Vic and his bus driver, compadre, James aka SmallBusDriver, front of above pic, on their initial visit to Mt White - the Mecca for northern motor bikers and cyclists alike

A fellow bus driver, Narelle Sinclair, enthused BigBusDriver to the joys and tribulations of road cycling when Narelle advertised for bus drivers from Sydney (State Transit) to join her in raising money for CanTeen (kids living with cancer) in 2005 by cycling from Port Botany in Sydney to Phillip Island near Melbourne, a journey of 1,100km.  Vic only had an el cheapo hybrid bike and Brother, was that hard work! 

Being an enthusiastic rookie, Vic had no idea of how to prepare for such a ride. That inaugural 1,100km interstate ride has been repeated in '06 and '07 but starting in reverse, from Phillip Island and pedaling uphill to Sydney.

Vic made several new friends on his initial '05 interstate "character building" weeklong sojourn, whom he has remained in regular contact with, one of them being James aka SmallBusDriver. 

Vic admits that sitting behind the wheel for much of each day has not recently been kind to his waste line.  In addition, almost a year ago Vic suffered a nasty bike fall which required shoulder surgery which kept him off the bike but not away from cakes, nibbles and deserts which he readily acknowledges he is partial too.

However, Vic has precedent to fall back-on, 'cause between 2001 and early 2003, Vic lost 50kgs, plummeting from 145kg to 95kg.  Consequently, Vic is hell-bent on shedding 25kg by end-June to get back down to 95kg and to look good again and most importantly improve his health and endurance.  For a BigBusDriver, Vic can hang on in the hills, so don't be surprised if we have another TugBoat within Muggs.

En route to Wagstaffe on a balmy Summer's day - Dec 2007, with DishPig and ToothFairy backstage

Rolling out of Peats Ridge on a cool Feb day in 2008