Alex's adventures

Who would let me command their hi tech robot? People who don't know me very well! Haha Alex Foreman, member of Mars Society Australia The Mars Society was founded by one of my heroes, grumpy American genius Rocket Engineer Robert Zubrin. He really made the case for why humankind must expand into space. I've been a member and helped for at least 8 years. Robert Zubrin presenting his awesome  Mars Direct mission plan Australia is a great place to do Mars research, it even looks like Mars! I've had a lot of fun and learned a lot in this very interesting group. Today I got to play pranks with a robot built by very smart kids. FIRST Robotic's Competition student made Robot, being demonstrated at the Mars Society A group of highly talented students from Pembroke School made a presentation to us at the Mars Society . They certainly impressed, detailing their first robot built in just 6 days for practice! Team Koalafied #6996 pose in front of their awe...

Getting Christmas gifts to disadvantaged children and having a great day. That is what the Toy Run is all about. I hooked up with a few buddies for this huge ride. Enzo and Alex, coffee before the big event With such a huge turnout, there are always a variety of awesome bikes to see and old friends to bump into. I used to be an MRA Marshal for the Toy Run, so I know many of the organisers and officials. Customised MV Augusta looking awesome. A lot of love has gone into this bike. Alex Foreman and mad genius mate Steven Barrett, looking forward to a great day Thousands of bikes, lined up to contribute to the Toy Run cause Alex Foreman on a Suzuki M50 cruiser My mate Andy offered me his cruiser for the day. Was fun to ride a different bike. The cruiser was no good at fast riding, but perfect for comfortably meandering up the road in a pack of bikes. We made our way through the streets, throwing lollies to the spectating kids. Some of them...

Hoisting motorcycle with crane onto ute tray My new  Mazda BT50 4x4  is higher than my old HiLux, and getting the  bike onto the HiLux  was awkward at best. My Uncle Ron suggested using an electric crane to get the bike onto the tray. I thought the idea was brilliant and cool because my Ute would become a robot. I could also use it to load the Hobie Adventure Island trimaran sailing kayak that I'm planning to get. So we tested the idea. Cargo hooks easily attach to the head stem of the Triumph Sprint ST 1050 Sling around the structural frame of my Triumph Sprint ST 1050 Experimental lift to prove the bike could be slung easily proves a total success The test lift proved easy and a success. My uncle's idea looked workable. We then went hunting for a suitable crane. I ended up purchasing a 800kg Winch Crane from x.warrior on eBay and picked it up from his Victorian warehouse. It was much bigger and heavier than it looks in the picture!...

Heavy rain gave way to frustrating calm as J-FORCE prepared to face the competition. The skipper gave us orders to watch the other J Boats, to see who was faster than us and what they were doing. But this day panned out to be a different kind of racing. Fleet rounding the yellow marker buoy, fighting for speed in low winds. Hoisting the main as J-FORCE puts to sea. With no engine aboard, even manoeuvring through the harbour is a challenge.   We expected to be drenched with rain, but instead the day was picture perfect. It was beautifully calm, which is a problem for a yacht. We pushed ourselves away from the dock by hand as hard as we could, hoping to catch enough wind to make it out of Sandringham harbour at a crawling pace. I joked that the boat would need running lights because we wouldn't make it back before dark. Skipper Warren (rear at the tiller) discussing tactics with trimmer Chris Alex Foreman, manning the bow of J-FORCE in a very slow race ...