THE PERILS OF MOTORCYCLING
Introduction
Foreward:
One is truly lucky to be inspired by another….. Alanna was inspired herself by the struggles of children affected by one of the most devastating of all disorders, especially of the neurodegenerative type - Batten Disease. In turn we were inspired by Alanna's compassion and determination to create awareness and raise funds for a treatment or cure.
Scientists are making good progress in understanding Batten Disease and continue to develop a treatment. Your purchase of this book helps us to help the children through support of the families and funding research to continue forward.
Alanna's epic journey for Batten Disease is incorporated in this book, where she beautifully describes her life adventures on her motorcycle with a funny and witty touch to it. Readers should be aware that this book makes mention to adult language, drugs and alcohol hence caution should be made as to the age of the reader.
I believe this book is a must-read for those who enjoy a story that is real and honest and written by a bit of a character.
Vanessa Anderson
Operations Manager
Batten Disease Support & Research Assoc. Inc.
www.battens.org.au
How to Purchase the Book:
1.Payment options are:
** Postal cheque or money order made payable to:
BDSRA
9 Norton Avenue,
Killarney Vale NSW 2261.
** Credit card facility is available for Visa, Mastercard and Bankcard - For purchases over $30 (book sales of 2 or more)
Please email your credit card details to Vanessa@battens.org.au for processing.
The book purchase cost is AU$15 each.
2.Via Post anywhere in Australia. The number of books you wish to order PLUS the following postage costs:
1 book purchase $ 2.50
2 book purchase $ 4.00
3 to 8 book purchase $10.30
9 books and more – please email info@battens.org.au for quote.
Please forward your postal cheque or money order made payable to:
BDSRA
9 Norton Avenue,
Killarney Vale NSW 2261.Your book will then be posted out to you.
3. Via International postage. Please email your enquiry to info@battens.org.au where a preferred payment
and postage quote can be arranged for you.
4. In Person: The book can be purchased at the following location:
| NSW Coffs Coast. Ludo's Old Wares. Unit 2/26 Industrial Drive, Coffs Harbour South. NSW 2450 02 66 515 514 0402 044 601 (Ludo Gayko) 0432 354 441 (Alanna Gayko) |
The National Motorcycle Museum |
Grayson Sonter Motorcycles |
Roadies Café, Gloucester. |
Kawasaki Newcastle |
Newcastle Brisan Motorcycles 143 Lambton Road Broadmeadow NSW 2292 Ph: 0249526355 |
| North Coast V-Twins 1A GDT Seccombe Close Coffs Harbour, NSW, 2450. (02) 66 50 4200 www.v-twins.com.au |
Here is an Extract from Chapter 1..........
Around 1976 or 1977 I saved enough money to jointly purchase (with my father) a 450cc Yamaha motorcycle. It was way too big for me and I fell off quite regularly. Back then my riding ability consisted of going in circles around the church for hours, ad nauseum. I can’t ever recall being capable of riding in a straight line or turning. It must have driven the priest nuts !.
My white pointy shaped helmet looked very much like a boiled egg and I resembled ‘Noddy’. Many a spare moment was spent trying to smash it on my father’s front fence, to justify buying a new one (which I hoped would have fitted marginally better). Back then, you bought bike helmets from army surplus stores, which may have been rejects from World War II. So much for the recent adage of ‘one drop of the old helmet and you should replace it to protect your brain’ — these helmets did a good job of trying to break your neck. Visors didn’t have staggered adjustments either, so it was just ‘open’ or ‘shut’. If the wind got up under the visor when it wasn’t clicked in place, it flew up in one fell swoop to force your head backwards, severely jarring your neck.
When my father remarried in 1977, I spent the last year of high school living with the Parry family, making it possible to finish my schooling. I really appreciated their support. In early 1978 my career began on the road, as I turned 16 and 9 months (but who was counting the days?) and could get my driver’s and rider’s learner license. Whilst at the Parry’s, they were game enough to teach me how to drive. The streets of the Southern Highlands were no longer safe after Alanna Therese Brigid Toohey was let loose on the roads!. I was renowned for ‘kangarooing’ the old Toyota Crown around the nearby towns as my gear changing technique was shoddy to say the least. The house was a mess by the time my car license was finalised, as the fibro wall was taken out when I left the passenger door open when reversing down the driveway. The brick front fence was also demolished twice, and it’s safe to say that by the time I got my ‘P’ plates in May 1978, the only untouched panel of the car was the roof.
During my last year of school towards the end of 1978, I bought my second motorcycle. It wasa gold Honda 125cc bought from a school mate, Peter. For some reason I had an aversion to its gold colour, so decided to hand paint the motorcycle red. It was a pretty amateurish job, being all streaky from using only a small artist’s paint brush.
Here you can find some images and stories linked in the Adobe PDF file.
You can download a free Adobe PDF read from: http://get.adobe.com/reader/
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