Somerville-Balnarring Ride,Saturday 18 Sunday 19th February, 2006
Part B: Ride for the illiterate (those who read Saturday as Sunday)(and their innocent family)
Eric, Diane and I really wanted to do the ride so we went on Sunday anyway, and we are so glad we did. We started from Somerville railway station but departed from the route, we think on whim, but maybe because we didn't read the signs properly. We used Lyall St which was nice but somehow missed the start of the foreshore trail at the BBQ area opposite Thornhill St. We had a short diversion into Hastings Primary school where Diane had taught years ago, to note it hadn't changed much. Then to Hastings Jetty where we decided Stony Point might be a good destination. We set off past the yacht club and found our first (of two) and only unavoidable trike-unfriendly gate. We managed through but were also told the owner of the adjacent caravan park had a key if we needed it. We then found the boardwalks that George had mentioned. A beautiful area! And we had no opposing traffic which might have challenged my trike width. The boarwalks and the firm gravel trails were easy riding. On to the Woolleys Rd BBQ area where we diverted to the beach to see what looked like a stone bath but was a fishing net tarring pit. Maybe it could be both?
After a short snack we took to the road on Wooleys Rd/The Esplanade to Crib Point, taking time to view the Oberon submarine from afar from behind the fence on the way. Then we turned left onto Stony Point Rd where a man exiting his convertible at the local shops glanced then stumbled and nearly fell when he looked back at our bikes. Then we rode on to Stony Point. Traffic on all these roads was extremely light and comfortable to ride with. At Stony Point we had a look around and when we rode towards the parking area the gatekeeper came out of his sentry box with a great grin. His name was Brett and he had a thick 3-ring folder full of internet pages of familiar trike info he had gathered to build his own trike. It was an interesting chat. We encouraged him to communicate with the hpv group.
Then back up Stony Point Rd and left into Cerberus as per our 2004 "Bike Paths Safe Escapes" book map. At the check point about 700 or 800m in the young guards didn't seem to think that the bike path went through there. They took little interest in the map and suggested we went back. There only being 3 of us we decided that taking their advice seemed prudent. Travelling further up Stony Point Road there was a safe bike lane but it's clear all traffic in the area leads to Cerberus; it was busy! We turned left at Disney St and after the railway we were pleased to find a full wide bitumen bike path that wasn't on our map. That took us nicely to Sth Beach Rd. We decided that for the day, Balnarring was probably a town too far. So, onto the bike trail back to Hastings where we had a late lunch near the water and watched a German shepherd training his owner on when and where he (the dog) would retrieve sticks.
Then via the foreshore trail to the main trail and on to Somerville for iced coffee. An added bonus was great views of the Tyabb Airshow as we rode back.
Eric lost a water bottle, probably on one of the occasional rough bits of old bitumen. I had a mudguard mount break probably from squeezing the trike through that gate. It's a very nice route and it was a very nice ride and could only have been better if we'd done it with the rest of the group - on Saturday!
Alan