Getting the planning stage well and truly underway

I have been planning this thing in my head for years but have not gotten off my butt to actually lay the ground work.

I've now only got 6 weeks until I leave so I have got even less than no excuses. But some good ideas have come up since I wrote the first blog so I'm happy to record them and look forward to putting them into practice.

The first was put to me by my good friend Owen Holland, when I was in Canberra two weekends ago, Owen is doing his PhD on some element of environmental law so he is very on the ball with environmental things. Good luck with his first seminar presentation that's coming up.

Owen told me that the UN is having a convention on the environment, I'm not sure if that's it's official title, in December 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Well, geez, if that's not the perfect place and time to end this trip there isn't one.

It's almost perfectly aligned with my expected arrival in Western Europe, and it will be one of the most important international meetings to discuss how to save the environment, although of course that's not exactly what people will be discussing, more, how do we keep making money and living lush lifestyles while not completely destroying the world around us, but still, as the world's media will be there, the ride should be able to make it's statement to the appropriate people and to a much bigger audience that it would otherwise reach.

So I'm excited about that.

Then there's a couple of other exciting ideas as well, I was speaking you my great pals Jon Thomsen and Ruth and Jon had the idea that people could participate much more fully than just support me with their well wishes and ride their bikes. They could become as fully a part of planet ride as I am, by riding their bikes to work, or school, or to the shops, and they could be sponsored to do so and so raise money for charity just as I will be, and maybe they could be sponsored for the amount of kilometres, although that's a bit hard to calculate. And I thought that people could become financiers of the planet ride documentary, just as my friend Canadian Rich is organising with his grass roots funding for his film.

So those are the main ideas, although I'm also excited about some other things.

One is the start of filming, I will be recording the planning process as of this sunday, when I will do my first video diary and try to get some shots of me on the bike and the hazards to petrol driven traffic.

And identifying a charity, that's exciting too, I hope they will be as excited about the project as me.

I will need to get a digital camera and work out how to put photos on this thing as well so it's not too boring...