Lygon Street is the heart of Carlton, just north of the Melbourne CBD. It is full of wonderful cafes and restaurants, and is always busy. But this morning it was blocked off, and we had the whole road to ourselves. Melbourne's Little Italy had been taken over by 15,000 bright orange cyclists...
We grabbed a drink, did a final check, and headed off. I reset my trip meter as we passed under the archway at the starting line. We set off at a moderate pace, and soon caught up with a cluster of other cyclists a little further along. This was to set the pace for the rest of the trip; I was expecting a bit more speed and competition, but it was very much a 'family' ride, and the pace was - by necessity - fairly easy.
Police were stationed at several key intersections, directing traffic. Not 10 minutes into the ride, we had our first 'adverse' encounter. A guy in a beefed up car drove along and pushed his way into the flow of bicycles. He was becoming very impatient, and seemed to be very put out by all these infernal cyclists taking over HIS road. When there was finally a gap for him to turn into, he put his foot down and squealed off around the corner. We were all most impressed by his macho display of prowess and gave him a little golf clap as the smoke from the tires cleared.
We rode on, turned west and headed through a nice area of Moonee Ponds; another cafe quarter, where dozens of riders had stopped to take a sip. We had only just begun, so weren't about to stop for a brew, and pushed on.
Before we knew it, we arrived at the way-point at Flemington Racecourse. We entered through the gates, and came into the betting area, which had been turned into a rest-stop. We hit the toilets, filled up the water bottles, checked tires and then headed off again.
Coming out of the racecourse, an enormous sign pointed left for those following the 25km course, which sloped around gently along the fence, and right to the 45km course, that immediately went up a steep incline. We headed up right, and crossed a bridge, to come up yet another even steeper hill. Fortunately it was one of the few along the way. A few zig-zags, and before I knew it we saw the Westgate Bridge arcing aross the road ahead. We could make out a trail of orange along its length, with a cluster in the middle as people stopped to admire the views.
By this time, Kian's head was lolling about in his seat, having drifted off to sleep not long after we left the racecourse. The views of the docklands to our left were interesting, as I had never seen it from this angle (or area) before. we passed huge cargo ships, and smaller yachts alike, as we headed down toward our lunchtime destination.
We pulled into Williamstown just before noon, and the trail wound its way through a street lined with bakeries and cafes. Many people stopped to eat, but it was busy and I was hoping to catch up with my sister who lived nearby, so we pushed on to the rest point. A park had been taken over, and there was a truck trailer with portable toilets on, which we put to the test.
In a crowd of around 15,000 (I have yet to hear the final count) people dressed in identical orange t-shirts, what are the odds that you would run into someone you know? Well standing there waiting for Michael to drop off his boy to Jo (who came in the car to pick him up) and I run into Hakim, who works with my Dad. He had an amazing set of gear; a Batman-style utility belt, with all sorts of attachments, tools, and things. He was waiting for some other friends, so we pushed on, starting to feel rather hungry.
The ride took us along a path that followed the beach for a while, then headed back through town. Once we realised we were headed back toward the bridge, we cut back toward the cafe area to grab some lunch. We tried a few bakeries but by this time, they had sold out of most things. We went up the road and chose another cafe, and who should we find sitting outside but Hakim again. What are the odds of seeing the same person twice?!
We grabbed some delicious salad sandwiches and sat outside in the shade. The weather had been near perfect; clear blue sky, warm sun (but not too hot), with a gentle breeze. I had barely worked up a sweat, since our speed was limited most of the time by the rest of the crowd.
I didn't manage to hook up with my sister, so we headed off after lunch back toward the bridge. The police had blocked off a lane for us, and were directing us around the corner and onto the onramp. The Westgate bridge is an icon in Melbourne, and it is part of the freeway that goes from just south of the CBD, down toward the south and eventually Geelong. Since it is a freeway, it is normally impossible to ride or walk up, so having two lanes blocked off for us cyclists to ride across was a special highlight of the trip. The hill started at the bottom of the on-ramp and it was a steady climb for hundreds of metres. I chose a low gear (1-3) and kept an even pace all the way up, passing most people along the way. I stopped at the top to admire the view and have a quick drink of water. The panoramic view was amazing; you could see from the south, across the docklands, the new developments, the big stadium near Flinders St, the whole CBD with the gleaming office towers, across south Melbourne to the bay at St Kilda, where the pier stretches from the crescent-shaped beach out into the bay. It would have been worth brining a camera just for this, but I decided the bulk and weight would have been too much of a hassle.
Once the others caught up, I set off down the other side, hoping to set a new speed record. However, the headwind was so strong, I only managed to get up to 53km/h, pedalling like mad. I followed the first exit around, and the road wound around and back under the bridge, and through to South Melbourne itself. It was here that we finally stopped for a coffee at a trendy little cafe, for a much needed caffeine fix. We gulped down some water too, went to the loo, and then jumped in the saddle again.
The trail continued on back into the city, where we headed up past the new Exhibition Centre, past the Casino and World Trade Centre, and around the top of Spencer Street Station. We did a circuit around the end of the new Docklands project, where some pretty ugly buildings were half-built. The road took us around and back to Collins Street, where we had to go single-file.
I was surprised that Collins St (a busy street in the CDB, with trams and 1.5 lanes of traffic) wasn't blocked off, a lane cordoned off or anything, not even signs. We had to squeeze in past cars and trucks, in between curbs and tram stops, and very slowly made our way up the hill. We turned left at Russell St and had a few dicey moments. Another guy who thought he had more right to the road than any of us started getting aggravated, and pushed in through the traffic. A young girl, riding with her family, was following straight through and he swerved toward the side, nearly knocking her off. Another squeal of tires and he was off, after hurling some abuse at us. It is such a shame that these people lose their patience and direct their anger at a family fun ride, simply because they have to wait a few more minutes on a Sunday, to get where they are going.
Anyway, we followed Russell St along back to Lygon Street, to the Finish of the ride. (Insert applause track here.)
We filled up with water, and decided to reward ourselves with afternoon tea. We walked up Lygon, found a place to chain up the bikes, and grabbed a table at one of the many busy cafes. Peter and I shared an enormous slice of butterscotch mousse cake, which I washed down with a nice strong caffe latte.
We then decided to go home, so headed toward a station. Michael and I rode with Peter for a while in the right direction, until he went his own way, then we cut through some back streets and arrived at Clifton Hill station.
We had to wait around half an hour for a train, and finally it arrived. By the time I got home, I had done around 62km (including travel before and after the ride). By my calculations, the ride itself was closer to 50km than 45km, but who's counting?
So although we didn't break the world record of 30,000 people, it was certainly a very popular day. Fantastic weather, a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, an interesting ride, lots of coffee stops -- I think I'll be back again next year...
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