2nd April 2008

Its been a busy two months with lots of variety of business activities happening. I have race a fair bit as well , the car has now done 10.9s.....so its a 10s car! I used an 80hp shot of Nitrous oxide to help it get there. Mid April i am going to Victoria for a National Champs for my kind of car, Andrew is coming with me. Abby has been singing more and more this year. We enrolled her with an ex-student of mine who had a Platinum single a few years ago and also toured the USA in concert. She is now getting weekly singing lessons and is getting noticeably better every week. She is singing the attached song in a concert in 2 weeks time. Shes got a long way to go with it but she is only 8 last month and the recording i made was with no music which is quite hard. Abby is so athletic - she can do lots of pushups properly and she can do splits in every direction. She is also very smart and loves Maths. Andrew is doing well he is popular and he is a great son. He now looks after my athletics business activities and is saving up to study full time as a helicopter pilot in QLD when he finishes his HSC. He is on the SRC and has a good chance of being school captain next year. He is now taller than me and is growing up fast. He weighs 75kg. I was never that weight until i was almost 40 years old. He has also recently started up doing breakdancing and doing lots of pushups is building him quite quickly.

Abbys song

Feb 2008 -The start of the school year.

We had a busy holiday season. Its more relaxing to be back at home with things more regular.

Andrew started his training at Becker Helicopters at Maroochydore Airport. He did 4.5 hrs in the week. We stayed nearby at Twin Waters Resort and also went to see Australia Zoo which is also well known as Steve Irwin's Zoo. Abby's highlight was seeing the Veronica's in Concert while we were at the Zoo. She went down the front and jumped around with all the fans.

Recently Abby has developed even further with new skills. She has really taken to music and singing. So i have arranged for her to have singing lessons with an girls who has had 2 platinum records and toured the USA with her sister in the band S2S. I also happened to have taught her in 1993 when she was in year 7 and again in yr9. Its a bit of a trip across to Castle Hill once a week at this stage. But Abby rates it one of the highlights of the week. She may get to sing a solo in a big concert later in the year. At this stage her favourite is from High School Musical. She also started acrobatics this week and hip hop. She was already doing ballet, contemporary ballet, jazz and tap. So she is a very busy little girl but she loves it all.

Andrew is growing confident and is still a very sensible boy. He is on his school SRC again this year and will probably run for Blue Mountains Youth Council in about September. He is interested in Politics as well as being absolutely fanatical about Helicopters. In October this year he can get his L plates to drive a car as well.

I am about to buy a treadmill and get some exercise happening. I am sick of being unfit and a bit overweight. Its time to do some regular exercise, have more sleep and get some more energy back. My business is doing well and im very busy with it doing enjoyable things. My spare time has increasingly been taken up in taxiing both kids around and watching what they do. It would have been impossible to be as good a parent in supporting them with their dreams as what im doing if i had still been coaching athletics. This understanding makes me feel better about walking away from the sport after putting so much effort into it for almost 13 years.

So far this year my highlight has been riding with Andrew in a jet turbin helicopter while he had full control of it over the coastal stretch between Bribie Island and Maroochydore. Videos of the flight are at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZB14xNfcrw

Christmas Day Update

Abby with her Dance Teacher and a friend.

I had a nice Christmas with family. Travelling between Newcastle and the Mountains.
It was a massive year 2007. Lots of change with plenty of good and some hard times.
Its been a big effort in many ways. In 2008 i need to work at getting fit and improving my health. For too long i have been comforting with food and not doing any exercises at all. Its certainly time for a change. So i think this year its time to get back on top of it again.

Highlights 2007
- Abby just won the highest awarded trophy at her dance school that caters for all ages. It says "Most Talented Student with great potential in Dance". She danced in 9 separate dances at her Dance Schools yearly concert. She is also about to start singing lessons with a a girl i used to teach that had albums go Platinum. It will mean taking her over to Castle Hill. Her singing isnt as good as her dancing but its rapidly getting better. Its mostly Hannah Montana.
- Andrew starting Helicopter Training. We will be taking him up to Maroochydore QLD to do a few days at the Flight School (in January) that he will live at to complete his training after the HSC. Andrew has improved from being an average student to straight As in Science in 2007 as well as Principals Award at the end of the year. He is also in the Schools SRC and is well respected and popular with his peers. He is now taller than me.
- Holidays to Coffs Harbour, Tamworth Country Music Festival and Tasmania for 2 weeks.
- Business booming and making new friends in the business.
- Finally leaving Athletics behind, sad in some ways but liberating in others.
- Teaching the least in 20 years - just 1 day in Term IV. I like helping teenagers but i dont like being stuck at a school.

Coaching Retirement

As of November 2007 i am no longer coaching anyone. My last athlete Paige in Adelaide just had a knee injury and wanted to have an extended break - so thats it.
I just spent about 13 years of my life coaching - but i really haven't had enough enthusiasm to achieve what i did in 2002 and early 2003 for the past 3 years.

Im trying to move on with my life to other things and my kids are showing enthusiasm and dedication to things. So im happy helping them get the best possible opportunities and making money creatively to help them pay for it. This is something i enjoy and im appreciating the peace and quiet away from the classroom most of the time now.

One day i hope the people i invested the most in will look back and appreciate just how much effort it took and how hard it all was to help them to make something of their lives. I put my heart and soul into my athletic dream and at the end sometimes the right thing to do is the hardest thing of all. Sometimes you can get lost with multiple directions,loyalties and responsibilities, where any decision being painful for yourself and others. Your life can be paralysed where doing nothing is bad for yourself and others or where doing anything to change things is bad for yourself and others. Its also where you most need Gods help and also the situation where you are most angry with God for not helping already. Im glad things have gradually become simpler. Appreciate your happiness in life whenever it happens remember past good times with fondness not bitterness. Stay loyal to people that you even once called your friend, even if they aren't in your life anymore.

Andrew's suit

Andrew has a formal function that he needed to attend with his youth group friends. So he bought himself this suit and eye catching tie.

Andrews First Helicopter Lesson

Andrew just started his training to become a Helicopter Pilot. He flew with an instructor in a Robinson R22. The course they took was circuit that flew over Orchard Hills near Penrith, Eastern Creek Racetrack, Westmead Hospital, Stadium Australia. He had full control of the R22 while in the air for most of the flight with the instructor constantly chatting with him about the finer points that need to be followed. It included a theory lesson before the flight as well as pre and post flight briefings. The video has footage of a few flights. Its a great experience riding in a Helicopter.

Dogs

Abby loves pets. We visited a friend up at Linden and they had this lovely little girl dog.

Kids

Some interesting thing have been happening with Abby & Andrew lately.

Andrew just got his first part-time job at Lone Star, he is in the Air Force Cadets and he just got voted onto the SRC at school. Last weekend he went on a Bivouac (Camp) with the Cadets out at Hartley and had a great toughening up time with it raining lightly all weekend!




Abby just had some dance exams in Tap & Jazz. Plus she danced at a large dance concert at the Joan Sutherland Centre in Sydney. She is also a keen gardener and like to challenge us all to games of handball played in the hallway near our kitchen with a volleyball sized kids ball.




Andrew gave us a camouflage face paint exhibition by painting up Abby.

Enthusiasm

For at least the past 15 years i was driven to achieve a good variety of things. Its how ive always been for as long as i can remember. The Oztrack website, coaching Athletes, students at school and things that came of of my interests in cars. The highlights to tell my grandkids will be meeting and interviewing Michael Johnson, Peter Fortune (Cathy Freemans coach), knowing Jana Pittman as she developed. Seeing many athletes become National level and being super proud of what they had earned through hard work. Now i really miss the excitement of when Athletics was at its best but i just cant muster the enthuasiam to drive athletes anymore, the best i can do is to be a helping hand for people who ask.

I find that lately im enjoying other people being driven to achieve creative things. Value your enthusiasm because you can't buy it and make the most of your lives by striving to make your dreams come true. Just please remember two thing as you go about your day:

1. Enjoy life by treasuring every precious good happy moment as it happens because you can't go back there.
2. Pray regularly for your friends old & new they might need more help than you can ever give them.

2007 East Coast Nationals

I just raced on the weekend in the 2007 East Coast Nationals. The Super Street field had 40 cars this year and i made it into the final 5. This was a good result and it was fun racing in front of about 25000 people. But i wanted to win it and it was so close. My last race i lost by about 1.5m. I guessed the car would run 11.33s and it did 11.40 which is about 3m slower than expected, my reaction time was better than the competitor who had travelled down from Rockhampton. He just snuck into the gap and that was the end of the meet for us.

It was a long day me and Dad were up at 6am and raced at 8:50, 2:30, 6:30, 8 and 9:50 - didnt arrive home until 11pm. We also had been up at 6am on Friday to race at 8:30 and 11:30 arriving home at 2pm.


On Fathers day we went to see Steven Fisher King sing. He is a well known singer who travels the world performing shows often on large cruise ships. His son is in Abbys class at school and we are all friends. It made for a great fathers day.

But im so tired today and have had a splitting headache all day from lack of fluid i think.

QLD Trip

I just travelled up to QLD with my Dad and Mum for a race meet. Andrew was going to come but he just had orientation with the Air Force Cadets on the same weekend.

We travelled up to Tamworth on Thursday and then onto Lake Moogerah in QLD on Friday. It was a total of about 12hrs of driving over the 2 days. Saturday we rested at the Lake and then i went into Ipswich to wash the car and stayed Saturday night. The race day was on Sunday. It was great to race against the best QLD cars like mine. In teh afternoon when the knockouts started i made it all the way to the final and raced against the LS1 Nationals Champion and i broke at the start and placed 2nd. It was funny that my Dad racing for his first time in his Statesman (that i have enhanced the computer in) made it to the 3rd round before i knocked him out!. All the racing is handicap based with the slower car starting first - so i chased his car down and passed it just before the line.

We travelled via Kyogle on Monday and visited my 87 yr old grandmother who is now in a hospital nursing home and caught up with an aunt (2yrs older than me) that i hadnt seen for 20 years. We then travelled to the coast near Coffs Harbour to stay Monday and then we made the full trip home on Tuesday. It was a big effort but it was nice to be able to spend some time like it used to be when i was a kid travelling with my parents. We talked all the way on CBs between the cars and it passed the time. My car has a great GPS system in it and it was fun knowing where we were at all times and how far in time we had to go to the next destination.

I also had many business calls on the way - so in many ways it was business as usual. Its a classic having phone calls that can the most important thing business wise that happens in the week all over in a few minutes. It was a nice opportunity to travel the way we did, something i will remember for quite a while.

Here are some pics

Street Commodore Article

The car was a feature is Street Commodore Magazine. Which is a very popular magazine Nationally.
Here is the cover shot and the link to the full article which talks about my involvement in Athletics and Drag Racing.

Here is the full article in 3 parts. You might have to come back to this page to see them all.


Page 1


Page 2


Page 3

Update

I have been very busy recently with the business. Havent worked a single day so far in term III at a school. But ive been averaging less than 7hrs sleep a night for months. I really need 9 to be fresh.

I have expanded the business in partnership with a friend to include importing parts for cars and he fits them for a fee and then i do the computer work to the engine management computer. My part of the deal is to purchase parts from the USA at a good price and supply them at a competitive price. I also have to research the best choices of parts. So i have been up until very late quite often talking to US businesses and chasing up ordered parts. My car is having a big upgrade this coming weekend and is using the best choices of all the parts that I sell. Then in August 12th im racing at Willowbank Raceway in QLD. Im driving up there with my Dad who also now has a car like mine and he plans to race it for the first time up there. Mum is coming as well. Its during school term so Andrew, Abby and Lynda are staying home.

Its amazing how busy you can be working from home. But its nice to be able to sleep in quite often and do what i want during the day when i want to. I have to start eating more healthy again and do some exercise which means use the Mountain bike more often.
I have to ease into it though because last time it was checked my cholesterol was high.

If its good enough for other people to make a fresh new start at getting fit, it should be good enough for me. Its just hard to turn on the switch, but i have done it before when im inspired. A good start will be to setup the router so i have no internet ever after 10:00pm. Not getting enough sleep is the best way to make yourself feel lazy i reckon.

2007 Video Mix

Just the other day i was invited by my brother Darrin to drive a Sprintcar at Parramatta Speedway. It was an incredible experience. My Grandfather and his brother spent their fortunes from a large engineering business in the 1950s on Speedcars which were the predecessor to Sprintcars. Few of our family ever got to drive them though. It was great to do something my late-grandfather would have thought was wonderful.

Andrew has become very serious about training to become a Helicopter Pilot. He wants to be a Polair Pilot on the Police Helicopter. He has even started studying really hard at school and we will be taking him to some student lessons at Bankstown Airport in coming months. Its an exciting development - kids grow up so quick. Many of the athletes will get a shock when they meet him next, he is taller than me and very confident and friendly. He used to be a woosie 9yr old playing soccer but now he likes playing tackle football at school against seasoned players. He gets on great with his much younger sister Abby (7) and is very protective of her. She is thriving at her dancing and at school and is a very happy confident little lady.

Nitro Champs 2007

I raced in the Nitro Champs on the weekend. I drove the car well getting really good reaction times as usual (due to the athletics stop watch practise) 0.011s and 0.062s. But i had a heap go wrong. On Friday my steering lock jammed on and need two tilt truck rides to get fixed for the next days racing. This cost about $800. Then in the second round of knockouts my gearbox failed which is costing just short of $3000 to get fixed. So it was a costly weekend. But the good news is that the car set a new PB 11.364s and 119.5mph (192kph) over the 402m strip.

Here are a few pics of the car taken on the weekend with its new wheels.


A friend Ian, me and Andrew.


The pre-race lineup

Cradle Mountain Helicopters Video

Here is another helicopter ride video taken with the video camera rather than the phone.

Back from Tassie

Just back from Tassie and had a great time.

Some of the highlights were
- Flying in a Helicopter around Cradle Mountain.
- Driving Quad Bikes at Henty Dunes near Strahan
- Riding in a Cessna around the Freycinet Peninsula
- Seeing the terrain and view from Mt Wellington
- Watching some of the Targa Rally Action.
- Walking around the "nut" at Stanley (the chairlift video was recorded at Stanley)
- Seeing some of the most beautiful beaches with white sand and light blue waves.

Here are some video footage below

25th March

Here is a one video taken with a digital camera at WSID on 25th March.
The car went better but a strong headwind 7m/s spoiled the chance of a new PB.

Drag Racing 2007

This winter my goal is to get the car down at least under 11.20. This means gaining at least 14 rear wheel kw. Its just an improvement of about 5% but at the level the car is at its hard to squeeze much more out of it. Ive been reading forums in the USA and decided to change a few things. Its a pretty expensive improvement though - but if you talk in terms of athletics its like a 100m improving from 10.30 to 10.00 or a female 800m athlete from 2:03 to 2:00. It changes everything about the way the sport is experienced. The class the car races in is Super Street and its handicap racing - but the fastest anyone is allowed to go in the class is 11.000s - my car definitely cant go under 11.000s as that means disqualification from the rest of the competition including any more races even in the qualifying rounds.

The modifications i am doing are.
1/ Fitting of Long Tube Headers with 4 into 1 pipes which are all 1"7/8 diameter. The largest that can fit.


2/ A FAST Manifold and a 90mm throttle body. This is best normal style of manifold you can get.



The end result should give around 0.36s improvement. So the car should run consistently in the 11.20 region and on a cold night dip into the 11.0s. This is assuming that the tyres will stick at launch and i will get proportionally as good a start as before from these changes.

It will still continue to cruise with good economy around 10L/100km at 110kph to Newcastle last weekend. It gets over 400km out of most 60L fills at the petrol pump.


Im racing next at the Nitro Champs on May 3rd and 4th. More info is www.wsid.com.au
It is a big meet with a huge crowd 20000 plus and all the major classes of cars including the top fuel dragsters.

Tassie Plans

We are going to Tasmania in April to visit Lynda's sister and her family, plus also do some touring. Its going to be great travelling and looking at almost everywhere. I have some car computer work down there that will help pay for most of the trip.

The highlights look like being:

• A 50min helicopter ride over Cradle Mountain National Park and the south-west wilderness area.
• Bushwalking near Cradle Mountain - Abby is pretty fit now so we can start doing this sort of thing again.
• Watching the Targa Rally from near Bicheno
• Staying at Strahan - then cruising the Gordon River
• Visitiong some of the locations that some of our convict ancestors lived. I still cant find any that were at Port Arthur.
• Andrew and I plan to ride 25km downhill from Mt Wellington.

Its great to be able to do memorable things together as a family while the kids are growing up.

2004-2007

I thought i would do simple summary of some key events of the past 3 years .

• In April 2004 I purchased my current car a Silver Clubsport R8. At that stage i didn't have a clue of where this incredibly risky venture would take me. At that stage i didnt really have the income to pay for it - but it was just something i knew would give me and Andrew some enjoyment together. It was something to own and be proud of. Andrew was age 11 in year 6 and had just found "cars".
  
  
  
• I researched and paid to have some simple modifications to it that i had read on car forums such as www.ls1.com.au (which i am now heavily involved with as a paying advertiser). We then raced it at Western Sydney International Dragway (WSID) for the first time. Thats first day was a very nervy event, but we were both hooked. Since then i have gone down the 400m strip over 200 times. The car now does it in 11.4s and crosses the line at 190kph. That is 0 to 160kph in 7 seconds.





• I had to start teaching again much more to pay the bills and to keep the car and was motivated to work harder to make more money to help us pay for some more modifications so that it would be faster at the strip. Most of my work that year was at Hawkesbury HS, Kellyville HS, Winmalee HS and Nepean HS.





• At this stage i was still coaching a squad and they were starting to hear more and more of my drag racing experiences.





• By the end of the year the Oztrack Clubsport was starting to make a bit of name for itself. racing into the 12s barrier which is a pretty good achievement for a daily driven vehicle. Its about to (March 2007) be featured in the "Street Commodore Magazine".





• In 2005 i secured a full time temporary position at Nepean High School and was able to spend a fair amount more money modifying the car for the upcoming Drag Race season. In July racing in my first major handicap race meet in the "Super Street" class i arrived as a rookie to race against the seasoned racers and went home with the title after winning 6 races in a row. Collecting a trophy and prizemoney. This was a good start to the season and it got better. I won prizemoney of over $1000 in more meets that season and won arguably the biggest event of the year in front of a crowd of 30000 people. This also earned me enough points to win the NSW season championship. Pics of much of the action and some videos are on my clubsport page. The car got its picture in Dragster Magazine and my trophy was presented at the National Presentation Meet at Rooty Hill Resort where close to 1000 people were in attendance.





• 2005 was Andrew's first year at High School and Abby's kinda year. Andrew constantly had me show his mates the car always even now asking me to pick him up from school even when the school is 1km away. He has had a great time at high school with constant friends calling over and enjoys school. He is popular in his peer group and he is very confident talking to adults. Much of this i think has been positively contributed to by our father-son experiences with the car and our drag racing achievements. Also my own father Barry has been my main pit crew and best supporter at all the big meets. Its been a great boys thing in our family.





• Abby was the one of my children i thought would be an athlete. But i have been blown away by her natural talent in Dance. She is now almost 7 and has done Ballet both Classical and Contemporary, Jazz, Tap, Hiphop and Belly Dancing (with Lynda). You can simply pick any song for her and say "dance" when she is in a dancing mood and she can make up something brilliantly creative on the spot and perform to it like its been choreographed. She is in the "zone" when she dances and can have it "just happen" like its no effort with a sincere smile on her face. She is also a A level student this year in yr 2 (2007) and is very happy, funny, talkative and always fun to be around. She is the baby we waited so long for and it was worth the wait. Lynda and I have 2 wonderful children who are both very happy.





• Since 2005 Lynda and I have been doing Dancing about once a week. I have learned to do Rock'n'Roll and Ceroc. At the moment its expanding into Modern Jive. I started out very lacking in rhythm and struggled to get my feet to do what i needed them to do. But i seem to have a decent ability to remember hand movements and the feelings of the dances and that has been getting me by. The guys have to lead so its important to be able to send good signals and have enough rhythm at least to be in time with the music and think of each move. I can get someone up to dance now that hasn't dopne it before and make it happen fairly well. The experiences at dance have been good for Lynda and I you work at being a team, and dancing as a team with other partners. Its also great exercise.





• In early 2004 I injured my back quite badly in the gym after i had made it sore from building up the running quickly. It left my right foot numb and foot floppy for 6 weeks. I was very close to needing a laminectomy operation. This event showed me that i cant really run anymore. My discs are too narrow and nerves irritate too easily. So I havent done much exercise and have put on some weight. So in December 2006 i purchased two good mountain bikes mine is a Giant Trance with Dual suspension - its a XC Racer which i might just start racing with if i can get fit enough. I have started riding with Andrew who has a Giant STP-1. Im still building up fitness but the bike has all the good training stuff - i just purchased a top of the range Polar HRM and a Garmin Bike GPS mapping device. Andrew laughs about my bike with all its gadgets. He prefers to do tricks - a few weeks ago he wheelied past me up hill when i was maxing out and exhausted. Andrew is my height now and getting pretty solid looking.


2006



• In 2006 i used some prizemoney to purchase a software system that could edit the settings in my cars computer. This was an area i had already spent $2500 with other computer tuners enhancing to make the car faster. The plan at that stage was to use the software just to save some money in not needing to pay other people to change the cars computer settings for the racing. However it expanded into a good business opportunity for me. In May i became the main Reseller in Australia for EFILive - the business involves selling the system to car workshops all over Australia and teaching them to use the system effectively. I also use the system myself to tune peoples cars. The business has done far better than expected. So instead of spending my time reading about athletics its been about researching the technical information regarding computer systems in cars. The LS1 engine is an incredibly popular engine all over the world. My business site is at www.oztracktuning.com





• In 2006 i worked most of the year full time at Glenmore Park High School and also worked long hours with the business. We didnt race as much as i was too busy.
  
• We went on holidays to Fiji in April 2006 for 10 days and my parents came with us , it was their first trip on a big plane. It was a great time for everyone. We went on a day trip to Mana Island and did some brilliant snorkelling there.
• In October we went to the Bennett/Byers Family Camp-Reunion near Gulgong. This year we got our own big tent and hi-tech camp equipment but needed to tow a trailer to take all the stuff behind Lynda's Subaru Forester. It was a good time away and its nice to see Andrew enjoy so much things i used to do as a kid like spotlighting and roasting marshmallows.
  
  2007
  
  
  
• This year we had a long family holiday 2 weeks away in January. Something i never did during my time coaching athletics. It was always the crucial time of the season. We went to Nelson Bay, Coffs Harbour for 8 days and back home via Armidale, Tamworth Country Music Festival and a Mountain Bike Ride at Scone. I did some business while away and that helped with the expenses. This easter we plan to go to Tasmania for 2 weeks.





• Im now is a quiet time of the year just working occasional school days, buzy with business developments. Im trying to get my body ready to do a greater amount of exercise. I want to start Gym again soon. The massage therapist while on holidays said my fascia in the back is in a bad state. So today i saw Peter Malone and will be seeing him weekly for a while to get my body rejuvenated.





• Andrew did gym today with Jessie who i still help out. It was fun but if i was doing gym seriously as well it would be more fun. Its hard to be enthusiastic about exercise when you know unless you take it really easy it will make you injured or sore.





• Last Sunday Andrew and I did the single track mountain bike ride from the Oaks Picnic area to the Causeway in the National Park near Glenbrook - it was great.

The start

I wanted to create a page that shares a bit of what im doing now. After 10 years totally invested into Athletics its a peculiar feeling to rediscover yourself, find new interests and build new goals....the truth is the last 3 years have had some very exciting things happen but have also been very tough in other ways.