March 27, 2011
Day two.
As there were no self catering facilities in the hotel we ordered the hotel breakfast. Juice, cereal, eggs and bacon, and a large pot of tea all for A$15 each.
The previous day when we arrived I asked about bike storage and was told that when the function room was not in use it was used for bike storage.
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WE left about 9AM and never go to meet any of the other cyclists but there must have been about a dozen bikes there!
We were making good progress along the flat part of the trail when we encountered this.
We were able to get around it but this does illustrate why one should not camp beneath Australian eucalypt trees as they can drop branches without warning. The previous night was quite still without any strong winds.
Mary was waiting again at Woori Yallock with the flasks of tea and also 15km later at Wandin to sustain us before we attacked the climb back to The Cog. I noticed a recumbent bike going down the track at speed and I had just told Dave about it when about eight more recumbents passed at a slightly slower pace, including a couple of trikes and a recumbent tandem. Must have been a club outing. Dave was powering away at the back when I said to him that The Cog was twenty metres ahead and he was amazed as he had been expecting the trail to have been a lot steeper. After last night's dinner, the large breakfast and the several cups of tea we decided not to stop at The Cog and left the trail and took York Road back to Swansea Road cutting off about 6km from out ride out. York Road is a great downhill but not a pleasant uphill on the tandem which is why we took the longer route on the way out. There is a speed limit of 60kmh on York Road and I was having to feather the brakes to avoid going into the back of the car in front of us. York Rd flattened out and we started the gentle climb along Swansea Rd until we reached the steep pinch of the last 500 metres that I mention on the outward ride. Dave had told me that on the last two Vision Australia rides that he had participated in with two different front riders both had wimped out and walked up the steep bit. That was a challenge so I dropped to the granny ring and we ground away. Pretty close to the top when my heart rate and breathing were both fairly high and in no position to respond to any repartee a group of about six road bike riders came past and each of them in turn came up with the old crack about the bloke at the back not pedalling! It is not funny when heard for the sixth time fellas!Past the Montrose roundabout then a short flat section before the descent of Mount Dandenong Road where we were passed by a FWD with a trailer which cut in pretty sharply in front of us needing some emergency braking. Many motorists do not realise the speeds that bikes can attain, especially down hill. Then we were back at Dave's sister's home about 1.15PM at least four hours outside the sub 24 hour barrier with 95km oo the trip computer for the weekend.
Some views from the captain's saddle:
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He's basically quit riding now, but I wonder if he's considered riding with someone on a tandem. I'll have to ask him.
6 years ago
Dave unfortunately is in a small town and he could not find any persons who were prepared to ride with him on a regular basis so he has reverted to lawn bowls at his local club. Vision impaired bowlers have a spotter who tells the bowler how his bowl is running and where it stops, proximity to the jack, position of opponents bowl etc. Dave has represented Australia at vision impaired lawn bowls.
Cheers
Mike
6 years ago
-Kathleen
6 years ago
The mobile trail angel now rides the tandem with me so we have to stop at coffee shops like everyone else!
Cheers
Mike
6 years ago