Well, I thought being that I now have a new website, I should write to all

my subscribers to fill them in on what’s been happening with me of late.



I guess you have all by now read my last race report from Spain. As you know myself and the team went to Albecete hoping for a strong result after the disappointment of the Lemans 24 hour. Having not a single point from Lemans,
we wanted to hit the top 5 in Spain. As you know, it didn’t quite go to plan for us there. I was riding really
strongly, but unfortunately my British team mate had a huge crash during qualifying and damaged his arm pretty badly. It was a big feat for him just to ride at all after that, but he did, and he rode well throughout the rest of the race.
My other team mate was really struggling, and just couldn’t put the times together for the race. That, combined with some brake problems during the race, forced us to finish way down the field and to only get one single point.

After the disappointment of Spain, I returned home to England. I had been
away from England for over a week, so I was keen to get back to work to earn some
money.


This year, I’m living in a town called Chelmsford, in England, with my girlfriend, Amy, and a great couple named Ray and Lorraine. I met Ray and Lor a few years ago when my brother was over here and we have been great friends since. They were kind enough to let Amy and I live with them this year. It’s a pretty nice thing for them to do. I don’t know many people that would let two other people to live in their house for a whole year.



Ray is really into bikes, and has been his whole life. In his youth he used to race sidecars throughout England. He even raced in the Isle of Man TT on a sidecar, which to me is one of the most insane things you could do! As you can imagine, Ray and I get on pretty well. All we ever talk about is bikes and racing. Ray has been coming with me to a lot of the races and he is a good help to me and fun to have around, plus he enjoys watching Damian and I race.

Lorraine and Ray

In between races, I have been working at a pub in Chelmsford to help pay the bills. The pub I work in is called The Riverside Inn. It’s a nice neat little pub that has a lot of history. Before it was turned into a pub it was a working mill.
The building is still the same as when the mills were there, but now it houses a bar and 8 rooms for hotel guests. Inside the pub it still has some old workings of the mills, which is pretty neat to look at.
The building that I work in is over 500 years old! Its pretty amazing to think that the building was there a long time before even Australia was
discovered!

The pub has many stories and myths. Its is said by some guests, that the building has a friendly ghost. The ghost is a little 6 year old boy who walks around in old clothing. Apparently, the boy is the son of the old miller and was killed in a milling accident. The boy has never left the building and some guests claim to have seen him. Personally, I haven’t seen a thing yet, but I do think it would be pretty cool to see him. I'll let you know if I do.


Being in a country with so much history you hear little things like this in nearly every shop you enter, so its not out of the ordinary.

"3 Beers...Coming right up"

A couple of weeks ago my girlfriend and I went to Paris for 4 days. Amy has never lived outside of Australia before now, so she has only seen things like the Eiffel Tower in magazines.

We decided to get a couple of cheap 40 pound Easyjet flights to Paris and check out all the tourist stuff. It was a great few days seeing all the sights like the Eiffel tower and the Arc de Triumph. France, like England , has a lot of history, and it really takes a lot of time to look at everything. We had a great time taking in the sights, cruising on the River Sienne, and we even got to go and see a show at the Moulin Rouge.

It was really nice to relax for a few days. Although I race all over the world, I never really get to see much of the country side that I am in.

I see the airport, the track, the hotel and that's about all. We try to have a look at the odd thing here and there, but it's usually pretty rushed
before and after the actual racing., so to get a few days off to see all the tourist things is pretty cool and really worthwhile.

Amy and Alex. Eiffel Tower

I have been working in the pub a lot lately and not doing much else apart from riding my pushbike.
I don’t have a car over here in the UK, because insurance for myself is very expensive, so I ride my pushbike wherever I go.



I've met some really nice people over here in England. Dave is one of them. He is the guy that built my website. The other day, I thought I would
introduce him to some Australian bands and burn a bit of music. Being a nice day, we decided to go to a "Pitch and Putt" golf park.
The golf course is 18 holes but is a lot smaller than a normal golf course. The longest hole is around 120 meters.
I have to say I’m not much of a golfer. I do enjoy doing it, but I have only played 3 times before, so I’m no Tiger Woods.
Dave and I played for 18 holes fairly close on the score card until the last
3 holes, when Dave opened up and played like a pro.The end result was Dave the winner with me 5 shots behind.

Pitch and Putt. Round 1

The Suzuka 8 Hour is coming up in 4 weeks time. . I’m really looking forward to jumping back on the bike and having another ride.
Suzuka is a really important race for me and the team, as we need to kick start our World Championship campaign again. I know James, my team mate and myself really want it go well in Suzuka. Its about time we get on the podium.
Everyone in the team is working hard and are amped up to get a strong result and I’m sure it will happen there.



I’ll keep you posted with all the latest things that I’m up to.

Bye for now.



Alex.