Cherry Like-Brimbank Park Ride, Sunday, 14 August, 2005.
by Chris D. Photos by Jon F.
I couldn't let too much time slip away without noting the dramatic Brimbank ride. More contemporary art gallery than chocolate box, with weather to add edge.
We (Robert, George, Chris, Emma and Jon) set off from Cherry Lake, and before too long were astray in the depths of industrial Laverton. Some of us appreciated the chance for industrial tourism, others hankered for a greener landscape, particularly when we were passing through the tannery area.
In due course we got onto the bikepath beside the Western Ring Road. Fine path, built as adjunct to the ring road, smooth travelling with a major industrial view on one side, all concrete, bitumen and fast cars, and the great western Victorian volcanic plain on the other. On Sunday there was a vicious headwind, sufficient to convince me that my strength was finished 11 kms before Brimbank park. But Robert distributed encouraging sentiments and high energy biscuits so I was able to continue and take in some spectacular power lines and a service station / Maccas so comprehensive as to have a dedicated area for truckies to eat their quarter pounders, take a shower and do their laundry
But none of this industrial infrastructure could obscure the plain. The flat grasslands stretching out into the distance, one of those landscapes where you can see the curve of the earth. One of those landscapes that makes you wonder how anyone ever thought the earth was flat.
Lunch and coffee was taken down in the gentler surrounds of Brimbank park, then a much faster return with that savage wind as an ally.
A challenging ride but one not to be missed.