Main Yarra Trail Ride Report, Sunday, 1 August, 2004
by Steve N, Photos by Steve N & Rodney W.
This weekend's weather was the best Melbourne had seen since Autumn, and fortunately Rob W had organized, by now a very regular weekly, 'Be Spontaneous' ride for the Sunday. We met in Chellsworth Park in Ivanhoe and there was a good turnup (myself, Jana, Rob, George, William & Rodney) considering we'd only been notified about the ride two days before. 'Be Spontaneous' is the motto!
On the Board Walk near Paddy's Orchard
The HPV's we had along were Rob & Jana's tandem recumbent, Rodney's older Swift trike, George's new Swift trike, William's Greenspeed and my newly - minted 26 /20 front wheel drive bike. (I had been up till 2:00 the night before making the tailbox and had the first test ride the day before).
At Westerford Park
There were a few mechanical problems along the way up to Warrandyte, ours and other people's! William, the only member carrying all the tools, fixed both his own gear cable and an upright cyclist's rear cluster. The lady who's bike he fixed was most grateful - she had been contemplating a 7km walk back home. We arrived at Beasley's nursery about 1:30pm and John rocked up shortly after.
HUFF!!! (Head Up Feet Forward)
We gravitated toward the playground picnic table as the only seating available and our bikes attracted a lot of attention. We handed out a few OZHPV brochures and sat and discussed the new IHPVA CDROM over lunch, fixed our bikes, drank cappuccinos and generally relaxed. John started telling me a story about showing his bike off to some lycra wearing road racing types THREE TIMES but took a while to finish because he was constantly being asked by onlookers about his bike. The trip home was interrupted by a 20 minute break while William fixed a puncture on the back tyre of his Greenspeed. John and I did a roll-down test of his bike against mine - no pedalling - and his bike rolled ahead steadily despite me & my bike weighing more than John's. In all, it was a very enjoyable Sunday ride along a beautiful Main Yarra Trail.
