Federation Trail ride , Sunday 22nd October, 2006
Damian, Ken, Steve, Wesley, Ludo, Keith (a 75yo upright rider who happened to be going our way), Diane, Eric, Alan. Sadly Rob couldn't make it.
We started from Federation Trail from Elm Park Drive, Hoppers Crossing where we watched and listened to the trail opening ceremony. There were quite a few people there, maybe 200? With the air full of warm words and backslapping we rode east with Damian and Wesley lightening their load by attaching freebie helium balloons. The trail is very good but with a coarse bitumen surface in places like the ring road trail surface. Pleasingly the 3 or 4 traffic light crossings for bikes had short delays. In many places the dirt on the sides of the trail has been seeded but the grass hasn't grown.
About 200m from the trail end, at the park at Primula Ave North Altona we departed the trail and Ken, Damian and Steve went their own way.We took Primula Ave, Lynch Rd and Buchanan Rd west to Grieve Pde. Then we rode south to the Blackshaws Rd and joined the gravel Kororoit Ck Trail. We followed the gravel creek trail to its end at Barnes Rd where the surface was getting rough. Then we rode Barnes Rd, Chambers Rd, Ross Rd and Millers Rd to Cherry Lake for a very leisurely lunch watching alternately the birds and some radio controlled speedboats splashing around in the distance. Very pleasant. Keith was impressed with the ease of pushing a trike so we may see him again!
Wesley and Keith had to go east. We remaining decided to make the ride a loop. We took Fresno St and Pier St to the esplanade and followed the bike trail to Cheetham Wetlands and then the fairly good Skeleton Ck bike path to Forsyth Rd. Crossing the freeway on Forsyth Rd was busy but brief. Then it was only a short distance back to Elm Park Drive. Many thanks to Ludo for his expert navigation on the tricky bits both ways.
Distance: about 40km, easy riding.
Report by Alan B