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29 Days in ‘Murica

Tumblr... Having recently spent 29 days in the good ol U S of A, I wanted to share just some of that experience with you. How better than to list 29 sights, sounds, emotions invoked and/or “things discovered" along the journey. *God knows I wanted and had every expectation to be writing these posts in transit. But to be perfectly honest, I’m actually glad I just let the road get in the way. To disconnect for a brief period of time and immerse myself in the vagrancy. So let us begin.

#1 Pickles

HOLY SHIT does the USA know how to make a damn good pickle! That juicy bitter sharp sweet flavour that would always leave my eyes watering and an irresistible urge to just eat some more. Back in NZ we generally get wee little gherkins. As a nation we must end this hardship. We have too long been deprived and no longer can we endure this suffering!

GIVE US THE PICKLES!

But of course ‘Murica being what it is, they had to go next level on the pickle thing….welcome to FRICKLES! A.K.A Deep Fried Pickles! Just take look at this face if you want to know how good they are!

*Figurative speech only.

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Someone got spoilt this year.

Each year, we all get to enjoy travelling around the circumference of the sun a.k.a your birthday. Some take this time to reflect. Others try find a new youth and binge themselves at the bottom of a bottle or a handful of pills. This year, my lovely lady decided to surprise me and change it up! 

Knowing I’d nudged a fair amount of speed via the 2 wheeled variety, and that I’d be petrified of jumping from a perfectly good plane, she did the next best thing. It comes very much recommended!!!

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Speaking of a little more speed

Being new to the bike, it’s always a good idea to bed yourself in. Find out traits and characteristics that could save your ass on the road. The best place to do that is on the track. Period. 

Though a little daunting at first, once you get over your pre track nerves and put down a couple warm up laps, you begin to appreciate how much of a controlled and safe environment the track is. Not to mention back at the pits you have a raft of experience and knowledge from a whole range of rider levels. 

Being a track rookie myself, I can say the Hampton Down regulars were top notch. I also give a special shout out to the women riders! Good to see everyone out rubbing elbows!

Below is some footage I took from the day. I went out in the novice section being new to the track and of course the bike. Only enforced rules were to give 2 metre widths on passing and the warm down lap is a warm down lap! Looked at my times at day end. For my next session there, I’ll be moving to the intermediates.

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Back to something familiar

After enjoying all the outright speed of the MV Agusta F4, and the touring capabilities of the BMW GS1200, coming back to NZ I knew I wanted something in between. Meet the new addition, a KTM 690SM Prestige.

The previous Yamaha XT660X was/is mechanically a strong bike. It just lacked a little “punch”. The above KTM comes with an after market exhaust & air filter. Plus a power commander kit with auto tuner installed. All the stuff required for the “punch” factor. Still practicing the 2nd gear wheelies...

At “this” point in time, I’ve decided that Super Motos are the way to go on NZ roads. Plenty of fun around our windy coastline, enough stick to get you into trouble, wide bars and a riding position to get you back out again. Though I can see me needing something will a little more speed in my near future...

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Track Notes #2 Always Learning

There’s something about being on a bike that endears me. Sure there’s the thrill of the front wheel popping up, being thrown back in the seat, and the sound of your tyres clinging on by a knife edge. But it’s the mastery that really grabs me. That balance of pushing yourself and your machine to your “perceived” limit. 

There’s a couple of things that I’ve learnt in “my time” thus far. 

The road ALWAYS wins.

You are NOT indestructible.

There will ALMOST ALWAYS be someone faster.

I love point 3. I love cranking around a piece of road, knee down and on song, just to be completely humbled by another rider. Case in point the enclosed clip. When this happens, take it on the chin & LEARN AS MUCH AS YOU CAN! I’m especially ok with this guy, he’s my bestie. While I was fumbling around on the F4 Agusta, he decides to lap me on the Duke. And it was a pleasure. 

Hopefully he will be out this NZ summer. I can see a rental on the horizon, a Coromandel fly over and my KTM 690 doing some of the teaching =]

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Track Notes #1 Brake early...

Just because you can go as fast as you want on a track, doesn’t necessarily mean that you should! Though its a little hard to notice from this camera angle, the end of the straight finishes with a down hill. Just to make things interesting when you want to slow the f%#k down! Run off areas for the win!

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Through the other side

So as much as I want to screen a video of the alpine roads that followed the Stelvio climb, I am actually “through” the other side of something completely different. A month free hiatus from sugar, coffee, alcohol and social media!

The first week was the worst “mostly”. Changing habits is hard. My normal coffee commute had to be replaced with a “new and improved” habit. Green tea for the win! And I found the easiest way to avoid alcohol was to remove myself from those kinds of situations. No end of work beersies for me...

So what have I learned/gained? Well it’s more about what I’ve lost in some ways - 5kgs and counting so far. With my fruit, vegetable and protein diet, I feel much more alert, the weight is coming off and supermarket shopping is so easy now. Just stick to the outside walls and you’re done!

Will I still drink alcohol and coffee? Yes of course. But only for meaningful events. No more latte’s in takeaway cups or an afternoon beverage in the sun. If going out with my girl or to meet up with friends, then sure a coffee or a beer is fine. In moderation of course.

So do I recommend trying this yourself? OMG YES!!! It’s great to get another perspective, a clean well functioning body and a heap more loose change in your pocket.

And since we figure there is no point stopping a good thing, @jadeshearstone and I have decided to make October a month of fitness. Nothing but burpees, situps, pushups and squats. Perhaps I should take before & after photos!

And for those who got to the end, here’s me on the side of an alp somewhere in Austria. I promise you’ll see Nürburgring track footage soon.

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The Stelvio Run

After crossing through an Italian border, cruising through beautiful alpine roads and taking in the scenery, there was just one more mountain face to conquer. How happy am I another 48 hairpin turns later!

Crazy crazy piece of road! And an epic hot summer day to be riding this pass. I was giggling in my helmet all the way up, and I thanked it all the way down? I have plenty more footage so here are some of the highlights. How many corners do I have to turn...

As much as I adored the large packs of motorcycles and Ferraris climbing to the top, it was the cyclists and their raw leg power that impressed me most. Hat tip.

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The best still yet to come!

Making my way from Austria towards the Stelvio Pass. Plenty of alpine roads and such a glorious day to enjoy them! I could have quite happily done a u-turn and re-discovered all over again!

Super glad it’s not winter, check out the poles used to mark the roads.

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End of the day. All my money troubles behind me and some long miles complete. Swim time and a good sleep ready for Stelvio tomorrow!

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Late in the day, winding through narrow roads in Switzerland. Trying to make Liechtenstein before night fall.

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Kiwibank comes to the party

I’m really starting to appreciate firms like PowerShop, Vend and Kiwibank. They “get” that given the opportunity, they always want to do right by the user.

Thanks Kiwibank. A mistake was made and you admitted so. You took responsibility. An adult and respectful conclusion was made #winning.

Though I would try to change the ability to take control over Visa/Western Union timeframes.

Either way, I’m not about to jump ship just yet =]

The raw response.

Dear Kyle

Thank you for contacting Kiwibank about your experience.

I would like to take this opportunity to make sure that we put things right for you.  If you would prefer me to contact you by phone, please let me know and I will call you at a preferred time.

Firstly I would like to apologise for the experience you have described.  We aim to provide our customers with excellent service when they are travelling overseas and regret we have let you down in this instance.

When you contacted us prior to your trip and notified us that you were travelling overseas, we should have ensured that we loaded every country that you were visiting to prevent this type of experience from happening.  I will make sure that this is communicated to our customer service team to prevent any further reoccurrence.

We have a system that monitors all transactions made through credit cards, debit and Visa Debit cards 24 hours a day.  The loading of an overseas travel notice will let us know that you will be using your card overseas.  However, transactions may still show up in our system as suspicious, due to the value or if a card has been used and declined in quick succession.  We have a duty of care to protect our customers and we need to minimise any risk that their card may have been compromised, which is why we may place a block on a card.

We constantly review our systems we have in place to monitor transactions, and we are always looking at ways to improve what we offer.  We want to make sure we meet that balance between protecting our customer and not causing any unnecessary frustration or inconvenience when travelling overseas.  I have forwarded the details of your complaint through to the appropriate manager for further review and consideration.    

For clarity I have answered your questions to us in the following format:

1.       We believe that you have done the right thing in contacting us prior to your departure, which is what we would recommend all customers to do.  We would also recommend customers to take with them back up cash or another way of accessing their funds in case of an emergency while they are overseas.  We do offer a Loaded for Travel card that can be loaded with up to 12 currencies, and we issue two cards in case one is lost or stolen.

2.       Our timeframe for our secure mail service is a response in 48 hours.  We do receive a large volume of messages through this service and we try to reply to our customers as quickly as we can.   We advise our customers that if it is something urgent to contact us by phone as soon as possible.

3.       Unfortunately we don’t have any control over timeframes for Visa and their emergency cash process, and Western Union transfers.

4.       We are happy to organise a wire transfer either by Visa or Western Union if we are unable to get your card working, or send out an urgent replacement in time.  Our first priority is to get you access to your funds while overseas and we try to do this by  ensuring your Kiwibank card is working first.  However, if all other options are exhausted then we will organise this.  I do apologise if you were told information that conflicts with this.

5.       We would be happy to reimburse you the amounts that you have been charged for mobile calls to us.  Please let us know the amount and I can organise this to be credited to your Kiwibank account as soon as possible.  I would also like to offer, as part of our apology, a cash contribution to your Kiwibank account of $200.  If you are happy for this to be credited as full and final settlement of your complaint, please let me know and I will organise this to be done.

If you have any further concerns or if there is anything that I have not covered in my email, please let me know.

Kind Regards

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When Switzerland says “Haaay”

That’s Obersee or Lake Constance in the background.

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When Switzerland says “Hi”

After making my way through some quaint, narrow, back country German roads, I make my way into Switzerland. Welcomed by a stinking hot day, green lush fields and a mountain range in the background. Looking super forward to passing through those!

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Set up the Navie to avoid all highways and toll roads. Took me on some picturesque Germany countryside

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Bitchin’....literally.

Welcome to Bitche, France. Clearly this wasn’t a destination I “actively” sort out to visit. You can blame Garmin and the Navie for that! But what a pleasant little surprise!

And in the centre, a citadel that you can see from the run into town. Something of a sight.

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I love these open borders!