I vividly remember the first time I ventured past the end of the Warburton Trail. I had only been riding for a year or so and decided to explore what the road was like once it left Warburton. Since I had not been on that road for many years I had no idea what to expect and sonn found myself puffing and panting my way up the hill on the other side of Warburton East. After the flat Warburton Trail I did not have any experience in hill climbing and was soon wondering what I had let myself in for. After what seemed like an eternity I made it as far as the letterbox about 10 km out of Warburton and felt like I had climbed Mt Everest.
Since that fateful first ride I have now ventured out on this road many times and it became one of my favourite rides. With each successive ride the hills seem a little less fearful and it is a great feeling to be able to introduce other riders to the feeling of achievement that completing such rides always brings.
Over the years the rides have increased in length so that we regularly ride as far as the Reefton Pub and at least twice a year we go all the way to the Upper Yarra Dam. This year we had 12 riders gathered at the Launching Place car park at the start. The weather was fine and warm with a gentle breeze - just about ideal for riding.
It was quickly ascertained that there would be no family members meeting us at the dam so we decided that the best course of action would be to ride up to the dam and then turn back to the Reefton Pub for lunch - this option was enthusiastically agreed to.
The outward ride went smoothly, with short breaks to regroup at Milgrove, the letterbox and the Reefton Pub. The most noticeable feature of the ride was the deafening noise being produced by the cicadas. All riders made steady progress and we were safely gathered at the top of the dam wall shortly after 12 noon. The consensus of opinion was that there was actually more water in the dam than we had expected.
The return ride is significantly easier as it is predominantly downhill and we were soon all gathered at the Reefton Pub and happily chomping down our burgers. Mal Doswell had joined in the ride, swelling our numbers to 13. A short time later Peter also arrived. A most pleasant hour was spent in the spring sunshine chatting and laughing away before it was time to head for home.
Apart from the first kilometre the remainder of the ride back to Warburton is pretty straightforward and we accomplished this in quite good time, indicating that the standard of our riders is steadily improving all the time. A final coffee break was held at Milgrove before we completed the final leg back to the cars. A most enjoyable and successful ride.