April 27, 2009 - departure day

You haven't missed that much if you've skipped the previous parts. Being able to board a plane in Sydney to the USA and then Europe was a huge effort by some folks - in particular Roger Campbell and his offsider Craig, Paul Mirtschin, Jeannette Dangelico, Adrian Butterworth, Bill Dawes, Tracey O'Neill and Adrian Van Dam (and sorry if I've forgotten anyone else), as they helped me:
close an office we'd occupied for 12 years;
vacate a house I lived in for 17 years;
sell a business I owned for 13 years,
and buy a place to dump everything, which was then hastily converted into what is now called the 'Taj'.

All of this in a month. Yes, I didn't leave quite enough time. It had been months in the planning but a lot of that was spent looking at the calendar in a silent panic.

The aim was to research new business opportunities overseas, which for a change, included catching up on some cycling and travel that I'd missed in a decade-long blur of 70 to 80 hour weeks, four mortgages (cheap overdrafts) and just the odd stressful moment. I'll only cover the fun stuff here as business is business and who wants to read about that? Probably not the people I've been meeting with …

Much of what's called 'having a life' was put on hold during that time decade. Dave thought a blog would be a good way for me to share my experiences (and he has also been hugely supportive by encouraging me to get back on the bike, as we raced together in '90s and had great times).

Most importantly, I'd emerged from this mammoth work period with my health largely intact. It was a 'get out of gaol for free' card and I wasn't looking back. I am very thankful for this. I could walk out the door, throw a leg over my bike and ride pretty much without any discomfort, excluding the part where you suffer as you watch other riders spin away in the hills and leave you behind. I still get there, eventually.