Long old day!

I don't really know if it's the fact i slept crap last night or the fact i've spent the best part of twelve and a bit hours driving up to the UK but bloody hell today seems to have been a long old day!!! You can always tell when you're getting close to the UK though, it starts to rain, then goes real cold followed by a nice dose of fog!!, sat at the Euro Tunnel now and fortunately not got far to go when we get to the other side, off to the Czech Republic friday, i'm really looking forward to that, god i'm tired, i'm outta here, talk to you tomorrow!!

Back on it!

Had a pretty good day today, got to go out cycling this morning so i'm real happy, it felt good trying to off load Christmas Turkey and sweets sweating mu n**s off pedaling, i'm hopefully going to be going again tomorrow morning then off to the gym tomorrow afternoon, i might start feeling human again then!!! Hope you're all having a good Christmas break, talk to you soon, Shakey.

Top Gear!!

The last of the chill out days today, Petra's been out running again, i've been out for a cruise on my Harley for half an hour, we've just watched the Bolivia Christmas special of Top Gear, how funny are those three, i need to get on that reasonably priced car challenge thing, that looks like a riot!! Can't wait until tomorrow morning, i'm off cycling, i've got to try to get rid of all the Christmas food, i'd better do some big miles ;-)!!!

The baby sitter!!

Hey all, hope you're well and not too stuffed on Christmas Turkey!!! We had a lovely Christmas, Zack was made up with life, he's got more toys now than he knows what to do with!! We went for a nice walk up in the mountains yesterday and as you'll see from the picture it was far from a white Christmas for us!!! I've been baby sitting this morning and spent most of my time walking with Zack, he's pretty much nailed the walking thing now but gets so excited when he walks that he starts going too fast and nearly crashes, it's highly amusing, back in the gym this afternoon to work off my Christmas dinner's, i'm looking forward to getting back to normal now, 2 days off totally chilled is more than enough!!! Talk to you soon.

The three of us, the dogs are off causing chaos!!

Me, Zack, the dogs and the blue sky!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Hey Shakers and Shakettes!!! Just a real quick one to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year, all the best for 2010, Shakey #67

Me and DIY.....

Well, whilst chilling out and winding down for Christmas we had a last few little jobs that we needed to get done before being able to totally relax, we recently had a new bathroom installed and i had 3 towel rails and a toilet roll holder that needed fixing to the tiled walls, now, with my DIY skills being about as competent as a two year old i have to confess i'd been putting these jobs off forever but it caught up with me, with a quick call to my plumber/electrician i thought i had it nailed, "give me a quick hand with this will you" i said, but in short he explained what to do, left me his drill and sort of said you can do it because if the tiles crack i don't want you to moan at me, GREAT, just what i needed to hear....

believe it or not though i fitted all of it perfectly, i'm actually quite proud of myself, however, there was one slight hiccup, the final grub screw to secure the last towel rail dropped out, fell in the bath and i watched in semi slow motion as it rolled up one side, then the other all the time heading towards you guessed it, the poxy plug hole, that was it down it went, i couldn't believe it!! The long and the short of it was i had to go to the shop where we brought the rails etc and buy another one to get the correct screw, i was fuming!!!! All sorted now though and i've even put a big full body size mirror up on the wall this morning, that never went quite to plan either, the walls here are really really thin, i drilled the hole to fit the raw plug and ended up going right through into the wardrobe in the bedroom behind the wall so now i've got to fill and repair that, this DIY lark just never goes to plan for me, i'm sure it someone's way of telling me to just leave it alone!!!!!

Winding down...

Well, the big christmas wind down has well and truly kicked in here now, having a bit of a lazy day so far, i'm hoping tomorrow's going to be dry as i want to get out cycling again tomorrow, i know the gym's shut for the 24th and 25th so i've got to do something, might have to go for a run if the weather's not so good. It looks like Midlife might have come up trumps on the van front, i think he's found me a new Vito, it's another Dualiner which will have all of my trick stuff from the old one, but this one's only a year old in January. I can't wait to collect it, i think we're going to be over to the UK on New Years eve before heading to Czech on New Years day then finally driving back home in the new van on the 7th or 8th.

Our old Vito, it looks slightly different now, it's got no front end on it!!!

All gone wrong!!!

Can't believe it, today started out quite nice, i was fully motivated, went out cycling, threw a few steep climbs into the equation which made the ride hard enough then to make matters worse about 15 miles from home it started to rain, charming!!! It's looking proper miserable now, had lunch and off to the gym later, won"t be miserable in there!!!!

Relax, I'm a physio!!!

Always makes me smile when i go to my Physio, here's the picture on her treatment room door!!!!

She just needs the Welcome sign above this, ha ha

Night watch!!

Hmmmm, not good, got to be last night and we thought we could hear somebody outside of our house, it stopped for a bit then about 20 minutes later started again, there i was at about 1-30am wondering around outside like a security guard looking for El Banditos!!!!! No one there though so off i went to bed, woke up to a miserable day, nothing at all like yesterday, it's not all bad though, i've booked a session with my physio in an hour or so for a back cracking session followed by a deep muscle tissue massage, off to the gym later this afternoon, every day here's like ground hog day, cycle, run, gym, sleep, run, cycle, gym, sleep, massage, gym........ i'm sure you get the message!!! Right, i'm off, talk to you later.

All grown up!!

Here's a few pics of one of our cats, suitably named "Divvy" with reason, as a kitten he was a lunatic, now, in the second photo you can see he's all grown up and as for the 3rd photo, well, you make your own mind up!!!

Looked so sweet didn't he, until he woke up!!!

Just checking the web for cat food!!!!

I dare you to put your finger in there!!!! ;-)

What a buzz!!!!

Here's a few photos for all you adrenalin junkies out there, these photos were taken at a skydive centre in Spain, i'd love to do the course to be able to jump alone, it's a proper rush you get from jumping out of the plane!!!

Here we go, maximum adrenalin coming right up!!!

The big thumbs up, Jumping certainly got them from me!!!!

That's Petra's mum on the left, she jumped too, as did my mum, Helena was keener to do it than me!! the other guy is my instructor Alain.

What obedient dogs, ha ha!!!

Here's Tyson and Missy this afternoon up in the mountains doing their finest impression of a pair of obedient dogs, the sit didn't last long believe me, weather's much much better today, thankfully!!!!

I've got a feeling!!!

That's me all done for today training wise, i've just been to the gym for a couple of hours, i had a real good workout today but i've already got that feeling in my body that says, yeah, fair play you did good, you pushed hard but.. you're gonna suffer later and tomorrow morning, it's all good though as i don't train on sundays unless of course I'm racing so i've got a day off now!! 3 degrees outside and the winds still flat out, it feels about -30!!!! Must remember to lock the gate tonight ;-)

Sore loser!!!

What a nightmare, Petra woke this morning at 8-30 only to see that some clever twat had opened our gates at the front of the house, potentially letting our two dogs out, sure, hurricane Katrina was blowing last night but even she couldn't open the gate by the handle and attach it to the latch that keeps it open, I'm well p***ed off, i think i have a good idea who's done it though as our big dog Tyson and the guys Alsation had words a few weeks ago when his dog went for ours, Tyson well and truly showed it who the daddy was and the guy's been p***ed ever since, fortunately both my dogs were asleep in their house so they never got out, much to our relief!!! Any hopes of repeating yesterday's training program have gone well and truly out of the window today, Katrina's doing her best to blow the house over so i'll not be going cycling today, yesterday was windy enough and today it's about 20 times stronger!!! Off for a full on session in the gym in a bit instead, it's all good fun!!!

Tyson, keeping an eye on things!!!

The Mrs!!!

Here's a few pictures of my Fiance Petra, she's a model and we've been together now just over four years and have a son together called Zack, as you can see below she shares my passion for bikes!!!!

A work photo from one of her favorite photographers, John Morley.

Petra on her beloved R6, she has a full bike license

She also enjoys riding motocross, we've personalised her bike now with graphics etc, it looks well trick!!

A work photo of her from the year before she gave birth to Zack!! I'm a lucky boy!!

New York 2009!!!

Here's a few pics from our trip to New York this year, i have to admit i was never that keen to go there but after this trip (on route to Salt lake City) i fell in love with the place, i can't wait for the USA round next year, we're planning going straight to LA, then head to Salt Lake for the race, then fly to NY for another couple of days then back home after!!

On our 2nd day the weather changed, it went from real hot to bloody cold!!!

What a view, on top of the Empire State building!!

Aaaaahhhh, Petra and I having a moment!!!!

The Live link!!!

No excuses for me now for not keeping you guys and girls up to date with what's happening, the boys at NYTA the people that run and control my website for me have really pulled it out of the bag, we now have a live link to my Twitter account so you can see on the home page of the site all my "Tweets" and now we have this blog too where i intend to upload all sorts of pictures and video, soon there'll also be a proper Gallery on the Shakey.com site where i'll be able to upload personal pics of some of the things i get up to, i really hope you enjoy the new features of the site, talk to you later, Shakey#67

Phase 1 complete!!

That's phase one of today's training out of the way, a couple of hours out on the push bike, talk about deceptive, my comments this morning of blue sky and sun didn't amount to much, it was bloody freezing!!!!!

Morning all!

Morning all, I'm happy today, the sun's shinning and the sky's blue, the temperature's pretty low but I'm just off out for a bit of a blast around on my bicycle, nothing to giddy just a couple of hours, then after a bit more work for the website followed by a couple of hours in the gym, today should be far more productive training wise than yesterday!!!!

Some past and present toys....

Here's a few of the bikes i've had over the years, all for varying reasons, next on the list has to be the new Ducati Hypermotard Evo SP, in white, maybe march 1st if i'm a good boy, ha ha!!

My current bike, it's a Harley Nightrod Special, i love plodding about on it, the neighbours aren't keen however, with it's trick pipe it's not exactly quiet ;-)!!

My baby, i am currently having this bike totally

restored, i had one when i was about 18 and blew it to pieces after 5 days, i never got over it so i brought this one!!!

This was my MV, the thing was beautiful and got admiring looks wherever it was parked, i think this design was one of the most beautiful ever created....

My other MV was a Brutale 910R, i thought the sit up style would slow me down but, er, it didn't!!!

It's all about the planning, right????

Well, after the long drive home the other day and spending yesterday getting things back in order, today was supposed to be well and truly about getting back into my training regime, however, that was only the plan, the reality was quite different, the only training i got done this morning was wrapping Christmas presents and after that I've spent all afternoon trying to get this blogspot and my website sorted out, it's going to take a while but you should soon start to see some big improvements at Shakey.com, keep your eyes peeled!!!!

Motocrossing, a favorite pass time for me!!

Here's a few shots of me riding at my local track, i love riding MX in the winter to keep fit, it's one of the most intense forms of training i do!

A couple of years ago on my CRF250, i loved it but....

I love my KX450, i'm messing about here after a 25 minute stint!!

The same 450, it rocks!!

The '07 CRF 250 Honda, it went wrong and cost me a fortune!!!

The big four fiddy!!!

Missy!!

Here she is, our little girl Missy, this dog has soooo much energy it's unreal, she's lots of fun.

Just look at that smile, it never leaves her face when she's out!!!

Missy having a bit of a swim, she loves water!!!

Kicking back, Missy style!!

Tyson!!

Here's some pics of our 1st dog Tyson, he's a Presa Canario and his dad is a champion show dog, he has a heart of gold, loves Zack but isn't keen on some visitors.......

Daddies little boy, he was 7 weeks here!!

He never took too long to grow, now he's dads big boy!!

I'm watching you......

Who you looking at!!!????

Lion King!!!!

After the race this year at Kyalami we visited a game park and got to play with some lions and tigers, they rock!!!!

That's nice, go in with him to play and he tries to bite me!!!

This little fella fancied a bit of Petra!!!

Smile, oh, ok, don't then!!

One of my favorite photos!

This little boy and i became buddies!!

Me, Petra and Rap star Akon

Petra and i met rap Star Akon this year at Johannesburg airport!! In case you wondered, when i asked who he was listening to it was Eminem!!

Airwaves Ducati testing pics

Poser!!!!

Flat out!!!

Using all the track, and some!!!!!

Popeye, a tribute to my dad, i'll use this on every helmet i ride in from now on.

The "Boss" Colin Wright, probably the best team boss ever!!!!

Successful trip!!!

Blimey, the last few days have passed so fast I can’t actually believe we’re back home again!!!! The last time I wrote to you we were on a flight to the UK for a few days, well, as soon as we landed I had to head into London whilst Petra and Zack headed off to mums with Mrs Midlife, London’s a funny old place for me, sometimes once I actually get there I quite enjoy looking around and checking out all the latest bits and pieces etc in the shops but other times like this particular time the place stresses me out to the limit, I can’t believe how busy the place is and was, sure, it was pretty much home time for everybody as I think I finally arrived at about 5pm but if you stand anywhere and just look around you there’s people everywhere, it’s almost like the underground system is at pretty much maximum capacity, all I could think was Bloody Hell, I couldn’t do this everyday!!!!

When I battled through the crowded underground system and finally arrived at Park Lane the guys were there ready and waiting with a real nice twin turbo diesel X5 for me, I had the old shape X5 a few years ago so I was looking forward to trying out the new version and whilst I’m not going to sit here an type a road test over the 5 days we had it I was really impressed, the old one was good, spot on in fact but the new one’s just, better, it’s much faster, handles better, it’s well laid out and at the end of the day it’s perfect for a young family and no before you ask, I haven’t ordered one….yet!!! big thanks anyway to Steve and the guys at Park lane for arranging it for me, it was much appreciated guys!!

Whilst over in England we managed to pretty much tie up everything we needed to do, Petra had some real nice surprises for me on my birthday including presents, a big cake and a real nice dinner together that evening. We spent god knows how many hours trotting around Bluewater together buying Christmas presents, went out for a few nice dinners with friends etc so all in all it was a good trip over, the only bad thing was that on the way home for some reason or another the idiot that checked us in put us on a later train despite the fact we were there early meaning about an hour delay and then to make things even worse I realised as we got close to home that I’d left our house keys in our car which was parked at the airport 45 minutes drive further south so instead of turning off towards home we had to continue down the motorway to collect the car then drive back home again, just what we needed, not!!!

It’s looking like my poor old Vito is going to be a right off, after a few conversations with the insurance company they’ve come to the conclusion that it’s beyond economical repair so poor old Midlife has been assigned the task of finding us a replacement, life without our van is near on impossible over here, one of my dogs is the size of a small horse so there’s no chance of putting him ain a car, not unless you want it turned into a total mess that is, not only that I haven’t been able to go motocrossing or anything so I really, really can’t wait to find another nice van, they say don’t they that you don’t realise what you’ve got until it’s gone!!!

I’m looking forward to getting back into training again tomorrow, I know I had the flu thing a while back but even in the short time after that until the time we came to the UK I started feeling pretty good, now I’ve got over a months solid training before our 1st test in Portimao so we should be raring to go by then, I can’t wait!!!

In the meantime as I said we’re working on getting the website looking a bit better so keep your eyes peeled for updates, also you can follow my daily antics and comments on Twitter at @67Shakey. Talk to you all soon, Take it easy!!

Shakey Pics

One of my favorite hobbies, flying Jet Rangers, I passed my pilots license early in 2005, the 1st photo here is recent flying over the North sea and landing on a sand bank, the second was Petra and i reenacting our 1st ever date!!!!!!

Total concentration going on here!!!

I love flying, passing my test was one of my proudest achievements!!

This is the cause of many many hours of pain, but i love it, my Cervelo Soloist Sl

Welcome on board....

Hey guys and girls, what's happening? It's all pretty quiet on the western front my end, one thing I'm am real happy about though is finally being well and truly over the man flu I had recently, I'm backing training hard again now, well not right now as I'm sat on a flight to England typing this!!!

I've been having some conversations over the past few days with my website guys about changing things about a bit, we're going to be working in the next week or so hopefully on being able to add more things to the site, things like personal pics of what goes on in my little world, kindly referred to by some as planet Shakey!!, not only the pictures but more regular updates too, possibly short video clips etc, I've also opened a Twitter account now which I did at the beginning of this week, I've put a few short messages on there so look me up and start following for more regular updates.

I've got to go to London as soon as we land to collect a car, Parklane Bmw are kindly lending me a new X5 for the few days I'll be here which is good of them, I'm looking forward to seeing how it compares to the old one I used to have.

Tomorrow's my birthday so I dare say we'll be out and about and up to whatever, I want to try to get a little bit of flying done whilst I'm over too, it's been a good few months now since I last had the chance to get some flying in. Talking of flying I've got to crack on as we're starting to descend now so I'll catch up with you soon, take it easy!!