stats. Distance 233.32km Riding time 8hr 32m Average speed 27.3km/hr
4.15 am is a completely ridiculous time to be getting out of bed. I hadn’t really slept since about 1 am, neighbours seemed to be coming home steadily between two and three, a cat was yowling outside the window the whole time, and then the birds started chirping around 3.45 am… I think I’ll stick to more sociable bike-riding hours in the future.
Once outside and on my way I yawned my way down to St Kilda, catching up with another rider in Church Street who then kept me company down Chapel street — with vastly reduced traffic from it’s Friday/Saturday night jams. A few cars passed carrying bikes on racks or the roof, then as we got nearer to Fitzroy street the density increased, bikes and riders were everywhere, mixing it with the departing clientele of the bars and clubs.
With near-perfect timing I reached the start at 5 am, in time to see the first bunches ride off. There didn’t seem to be much point in milling around in the darkness, especially since I hadn’t arranged to meet anyone, so at 5:05 I was heading off down Beach road, yawning continuously.
The ride down was in large bunches, I seemed to spend most of my time surrounded by a team from Alcoa and a very large group wearing shirts advertising Dean Woods. As usual there was every mix of bike and rider and rider skills possible. Three tandems, a couple of full suspension mountain bikes, even a guy with a toddler in a baby seat. The majority of people were on road bikes, and most of these seemed fairly up-market versions. Arrived at Sorrento at ten past eight, plenty of time to gather lunch — ridiculous time for lunch — and get onto the eight thirty ferry.
Queenscliff to Geelong has never been a ride that I’ve enjoyed. Usually I’ve ridden too hard for the first half, then stiffened up in the ferry crossing, and then can’t seem to find a reasonable group to ride with. Today it was all these plus strong head-winds and a dash of rain.
Luckily, after Geelong we turned so that the wind was at least partially behind us, I found myself in a group of about ten heading up the road towards Lara at around 38km/hr! By around this stage I was starting to get a little tired of the “you must be doing it hard on a mountain bike comments.
After falling off the back of their group I was mostly by myself on the roads towards Altona, unfortunately being shadowed by a wildly erratic guy on a Peugeot. His jerky pedalling and strange half-overtaking maneuvers from the left were quite disconcerting. Topping this off was the quick release wheels fastened incorrectly, the release levers tightened up like big wing nuts. Unfortunately I couldn’t drop him and he wouldn’t take the lead, just sat somewhere behind me, drifting in and out of view on one side or the other.
It was a good feeling to be crossing the Westgate bridge, coasting down for the last couple of kilometres back to St Kilda. Not an easy ride though, by this time the wind had picked up across the bay and was buffeting us about. Finally got back to Catani gardens at 13:55 after about seven hours forty minutes on the bike!
233.3 km, 8hr 32m, 27.3km/hr average speed (once I’d ridden home). Not a bad effort for the day!
The rest of the afternoon was spent dozing on the couch, listening to the noises of protestation from feet and ankles, legs, knees, bum, back and shoulders. Then early to bed!
