48.37km / 3:17:10 / 309m / 14.0°C

Train to Ballarat, fingers crossed for the forecast for the rest of the day – accommodation booked in Snake Valley, so we had a number of shorter options to get there if it rained too much

Out of the station, half a km up the road to the shops for lunch of ham and cheese toasties and a coffee, then back on the bike for the km or less to the start of the path out to the railtrail. WHOA! BANG BANG BANG! Yeah, my arm down the side of a Ballarat Coachlines bus whose driver decided that the 1m passing law didn’t apply to him, couldn’t be bothered either waiting or pulling into the adjacent lane, just squeezed past within 20cm of the panniers.

Heart rate up, passed the bus at the next lights and gave the impassive-faced driver the finger, then pulled over for a hook turn up onto the bike track and follow that out of town to the start of the rail trail proper – in a rather drab gravel car park under a freeway overpass. It quickly improved, a mix of red gravel path and rail ballast, albeit wet and soft in many places

Big flock of black cockatoos in the pine trees as we parted company with the Ararat line, then off south-westish out of town towards Cardigan and the first of the info boards and remains of the old stations

Somewhere south of here the first magpie of the day came in for a swoop, none of them were too much of a problem, but there were a few during the day

Leaving Scarsdale we could see a black wall of clouds to the south, blowing in from the west, it was a bit of an exercise in geometry – were we going to turn and be riding parallel to it before we ran into it … as it turned out, no, we were not. Rain and wind to Linton and getting filthy with sprayed up gravel from the trail, then leaving the rail-trail for a gloomy ride on wet roads up the surprise hill and on to Snake Valley. From memory of previous visits the town is long and spread out along the highway, with the pub at the north end. So it seemed interminable with us coming in from the south, as we stopped first under a thicket of cypress trees as a shower came across, then for five minutes in a bus shelter while a heavy fall pelted down

Made it up to the pub and walked in to the warmth, the guys inside immediately telling us to get over to the fire, get warm, dry out! A beer while we steamed gently, then checked in for the – very new – renovated accommodation out the back

Day one, complete

Light rain, 9°C, Feels like 6°C, Humidity 84%, Wind 5m/s from WNW - by Klimatt.app