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Dear MAD Ride 2007 Committee members and the members of PSB who stepped up to help,
You humble me.
To be involved with human beings such as your selves is something that I will remember for the rest of my life.
Its one thing to talk about what we dream of doing, to plan and devise and create, but to actually DO the things we dream about takes a very special kind of person, in life you don't come across many of them but I am here to tell all who read this that if you look around, you are surrounded by them. The extended community of Perth Street Bikes.com and The Making A Difference Ride Inc. are amazing people and they continue to surprise and confound me every day.
I spend many hours contemplating my luck and wondering the reasons why and what motivates these guys and girls to be so passionate about everything they do. They don’t have to, nobody makes any money from it, it is sometimes a thankless, ego-bruising and exhausting job, it puts peoples time, relationships, careers and health under great stress but yet every year, every week at every meeting there they are. Loyal, passionate, selfless and Honourable, are there four words that describe all that is good about a person more than that?
I would like you all to join with me in thanking and congratulating all who were involved in the 2007 MAD Ride organisation, for it is these people that exemplify all that is good about humanity, they reject greed, conflict and selfishness and dedicate the majority of their spare time to caring for their fellow fallen friends, most of whom they will never even meet.
This year the bar was set even higher than in previous years and let me tell you that those goals translated directly into more work and more demands on the people who organise it all.
I really cringe at writing thank you letters to such a huge group of people for I fear that i will miss somebody out, I’ll try not to but if I do forgive me, it is unintentional and you are appreciated!
Firstly, I would like to dedicate the entire 2007 Making A Difference Ride to The 2007 Event Co-Ordinator, Nicole Harwood, PSB member Gumnut, we love you Niccy and we miss you and we all hope and pray that you will be fighting fit and back feeling 100% soon. We couldn't have done this without you and it's as simple as that. XXOO from all of us.
Every one of the following people are superstars, for the reasons i have already described they remind us all what giving truly is. Every one of them gives their heart and soul and that’s all i can say about that.
Next time you meet one of these guys out on the road or at the next PSB event don't forget to thank them yourself and shake their hand.
So in no particular order and I thank them as they come to mind, please join with me in recognising the 2007 MAD Ride Committee and all those that pitched in to help:
Nicole Harwood, Gumnut, this year’s event co-ordinator and a woman who is strong and driven. Nic started the MAD journey with us and has a vision of MAD that even exceeds what i can see. A SUPREME facilitator and strong leader Nicole got the immovable mountain that was this year’s task moving in the direction that she wanted to see us going, and I'm glad she did, she set the wheels in motion and they were never going to stop.
Caireen Taylor, Fruitbat, Caireen comes to us from the high speed world of international corporate event management, retired now to a peaceful life in Australia away from all the crises and pressure of her former career I imagine when she came along to help our little committee that she had no idea what was about to happen. Due to the pressure i was under with my 1st semester exams and Nicoles sudden withdrawal due to personal reasons Caireen was left holding the baby in a room full of babies screaming and hungry! (haha sorry guys!). Thank the good lord for Caireen Taylor for i tell you right now, if it wasn’t for her, MAD 2007 would very likely have been cancelled. Caireen was writing sponsorship proposals and event schedules between running her own business and staging events in New York. There are not enough words in the English (or Scottish) dictionary to thank Caireen, she deserves a bloody Nobel prize for physics for managing to warp time and space to do what she did this year. Caireen, thank you. You did it.
Colleen Williams, our Fastgirl, what can i say woman!? If scientists could work out what powers this person night and day then i assure you the worlds energy crises would be over. Balancing a young family, a busy Husband, running and racing your own race team on your R1, living in a rural area, running around after me and MAD AND managing the construction of the Casey Stoner Replica Ducati even thinking about what our Colls does makes me tired. If it were a people’s choice award i think Ms Fastgirl would win it..why? Because she is the person responsible for THIS. Colls has put hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into turning what was a stock 999 into the awesome machine that has been turning so many heads over the last 5 months. Well done Colleen, your the miracle mum! MAD wouldn’t be MAD without you and we all love you more than you will ever know. Congratulations on being somebody who inspires me to keep on keeping on.
Rachel, Ms Nipplesticker: Rach is our design guru. Rach designs the Logos, the Posters the flyers, the banners and gets it all printed. Its no small task. I just wanted to say that the amount of effort that this young lady puts into everything she does is outstanding. One day her bosses at the design firm will wake up and make her a junior partner. Talent and flair galore our very own Nipplesticker girl is a woman outstanding in her field. And its a beautiful view. Well done Rachy. MAD wouldn’t be what it is without you. You make us all proud. We bow down to you.
Mrs Rooster, even though she probably wont read this, I need to recognise my beautiful and special CJ, she puts up with my 4am nights and grumpy moods and has done now for 3 years. Carley I love you and cant wait to be married to you.
Its the old saying isn’t it...behind every great woman is a man who leaves his clothes on the floor or something like that...
Simon Heath, Dingo, the leader of the pack and fierce in his resolution. Dingo is a realist and keeps my lofty and sometimes utterly crazy dreams and desires grounded. A man who can take a snapshot in his mind of anything that needs to be done and just does it. Dingo was responsible for the creation of what you saw at Scarborough Beach, the power, the tents, the food everything. I didn’t envy Dingo over the weekend and i just cant work out how a man who looks like John Lennon has the strength of Arnold Schwarzenegger, again a marvel of physics. DIngo, don’t ever think for one second that i don’t appreciate what you do, when i saw you trying to lift a 2 tonne generator onto the back of a truck on your own i was warmed to my soul. A true Hero and a Man whom i am proud to call my friend. 3 years in a row, day and night 7 days a week you are there mate. You are a champion among champions. AND you have good taste in bikes. Thanks again mate, your generous heart is precious thing.
Jeff McCarthy, Barfridge, The PSB Beer Baron. Someone asked me yesterday what we could improve about the morning arrangements at Shents. I thought about and replied, Nothing. Because that’s all we need. Sir Fridge was in charge of the Shenton Park logistics and pulled the whole thing off faultlessly. Jeff, is a can do man, when we had 1000 show bags packed into about 20 crates in the front room of the Windsor last week i was most interested to know how on earth we could transport them when no one could possibly fit them into a huge van let alone a car, i went to the bar and by the time i came back 1000 show bags had disappeared out the pub window and were farmed between 5 different cars, utes and backpacks. I could go on about Barfy all day long, i love the man and everything he does, again 3 years in a row. Jeff, what can I say but thanks, its characters like you that keep it fun.
Mel Culley,BillyWHizz, aka Billys Arse. I often wonder if Billywhizz was as hypo as a child as he is now, if he were then i feel sorry for his teachers. This is a man who singlehandedly organised the biggest and best Show and Shine competition WA has ever had, where else would a 1918 Harleyhave been lined up next to a fully blinged Hayabusa or Hewies Ducati TC 1098? Mel also sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of raffle tickets, broke his office photocopier (twice) and made a few 'excursions' out to Merredin to preach to the lawless of the badlands. Another selfless and giving person with a lions heart Mel also kept me grounded, the man thinks in possibility’s and i love that, Mel i was proud to have you onboard this year, you are an inspiration to us all and again, it's fella's like you that make it all worthwhile. Keep up the fuggin awesome work. You're a star.
Troy Honey, Triple Treat, another man who when you give him something to do he takes off writes the book on it, rewrites the book, edits it and gives you something perfect. Troy sorted out the ride logistics, the marshals the route, the police permits and liaised with the Police. How many of you know that Deputy Police Commissioner and Busa rider John Mc Roberts led us out on his police bike on Sunday? To have DC John McRoberts give me a wink, a nod and the thumbs up and lead Saf, myself and Deej out of Shents and all the way to Scarbs was something i'll always keep with me. Troy you did an outstanding job and if anyone wants to doubt it, check out this PICTURE and the way in which the bikes were led in, parked up and led out. Thanks Troy you made what was a very hard job look easy. Well done.
Davey, Sponsorship co-ordinator, the quiet achiever, after seeing Davey nearly get mobbed by a dozen screaming kids at MAD i knew he had done his job. Davey had the unenviable task of seeking sponsors and asking bike shops to give us stuff. Its not an easy job and after the 100th person has said to you "call me back tomorrow" i know from experience that it is enough to make you scream. Well done to Dave for having persisted because if he hadn’t we wouldn’t have raised the massive amount of money that we have. Dave’s business experience and knowledge was always helpful and every time I ran out of ideas Dave would come up with another. Good on you Dave and again, fantastic to have you aboard and of course the best thing about Dave is that he bought as Mags!Cheers Dave, awesome work dude.
Neroli Ridgewell, Undead, again, another woman who came along at a latish stage and jumped fully clothed and with her boots on into the deep end of the MAD pool. VIP extraordinaire, Nerolis' experience in the shady world of WA politics proved a boon when she raked up dozens of Councillors, VIP's and MLA's to come along and share MAD with us. I think for me the picture of Greame Edwards and Jason from Shenton park rolling along in their chairs having a chat with all the bikes in the background actually is the seminal image of the whole experience for me. Only god knows of all the things Neroli organised and made sure was going to happen. A huge effort I look forward to having Neroli work with us again for next year. Truly a professional job. Well done.
Kim Ewen, Gryphen, If it wasnt for all the media releases and articles that you wrote for the media i simply do not believe we would have gotten as many riders on the day as we did. Its one thing to have the power to communicate its another to actually do it. Well done bro, a massive job and an excellant result. I am of the opinion that Kim goes to bed and wakes up in his leathers. Truly a dedicated man.
Jim Pizzey, Desmogod, Jim, always with a smile and a laugh, thank the (desmo) lord for you buddy. Consistently there and in charge of organising the entertainment it was your efforts that ensured a great day was had by all. Thankyou very much for everything you did, large and small. You and me have to sit down for a chat, something about the nest MAD Raffle bike or something, i dunno!
Whew! And the list goes on and On.
Dugy: The parachuting paparazzi, whenever we needed a media shot or a publicity shot Dugy was always the first person there. Thanks Doug, i know it seems like a thankless task when people don’t even know they are looking at a picture you took but trust me when i say, we couldn’t get by without you. Cheers bro, you are a man among men.
Tigerleo: More Design and photography and webdesign work. Love ya work Steve.
Nath: The man, thnak god for you dude. Nath did heaps of web design work and kept thousands of dollars safe for me on Sunday. Cheers Bro. Outstanding work and a trustworthy friend.
Potato: again, every time i turned around you were there, smiling wanting to know what you could do. Potato rang every single bike club in Perth and organised rides and accommodation for the VIPS on the day. Well Done mate.
Firestorm, Thanks for sorting out the event power requirements dude, you are a frickin life saver. Who else at 6pm on a Saturday night before the ride could find 100m of 3 phase cable. Well done, your efforts were huge.
Dikko, who spent the WHOLE night at Scabs watching things as security on his own, in the cold and for free, Huge effort well done, i owe you a coffee or 10. Cheers.
And of course all the Marshalls who volunteeres so much time. Great work.
ALL the ring-ins!
Saf for leading this years ride. Love ya work bro. Oh and Saf, whats going on here bro?
Mags, Great shots!
Tim, Scampy, for doing a great job as MC. Thats quite a fan club you have
Troy for the snags.
Lady DI for the napkins
Joneen for the food and drinks
Ice for all your hard work and dedication
Taz for watching all the girls and the 999
Rhino, just for being you bro.
Teenie: for everything you do behind the scenes
And ALL the girls for making the gods shine their sun upon us.
Jacob for the laughs and selling 1000's of tickets and for ALWAYS being there. Your the best buddy i could ever want bro.
Hewie, Tyson, Deej, Melkor, Klink, TRX, Saf, Tex and the PSB Machine: Hewie is the MAD treasurer and has done an outstanding job in taking money of me so i don’t loose it (kiddin) Thanks Hewie, you know we love you!
Tyson, i promise to get a CC account next year and further promise not to break the PSB shop every time i touch it. You da man.
And Finally, the man himself, Founder of PSB and head honcho, Deej for without Deej none of us would be here now, there is a beginning to everything and it all begins with Deej. We salute you bro. Thankyou for creating a place that can grow into a massive tree whose branches spread across the whole city, the state the country and now the whole world.
I know i have forgotten people and of course there are all the sponsors to thank as well but we'll get there in the end.
Congratulations everyone on a huge years worth of effort. MAD has grown from a PSB Ride 3 years ago into something that really does have the potential to Make Difference in the Lives of those who need it most.
Keep up the good work.
Chris Phillips
Rooster
PS: Did you know that TYSON was 7ft tall?
Originally Posted by IPIT on relationships 
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