then, in my very early days on Facebook, about 7 years ago, I had a friend request from a Leonard Smith. I didn’t recognise the name as I had only ever called him “Len” or “Smiffy” or sometimes “Arfur Smiff” in a Cockney accent. Anyway, I checked his details and, blow me down, it WAS Smiffy. So our friendship was re-kindled. Turns out Len was living in Brisvegas and running a very successful driving school while caring for his wife, Leah, who was suffering from the after-effects of a very nasty road accident some years before. We have crossed paths at numerous meetings since and Len has stayed at our place a few times while covering important local meetings like the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed.
SO, to get back to the lateral thinking thing, Len had already told me that he was flying down to the WSBK meeting and had booked a room with me at the house I am renting on Cowes for the occasion. He had also told me that he was renting a car for the period he was down in Victoria. You can see where this is heading can’t you? A couple of quick phone calls and I was able to establish that not only could I share the car and the cost of fuel for the weekend but that he was also flying to Melbourne on the Wednesday, the same day as I was planning to drive down.
Then my wife jumped on the internet and found out that a return airfare to Melbourne and back would actually cost LESS than what it would cost me to drive there and back!! Throw in my contribution towards the car and a shuttle fare to the airport early Wednesday morning and it comes out almost the same! No brainer.
So, instead of enduring two days driving on the most boring road in the world, the Hume Highway, I am flying down, meeting Smiffy at the airport and will have transport while I am there. And I get there in an hour and 35 minutes, too!
Can I recommend that you look at Len’s photography? He is too modest to say so himself but he is an excellent photographer.
On a much more sombre note, news in this morning on the sudden and very sad passing of motorsport legend, Merv Rixon. Merv was passionate about his racing, both two and four wheel and devoted much of his life to serving the MCRC, the ACU of NSW (that became MA NSW) and St George Motorcycle Club. He was at every race meeting I have been to since I can’t remember when and was not only knowledgeable but compassionate in his dealings with everyone around him. I can remember many meetings listening to his now-famous riders’ briefings which nearly always ended with, “Now guys, you know you’re not competing for sheep stations today so just be careful out there and take it easy.” or words to that effect. His like will not pass this way again and the motorcycling fraternity has lost an irreplaceable member. RIP Merv Rixon, one of the truly good guys.