The first time we ventured out into the mysterious Western suburbs to explore the Maribyrnong River Trail none of our intrepid adventurers knew what to expect. Even worse, none of us even knew which way to go. I remember driving over the Westgate Bridge with a massive knot in my stomach, realising that I was leaving my security blanket well and truly behind. I might just as well have been Scott venturing off in search of the South Pole.
It did not take long for disaster to strike. Faced with a selection of equally likely looking paths we (of course) chose the wrong one and found ourselves hopelessly lost. Before the ride, Peter Warren had collected a handful of his latest maps from his own stock and brought them along to help us find the way. I started to worry when I noticed that the map Peter was studying was entitled "Melbourne's Velocipede Trails - 1908". Although Peter seemed to think that they would still be relevant we finally found our way to Brimbank Park through good old Ghost Rider Know How and dead reckoning. The 28km outward ride took us about 3 hours.
With the benefit of two previous rides to Brimbank Park now behind us, I headed off on Labour Day with a significantly higher degree of self confidence than I had been able to muster for the previous rides. Somehow I even overestimated the time it would take me to get to the starting point at Newport and arrived almost an hour early. Stepping out of the car I was immediately assaulted by the howling wind and very chilly temperature. I was soon searching my car boot for my arm and leg warmers. Apparently these flat sea level areas are much colder than the balmy foothills of the Dandenong Ranges. Something to do with global climate change I expect.
Fortunately I did not have to wait long before other riders began to arrive. It was quickly evident that we would have a good turnout for this ride. I was especially surprised to see Hooters turn up for a weekend ride. He climbed out of his car shaking his head and explaining that he very nearly turned back when a single drop of water fell on his windscreen during the drive over. If it had not been for Willem's advice to persevere with the ride, he would have headed back home to the safety of his bed.
Apart from our regular riders we were also joined by Mal's friend Russell (who would be acting as our official guide for the outward leg of the ride ) and a couple answering to the names of Glen and Rosemary. It was also good to see Wendy joining us for her first Ghost Rider outing after signing up for the 2008 China Ride. Rosemary did not seem too keen to ride the entire 58 km distance, but finally decided to give it a go when I assured her that the entire ride was not only dead flat, but that we would be assisted by a tail wind in BOTH directions. (A slightly inaccurate interpretation of the prevailing weather conditions as it turned out).
Since we were due to start at 10.00 am sharp, by the time the clock wound around to 10.15 I assumed that our peloton was complete and assembled our riders for the official start. After introducing our new riders I reminded them that this was a "weckweational wide" and that we were to maintain a slow pace and enjoy some good two wheeled fellowship along the way. Before I could finish my speech a few riders jumped on their bikes and bolted out of sight. At the same time Marysia discovered that her tyre was flat and Rosemary tried to work out the correct way to get on a moving bike. It was a typical Ghost Riders outing.
Fortunately after a few shouted threats the riders settled down to a more disciplined demeaner and the rearmost riders finally managed to catch up. The first section meanders through some public roads where we were surrounded by huge storage tanks of assorted toxic (and probably radioactive) liquids. Our olfactory nerves were subjected to a regular onslaught of chemical vapours as we tried to hold our breaths and pedal at the same time. Some of the smells were almost as bad as the dead wombats we regularly encounter on our country rides, but fortunately we all managed to survive the carcinogenic clouds and emerge in the fresher air alongside the river bank.
The paths were not as crowded as they had been on previous outings and, aided by the howling tail wind, we made good progress towards our goal. In my pocket I had our new Garmin Edge GPS unit which was faithfully recording every metre of the ride. Since it was also recording our elevation above sea level I educated and edified the riders near me by calling out an elevation reading every couple of minutes. "Fifteen metres and flat", followed a minute later by "fifteen metres and flat" and so on. Somewhat surprisingly the other riders did not seem as interested in this important information as I was.
Without the confusion caused by Peter's ancient maps we managed to correctly identify all the intersections and proceed with cool precision to our destination. Once we were on the final section, and there were no further possible places to get lost, we started to increase the pace a little. It was just as well as I was starting to get hungry and I remembered just how slow the kiosk was to prepare our lunches last year.
It was a little disappointing that we were able to navigate our way perfectly all the way to Brimbank Park (Forty metres above sea level) and then somehow all get lost trying to find our way to the kiosk. Fortunately I led the group to the correct path and we were soon dismounting and heading for our caffeine fix. Overhead we were fascinated by the huge passenger planes taking off from the nearby Tullamarine and slowly fighting for altitude. Some of them seemed so low that you almost felt the need to duck as they passed overhead.
Seated around the table in the Leaping Lizard cafe we made a happy group. Even Rosemary seemed quite pleased that she had successfully made it this far. The conversation ranged from the forthcoming China Trip to budding romances in the group and everything in between. I asked Hooters if he would be riding the entire Alpine Rail Trail this year, but he replied that "would be out of the question, because of lactic acid". He even said this with a completely straight face. I had previously thought that only nursing mothers could lactate but I guess I was wrong, apparently Hooters can too !
Although the service at the kiosk was definitely "sans smile", the food was actually quite good and helped us to build up our energy for the return leg of the ride. In spite of what I had told Rosemary before the ride, we all knew that we would be faced with a battle into the head wind for most of the way back to our cars. On the other hand, I also knew that since we were following the river downstream, the ride would also be generally downhill.
The return ride was undertaken at a most enjoyable social pace with numerous stops to allow slower riders time to catch up and have a breather. I was a little disappointed to see that Peter was actually holding on to Rosemary's bike (presumably to get an easy tow back to Newport). You would think that after all his riding, the Bradman of the Bicycle would be strong enough by now to turn his own cranks.
In spite of the slow pace we actually made good time and were all safely back at the car park before 4.00 pm. By that time the sun was shining and it had developed into a very pleasant day. After a few laughs and handshakes everyone returned to their cars, looking forward to coming back at the same time next year. I could not imagine a better way to spend a public holiday. Thanks to all who came along and helped make this such a successful ride.
Note. You can study the ride profile and view the route on Google Earth HERE