Southern Edge of The Mainland

April 2, 2025

Daylesford to Geelong

11 Days of pedalling later and we’ve run out of mainland to pedal. We rolled into Geelong surprisingly early this afternoon after a solid 5hrs 30mins of pedalling. The final 50+km was on very unpleasant roads. Not recommended. There was highly variable shoulder, narrow with too many heavy vehicles.

Fortunately the final 10km was on bike ways into Geelong CBD. That was good riding, as was the scenic first 50km.

Although we ascended about 500 metres, the overall fall was about 1000 metres from Daylesford which helped us average over 19km/hr.

Once again we ate well during the day, with meal stops at Burran and Anakie. And I had the first flat tyre of this ride. No obvious cause, but most likely a shred of truck tyre wire which litters road verges. The flat was quickly fixed thanks to it happening in good weather and a convenient location.

The ferry booking to Devonport isn’t till Friday, so we’ve called a two day halt in Geelong for a rest, repairs and family visits before we head to Tasmania for the final leg of the ride.

Highlights of the day were the early morning scenery near Daylesford, a 1950’s memorabilia cafe at Ballan and seeing the blue expanse of Port Philip Bay.

A surprise first for me was passing a server farm near a cluster of AusNet power pylons and substations on the outskirts of Geelong. The noise was like a massive swarm of drones.

Overall it was long, hard day of cycling which required extra concentration for the afternoon stretch, however it felt like an achievement to arrive on the southern coast of Australia.

We’ve averaged about 90km each ride day, with one rest day last weekend in Deniliquin.