October 20, 2015
Day 1: Ararat to Halls Gap
Distance 54km
Average 15.3km/h
Warm 30C with northerly headwind after Moyston
Tuesday was the start of my longest tandem cycling trip with my husband Michael an experienced bike rider. After eating porridge for breakfast and packing the panniers on the bike we cycled to our local railway station Mitcham, Melbourne, Victoria where we were able to load the bike on the last last train carriage. Luckily the 6.45 am train to the city still had lots of space and we stood our bike up against two end seats, across the train carriage, next to a seated cyclist and his bike making his way to work. Soon all three of us had struck up a conversation about cycling and he offered to hold onto our handlebars to steady the bike, after a quick journey we arrived at Southern Cross Station.
Southern Cross Station is the hub of train travel in Melbourne and Victoria, the metropolitan trains travel through the station as they travel around the underground loop, intercity trains begin their journeys here as they branch out across the state in a bike spoke pattern, and some interstate trains also travel through: the Overland rail service to Adelaide, and NSW TrainLink XPT services to Sydney. Michael dismantled the bike into two sections and we waited for the arrival of the Ararat Train, but first to arrive was The Overland Train which is run by Great Southern Rail and which would leave for Adelaide, South Australia after our departure. Our train arrived and we loaded the panniers and the bike into our train carriage and stored the bike in the bike bay, and our journey had begun.
The V/Line train left Southern Cross Station at 08:05 am and after three hours and thirty four minutes we pulled into Ararat Station: we had reached the end of the line. Now we reversed our tasks, the bike and panniers came off the train, and Michael reassembled the bike and placed the panniers on the bike and off we set to find our favourite bakery for morning tea. Morning tea was ordered and eaten and off we set riding along the C222 Ararat - Halls Gap Road, soon coming upon a group of road workers who shouted us on with good cheer. We pushed the bike up the last few metres of steep roadway as we passed the men at work sign. Down the other side of the hill we rode and the sun was shinning and everything looked green - this is the life of a bike on the open road ! With my six month old bike computer on my handlebars I was able to watch in amazement as the kilometres rolled over, up another hill and then down the longest steepest hill at 71 kilometres per hour towards Moyston we rode; it was at this point that we both realised that this journey would be unlike any of the other bike rides we had ever undertaken:- the bike had come alive and with its four panniers and wide handlebars it settled down into the roadway and seemed as steady as a rock. Moyston was reached and the cafe was closed, but we did see a monument to Thomas Wills, the co-founder and captain of the Melbourne Football Club (1859), which commemorates the birthplace of Australian Rules Football. On to Pomonal a pretty rural village on the eastern slopes of the Mount William Range. Pomonal was once famous for its apples, then tobacco and now is noted for its nurseries full of native wildflowers and orchids, here we stopped for a cup of tea at the Cafe - General Store, where we drank our hot drinks surrounded by hand made craft items:- beautiful crocheted rugs, button covered garden spades etc.
We continued our ride along the narrow road with wide vistas through tall trees and long grass, stopping occasionally for a drink and a photo shoot. Turning left at the junction of C222 we rode along the C216 and swung around the curve of the road bordered by the national park, across Fyans Creek and stopped in front of Halls Gap Eco Youth Hostel which stands in front of The Grampians National Park (Gariwerd) the fourth largest national park in Victoria (168,000 hectares), which was under going a back garden redesign. After checking in we looked around and found the chickens who were all looking for things to eat in and around the hostel grounds. Taking the dirt road at the back of the YHA we turned left and walked along until we came to the town's sporting oval which had some grazing grey kangaroos, here we crossed the road past the caravan park and walked along the path to the shops. In town we bought milk and ice creams which we ate sitting on a bench looking up at the Grampians. The next morning we cooked porridge for breakfast and joined everyone else in eating the manager's home cooked pancakes, soon people were leaving in different directions and we and our bike set off for Dunkeld at the southern end of the Gampians National Park, our single longest ride day.
Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 54 km (34 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 2 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |