My work event concluded on Friday night and with a late flight on a Saturday, I couldn’t resist taking to 2 wheels & exploring Melbourne and surrounding areas.
Hired a mountain bike from central Melbourne & quickly jumped on the bike path down to Port Melbourne running alongside the tram line, from there there is a cycle path called The Bay Trail, which hugs the coastline of Port Phillip Bay. What a treat for cyclists. Much of the route is a dedicated cycle path, but there are also sections of shared path.
Heading down the coast through the iconic Saint Kilda and its beautiful golden beaches, then past Sandringham and onward to Brighton Beach. A little bit different to Brighton beach at home with golden sands rather than pebbles, although it also has its own colourful beach huts.
Onward, still hugging the coastline down to Black Rock, continuing on to Beaumaris. The Bay Trail route is incredibly scenic and not surprisingly is also popular with road cyclists, the road itself runs next to the path and throughout my ride, there were frequent groups of road cyclists passing on this beautiful Melbourne sunny day.
Eventually, I decided I would turn around and as it was a linear ride and had a headwind on the way out the return was a nice & quick tailwind powered. Basically you are riding alongside the coastline alongside beaches and after you get past Brighton alongside steep cliffs down to the waters front.
Once I got back into central Melbourne, I decided to explore another one of Melbourne’s cycling trails called the City trail, which basically follows the Yarra river, the main river running through Melbourne. Very different to the bay trail, but again, what a treat is, its dedicated cycle path and pretty views of the Yarra.
Once I got back into Melbourne CBD a football game had just finished at the stadium and this is where the negatives of a shared path really come to the fore. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of people - quite a test of my bike handling skills trying to cycle through crowds of people. I felt sorry for the cyclists trying to come the other way. I think a separate lane for bikes through the city itself would probably be helpful for both the pedestrians and cyclists.
I had to abandon the path and get on the road briefly in order to get back to Batman park to return the bike .
What a great day of cycling, just under 75km. The sun was out, probably the best weather we had all week, miles and miles of cycle paths, how lucky for the cyclists who live in Melbourne.
The other thing I noticed is how friendly everyone is, including the pedestrians. Certainly based on his experience, cycling seems to be something that is seen as positive.
A great day, exploring the delights of Melbourne surrounds, with the exception of having to navigate the contents of an entire football stadium ! That was not to be repeated.
Interesting art all along the trail
Now along the Yarra
Back in Melbourne