Riding the Great Southern Rail Trail.
Just after 7:30am I headed for Leongatha to the trail head of the Great
Southern Rail Trail. This trail runs continuously for a distance of 74 km from
Leongatha to Port Welshpool.
The drive in was surpisingly free of traffic considering it is a public
holiday weekend. Note to self: chickens haven't hatched yet. It bucketted it
down on the way into Leongatha.
I stopped at an SES driver reviver station - the only customer for hours, chatted and got directions to the trail head. Just as well, I could easily have missed it. Parked outside a boxing gym, listened to the barking instructions of the coach, changed, checked the bike and was off on the trail just after 9:30am.
This track starts off well. The surface is a fine off-white gravel, no ruts and the grades very gentle.
I stopped at an SES driver reviver station - the only customer for hours, chatted and got directions to the trail head. Just as well, I could easily have missed it. Parked outside a boxing gym, listened to the barking instructions of the coach, changed, checked the bike and was off on the trail just after 9:30am.
This track starts off well. The surface is a fine off-white gravel, no ruts and the grades very gentle.
Last night I was cheered and posted on Facebook how the long weekend was
forecast to be fine and wind negligible. Koonwarra, a short 7 or so km
out of town: a sign on a cafe - $7.50 for apple crumble and coffee - heavens
opened - deal done. It took a while for the rain to abate, so I was able to
enjoy an unhurried pot of tea and scone and read of the usual mess that the
newpaper wants to convey.
Once the rain cleared however, there was no more. The temperature was just
right for good riding. The scenery is sublime; a gradual set of inclines and
declines over undulating countryside, dairy country, eucalypt forest and
swamps. Throw in a couple of trestle bridges and train platforms, plus
kangaroo, wombat, fox, cows and goats it is a very nice day out.
On track I chatted with a guy called Chris who was riding his first ever bike bought wayback for a princely sum of $250. A lot of memories there, some 40 years. We were playing tortoise and hare all the way to Foster with me taking stops like - Buffalo at the halfway point. On the map there is no indication of food, it just so happened that I saw a small sign indicating the presence of a shop. I ducked off the side road to take advantage of a lunchtime stop. Run by a couple of escap the city to country blokes, the store is a kind of emporium that also serves coffee and food. They were a bit narked that the trails committee couldn't see fit to provide some indication of their services, perhaps they weren't offering enough in the ways of graft and corruption payments.
On track I chatted with a guy called Chris who was riding his first ever bike bought wayback for a princely sum of $250. A lot of memories there, some 40 years. We were playing tortoise and hare all the way to Foster with me taking stops like - Buffalo at the halfway point. On the map there is no indication of food, it just so happened that I saw a small sign indicating the presence of a shop. I ducked off the side road to take advantage of a lunchtime stop. Run by a couple of escap the city to country blokes, the store is a kind of emporium that also serves coffee and food. They were a bit narked that the trails committee couldn't see fit to provide some indication of their services, perhaps they weren't offering enough in the ways of graft and corruption payments.
After lunch I crossed paths with Chris again. He chatted about how he joined
the Meetup group Melbourne mountain biking. Something I was considering only
just recently as they often do these kind of adventures. Might have to look
into it further. I stayed with him perhaps 15 minutes and then moved on as I
had a big day ahead.
Onwards I passed through Fish Creek. This town is a node: every sign from Wilson's Prom, Inverloch, Venus Bay, Foster points to Fish Creek ! Having stopped there only a couple of months ago from a trip to Sandy Point I decided to motor on through. Passing through forests there were plenty of funghi sprouted on the side of the track. Pretty as they are I did not touch them as some if not all could be deadly. In about a month I'll be on a mushroom picking day so I'll learn which ones are edible !
Onwards I passed through Fish Creek. This town is a node: every sign from Wilson's Prom, Inverloch, Venus Bay, Foster points to Fish Creek ! Having stopped there only a couple of months ago from a trip to Sandy Point I decided to motor on through. Passing through forests there were plenty of funghi sprouted on the side of the track. Pretty as they are I did not touch them as some if not all could be deadly. In about a month I'll be on a mushroom picking day so I'll learn which ones are edible !
From here there is a bit of climbing and descending. The views get pretty
spectacular with the hills, shrub and sea. I stopped at a lookout just
outside of Forster and - wow. Clear day, sweeping panorama of Corner inlet,
can't get any better.
I stopped at the Foster station site for second lunch, of sardines and
jazz biscuits with a couple of apples - fuel was needed. The local rotary club
had made a nice information shelter with a table made from a slab of timber
sliced from a log. I did not bother going into the town as I've visited it on
other trips. I would not mind looking at the Agnes falls on another trip in
the future, purportedly the largest single drop falls in Victoria.
It was 3:00 pm, shall I ride on to Welshpool or turn back ? Push on it
is only 22km. The ride through to Welshpool affords sights of the wind
turbines perched on the hills near Toora and crosses through dairy farms.
I road quickly to Welshpool and felt a bit deflated. Welshpool is a town that
needs a bit of a spruce up. Perhaps in time with the additional tourism and
Government aid it might become more lively like Meeniyan or Koonwarra.
It is just after 4pm and I have to ride back ! Idiot. What were you thinking at Foster ? 22km means 44km round trip. Now you have 74km of riding to get back to Leongatha.
The quick ride to Welshpool. Well, there is a reason why those wind turbines were turning - tailwind in, headwind out ! I put the power on anyway, but had to stop at Toora to refuel. Some flat bread and a couple of bananas did the trick.
It is just after 4pm and I have to ride back ! Idiot. What were you thinking at Foster ? 22km means 44km round trip. Now you have 74km of riding to get back to Leongatha.
The quick ride to Welshpool. Well, there is a reason why those wind turbines were turning - tailwind in, headwind out ! I put the power on anyway, but had to stop at Toora to refuel. Some flat bread and a couple of bananas did the trick.
That beautiful lookout coming in to Foster: it's a climb out ! Fish creek,
another climb. My legs are getting weary. It's getting dark, daylight
savings over 6pm is darkness hour. It is also getting rapidly colder.
The sign, only present going in this direction says 46 km to go. Hmm must be
averaging 18-20 km/h just over 2 hours. That'll be about 8:30pm I'll
arrive.
Damn, I was trying out my new Cycliq Fly 12 headlight camera (my bike dash cam
!) earlier - hope there is enough juice in the batteries. Double damn, I left
the Ay-Up head torch in the car. It is pitch black. Oh well, I put the
light on and powered away. Jeez, it is getting cold, no spare clothing either
!
Riding in the dark has its dangers. Plenty of black wombats that dash across
the road at the moment the light touches them. The odd kangaroo and a bull,
who blocked the road completely. Self talk working overtime: I'm powering
away, am I going to stop in time to avoid one of these animals ? - probably
not.
I got to Meeniyan, safe and sound, but: wham ! My legs seized. I am in agony. Cramps, glorious cramps. What am I to expect ? I haven't been riding regularly since June last year - lost my mojo. 148 km is a big distance on the mountain bike anyway and it is cold, and I probably have lost a bit of water and salt. I limped into town and asked around to see if there was any accommodation. Only one motel and a couple of expensive B & Bs. Anzac day, fully booked. Might have to ride that 16km anyway. Given that I've done 2.5 hours or more on the lights + whatever I did in the earlier daylight trials there is a prospect that I'd be in the dark. Even with the full moon rising it was dark, very dark ! Anyway, the motel landlord kindly offered me a lift. Budget Motel in Meeniyan, afford your patronage - this lady is a kindly soul !
My car was still there, I rang home and let Caroline know that I've terminated my plans to do three days of rail trail riding. More planning required. More training required (though I am pretty chuffed I was still able to ride 136 km on the moutain bike) . Next time I will take spare clothes, a spare light, shelter or simply book accommodation at the 50 - 70 km mark !
My goal is to ride all of the rail trails over 20km in Victoria this year. What a great start. The Great Southern Rail Trail is a very pleasant low key trail, deserving a reputation as great as the one near Bright. I saw few cyclists, happy as it gave me a lot of time to simply zone out in the ambiance of the country.
I woke up none too sore, perhaps I could have driven to Orbost for the next trail, but then perhaps not. Now for that 40km paddle.......
I got to Meeniyan, safe and sound, but: wham ! My legs seized. I am in agony. Cramps, glorious cramps. What am I to expect ? I haven't been riding regularly since June last year - lost my mojo. 148 km is a big distance on the mountain bike anyway and it is cold, and I probably have lost a bit of water and salt. I limped into town and asked around to see if there was any accommodation. Only one motel and a couple of expensive B & Bs. Anzac day, fully booked. Might have to ride that 16km anyway. Given that I've done 2.5 hours or more on the lights + whatever I did in the earlier daylight trials there is a prospect that I'd be in the dark. Even with the full moon rising it was dark, very dark ! Anyway, the motel landlord kindly offered me a lift. Budget Motel in Meeniyan, afford your patronage - this lady is a kindly soul !
My car was still there, I rang home and let Caroline know that I've terminated my plans to do three days of rail trail riding. More planning required. More training required (though I am pretty chuffed I was still able to ride 136 km on the moutain bike) . Next time I will take spare clothes, a spare light, shelter or simply book accommodation at the 50 - 70 km mark !
My goal is to ride all of the rail trails over 20km in Victoria this year. What a great start. The Great Southern Rail Trail is a very pleasant low key trail, deserving a reputation as great as the one near Bright. I saw few cyclists, happy as it gave me a lot of time to simply zone out in the ambiance of the country.
I woke up none too sore, perhaps I could have driven to Orbost for the next trail, but then perhaps not. Now for that 40km paddle.......
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This was a wonderful read! My partner and I are looking at doing this in stages, but the biggest hurdle seems to be where to park a car securely in Leongatha. I wonder if you have any tips in that regard? We don't own a car but are frequent users of the excellent Car Next Door system, so would like somewhere secure so we're worry free while riding!
ReplyDeletePS - loved the ideas for fuel on the road! Fish on crackers is an excellent addition to the pantry ideas!
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