Cyclist power maybe, an accident, who cares about the icecaps, Warbuton rail trail take 2.

Its school holidays in Melbourne, and after extolling the beauties and delights of the Lilydale Warburton rail trail to the family, we decided that we would try it together on the weekend. So I booked a day's leave for Friday, and a park cabin at the Warburton Caravan Park, and I had something to look forward to.

The short week's commuting was memorable for a number of things, some good, some not so good. Monday it rained on and off coming home. The dangerous gravel detours along the front of the Waterfront City Project in Footscray road have been replaced by concrete temporary path, which is an improvement, though still suboptimal. The developers, Hansen Yunken Pty Ltd, were requested by Melbourne City Council to improve the quality of the path after the council received complaints from cyclists (including this one) - which goes to show that it can be worth writing to the relevant council on issues which
impact on your cycling and which are within their area of responsibility. What remains to be seen is how disruptive to the bike path the new developments will be - having more car traffic cutting across the path without some form of traffic control is a recipe for a future disaster, though I can't say the prospect of more traffic lights along the bike path fills me with great joy either.

The consequences of lack of adequate traffic control were underlined for me on Tuesday morning by a tableau glimpsed as I rode down Moreland Street heading up to Footscray Road. Most cycle commuters fight their way across Whitehall Street which can be fairly hair raising, head down Parker Street, then cut across Moreland Street onto the shared bike-footpath via the drive way into an industrial estate. This maneouver can be quite challenging, as coming towards you there is a lot of heavy traffic coming off Footscray Road, you need to watch for the occasional traffic coming from behind, and there is always the prospect of traffic coming out of the industrial estate -
which I suspect is what had happened Tuesday morning. There on the grass face down was a cyclist,
with two worried looking people, one holding the fallen cyclist's bike and another on a mobile phone, probably calling an ambulance. My guess is that he had hit or
had been hit by a van coming out of the industrial estate.

Tuesday I used the road bike I bought on ebay a year or so ago, instead of my faithful steel framed bike which I've been riding for more than 30 years. Though its faster, the road bike is a lot less comfortable, and its tyres aren't so good either - got a puncture before I got to the city.
On the steel frame bike I carry a long pump, but on the road bike I just had one of those mini pump things, which are fine as ballast but fairly useless I find as implements for putting air in tyres. Managed to get about 60 psi in before my eyes started to pop out. The bright idea struck me that I could stop at Abbotsford cycles on the way and put some more air in with a decent pump, rather than risking blowing more blood vessels trying with the mini pump. So I rode very conservatively to Richmond. When I got there I figured as I didn't have a spare tube for the rest of the ride, it would make sense to get another. And I remembered that I'd blown a 27 x 1.25 tube on the weekend so I might as well get one of those. Then I had a good look at the tyre that had punctured, and thought it was looking pretty shabby, and when would I get a better opportunity to get a replacement. Then I remembered I was going to do the Warburton trail on the weekend with the tandem, and that I really did need a new rack as the existing one was tied with wire, and wobbling round in alarming fashion. So, for a person who entered the shop with the intention of getting some air, I left having spent $80.

I was doing some research on salary sacrifice during the week and discovered that you can in effect get a tax break for buying a car, get a tax break for carparking fees, and claim as a tax deduction milage under a wide variety of flimsy pretexts. You cannot however get the same tax advantage for buying a bicycle, nor for a yearly public transport ticket, nor can you claim anything for mileage or wear and tear on a bicycle which you could be using in precisely the same way that you could claim a mileage allowance on for a car. Which leads me to conclude that collectively we haven't even begun to get serious about reducing green house gases or making our city more liveable. Bye bye polar icecaps. Any party that proposes tax deductability for bike stuff gets my vote.

Friday dawned with ominous line squalls sweeping over us, and an apocalyptic weather forecast, strong wind warnings, rain, hail and snow down to 900 metres. How high above sea level is warburton? Took the dogs out early for a walk and we all came home sodden, to find the family with long faces about the trip. We'd paid for the accommodation, and the sky did brighten a bit, so we figured we'd give it a go. Good old public transport got us comfortably to Lilydale - its fantastic outside peak period - and we were on the trail by a bit after 11.00. About half way up the hill to Mt Evelyn I realised that the rest of the family weren't quite as bike fit as I thought they were. Lots of complaining, especially from Vincent, from whom, as he was on the back of the tandem, I couldn't escape. Still, we got over the hill ok, with me saying "its only a kilometre to the top" most of the way. Restoring muffins, coffee and milkshakes at Cog Cafe as well as the long down hill raised collective spirits, and we even got some patches of sun. Even on a bad weather day the trail is still beautiful, but behind us the sky was becoming blacker as another storm front approached.

A few k outside Woori Yallock the rain hit us and we sheltered under a line of fir trees surrounded by black cattle, who from the bellowing they were making weren't any happier about it than we were. Wind was whistling through and Vincent was starting to turn blue, so when the rain eased a bit we set off again for a quick dash to the Woori Yallock Bakery, home of the spahgetti bolognese pie, which sounds disgusting but kids seem to like them. We plugged on damply with Vincent saying things like "This is the worst holiday ever". Started raining again as we got near Warburton, then hail. Anne vanished into the IGL store to stock up on alcohol. By the time we got to the cabin, the cycling troupe was on the verge of mutiny about the prospect of riding back along the trail the next day, so I figured time for plan b. Thanks once again to the wonders of public transport, I was able to walk up to the bus stop a hundred metres from the caravan park, catch a bus back to lilydale, and be back home in about 3 hours. Got the car, and drove back to Warburton by 11.00. Next morning, we managed to fit two bikes and the tandem less its wheels on the back of the car, and after a lovely breakfast in The Good Food Room, drove back home. Despite the weather and the bail out, it was fun. The kids are great company despite the complaining and its nice to do things as a family, nice to have them where they can't escape into their various pursuits. But family rides are sure a different proposition to heading off by yourself.

Tally for the week:

246 k
Rain: Monday night ride home, plus multiple drenching Friday.
Near misses: none
Puncture: one
$ spent on bike stuff: $80

Headwinds, magpies, and an absence of bungey cord

Lilydale Warburton Rail Trail

A windy cycling week in Melbourne. A group from work met up on Sunday to ride the Federation trail, from Millers Road in North Altona down to the Werribee river. Getting to the starting point up Millers Road, about 6 k from where I live, nearly finished me off, but we had a nice tail wind to Werribee, and of course a stiff head wind all the way back. The surface of the path is much improved, but still a few rough patches to fix.

A mixed bag for the week's commuting. A beautiful evening on Monday, a head wind strong enough to send me veering off the road Wednesday morning, and find myself grinding along putting in maximum effort and getting about 14 km per hour. I was plugging away down Footscray Road, drafting behind a fellow OC (that's "Older Cyclist" - we're the ones with unfashionable bicycles and cycling garb) when his pannier decided to detach itself from his bike. My front wheel missed it by a millimetre or less, back wheel somehow hit it and bike bounced sideways in an exciting fashion. Definitely woke me up, that one. Having lost a pannier myself - though not with anyone following close behind, I now make a point of using a bungey cord as an additional fastening device - a good practice which I'd commend to all us OC's who use panniers - and everyone else for that matter. Anyway, Wednesday was one of those days with the morning northerly headwind followed by the south westerly headwind home. Got home, had dinner, said I'd just have a little lie down, and passed out about 8.15 pm. I was knackered. On the basis that I was planning to do an Audax 100K ride on Saturday, I declared Thursday a recovery day, and Friday I figured I was "Tapering" and caught the train both days. I had to wrestle with an underlying feeling of guilt, but thanks to the catholic education system I'm used to that.

Saturday I caught the train from here at 6.44 am (just after being swooped by a magpie) to be at Lilydale by 8.30 for the Warburton Connexions ride. First part along the Rail trail to Warburton, second part a choice of either up to the top of Donna Buang (one and a half hours climbing at least) or an undulating jaunt beside the Yarra river up to McMahon's creek. I chose the later, which as I managed to have a puncture, and blow one of my replacement tubes after having replaced everything, was probably a wise choice in retrospect. The weather was perfect, interesting people to talk to, absolutely beautiful country, lovely towns - all in all a great experience, apart from the puncture and yet another magpie swooping. The ride cue sheet says for 41.4 K "There was a magpie here last week - watch out!" I happened to glance at the cue sheet, then at my odometer, just as that distance came up, and like clockwork, "whoosh" there was the magpie. I hate being swooped. Hard not take it personally.

All in all, with wind, falling panniers, malicious magpies and exploding tubes, it was an interesting week.

Tally for the week:

349 Kilometres
Rain: light sprinkle on Wednesday
Near misses:one close encounter with a pannier
Punctures: one and one blown tube
$ spent on bike stuff: none, but it was a struggle. Surely I need one of those nifty cue sheet holders from Abbotsford Cycles ? And a nice rack top bag?

Spring ...

I had forgotten, but this week a few of the key characteristics of Spring became evident to me again - compared to winter, its warmer, its windier and it can be wet.
I rode in three days this week. One day was a school concert for my daughter, and I actually drove the car in. Next day I had an all day meeting in town - if there was a place to get a shower and lock the bike, I would have ridden. What we need is a cycle hub in the city with showers and secure bike parking. Missing riding two days, my leg muscles couldn't quite believe their luck. I noticed that I was as hungry as if I was riding 60 k a day - some sort of time lag as if my body was still sending out the message for more food, even though I wasn't doing anything to need it. I guess that's how people who ride a lot and then stop can wind up looking like mortadella sausages. Also found myself getting distinctly scratchy and edgy - definitely missing those endorphins. Great, now I'm a cycle commuting addict.

I managed not to spend any money on bike related gear this week, which is a first. More important, and far more difficult, I managed to maintain a calm and benevolent regard for my fellow persons - motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. Towards the weather gods, I was not so charitable. Had the experience of riding into a blustery northerly all the way to work on Monday, then, by home time and the arrival of a cold front, into a blustery south westerly all the way home. Rained quite heavily on Tuesday morning. Thanks to the old plastic bags on the feet trick, my shoes and socks stayed dry and my feet toasty. My rain jacket is fine in all respects except for one - it doesn't actually keep out rain. I arrived a bit damp. Didn't get to leave work on Tuesday till after 8, and putting on a still damp rain jacket and tshirt for the ride home in the dark took a bit of will power, but once I got going, it was lovely - super quiet and very peaceful. Friday coming home was again into the teeth of a blustery wind.

All in all though I feel like I've got the routine and the equipment together to commute safely and consistently.

Tally for the week:

220 Kilometers.
Rained on: two out of three days - great for the garden
Near misses: None
Punctures: None.
$ on Bike stuff: None

Did it again ...

I had Friday off work this week, but commuted faithfully the four preceding days. The odometer which the family gave me for Fathers Day stopped working Thursday night. It was a "Fluid" brand, and I found it neither well designed nor well constructed. The odometer itself kept popping out of the docking part on the handlebars, and must have suffered one too many impacts with the road surface.

I've become hooked on having a working odometer - the KM per hour readout encourages me to put in a bit more effort when, as often happens, I have a tendency to drift off. So, this morning, went to my friendly local bike shop (Salters Cycles in Altona Meadows) and bought a Sigma BC 906 which set me back, after deducting my Bicycle Victoria discount, the sum of $40.50. So I suppose I made a loss of $12.90 this week compared to public transport. But I got a nice new bike computer. Very nice piece of design I thought - way the easiest bike computer to install that I've come across. My goal, though, is to actually get through a week without spending any money on the bike.

The week's commuting was very pleasant. A couple of lovely crisp mornings, with the sun rising over the frosty grass - thank heavens for long fingered gloves - and not a lot of wind.

I'm striving to maintain the sort of peaceful glow I get from the first 6 km or so of my ride - the bit along quiet roads and bike path - across the whole journey. I'll have to keep working at it - the busier it gets, and the more traffic I encounter, inevitably something will send my blood pressure into the red zone: that van that sped past about an inch from my shoulder, the oncoming cyclists who pass pedestrians on their side and force me onto the very margin of the path, the turning car sitting right on my tail as I turn as well, the girl opening her car door oblivious of how hard I had to break not to collect her ... But that's my other goal - to get through a week without getting too pissed off about anything.

My new regime is to take one Friday off a month and do something nice. My wife took the day as well, and after an early appointment taking our son to the Children's Hospital - a very good place to count your blessings I always find - we set off on the tandem to ride to Yarraville for lunch and to see the film The Flying Scotsman, the story of Graeme Obree who held the one hour cycling record. Worth seeing I thought. Today pottering around, taking the dogs for a run, going to the bike shop, the nursery, the local shops, we put in around another 20 k.

Tally for the week:

Don't know exactly, thanks to dead odometer. At least 250 kms
Rained on: not a drop. Things are getting mighty dry here.
Near miss with car: nearish anyway - Car door on Burwood Road, stopped with a bit to spare but got the heart pumping. The girl who opened the door was quite surprised to see me - "Oh, hello" she said cheerfully, and sauntered off.
Near miss with another bicycle: none
Punctures: none

Another week another dollar

Another week's commuting over. On Monday night, after a torrid day at work and leaving late, I discovered my rear tire was flat as I was about to set off home. Got the rear wheel off, took out the tube and pumped some air into it - I like to know where a puncture has occurred so I can give the tube a good going over at that spot. But I couldn't track it, and the paranoid thought came to me that someone had just let the tire down. Turned out they hadn't, just an old patch given way creating a very slow leak, but the thought didn't improve my mood. I put my spare tube in, put the wheel back on, pumped it up ... and caught the hissing sound of air escaping. I've been carrying the spare tube round for quite a while, and when I checked later, I found that the valve and the rubber of the tube had parted company. I confess, at that point, I gave up and caught the train home. $2.76 for Mr Connex.

Horrible trip it was too - one train was extraordinarily filthy, and some unfortunate teenager who had just broken up with her boyfriend spent the whole trip sobbing loudly on a friend's shoulder - no fun for her, but not much fun for anyone else in the carriage either. Reminded me of one of the great benefits of riding a bike to work - I can hear myself think - I'm not trapped listening to other people's conversations, other people's leaking earphones, other people's mobile calls. When I got home, I put yet another tube on, put the wheel back, pumped it up, and could not believe my eyes when that was flat as a tack ten minutes later. Checked the tire but couldn't find any cause for the last tube to be holed. Patched that tube and the original, fitted one, pumped it up, and at last had a tire with air in it.

Next day I bought two new tubes - $18.00. So for the week I saved about $7. Feeling fitter - or was it a tail wind on Tuesday? Certainly was a headwind Friday - quite gusty at times both going to work and coming back. Very glad to get home Friday night. All in all, though, I'm finding this a sustainable exercise, and very good for both my mental and physical sense of well being. And I get to think bicycle type thoughts as I potter along. Another good thing is that I get most of the cycling bug out of my system during the week, and I'm putting in more time at home in the garden and round the house, rather than disappearing for long bike rides, which certainly helps build up the brownie points on the home front.



Tally for the week:

256 kms
Rained on: a bit once on Friday
Near miss with car: a van on Whitehall street, turning right into Parker Street, yelled "watch where you're going" at a group of us crossing the street, ignoring the fact that we had right of way. Didn't come near collision really, but the sense of injustice rankled for a while. I guess he didn't see us, and its a bad intersection.
Near miss with another bicycle: none - must be getting better at anticipating.
Punctures: 2+1 dead tube!