First ride in Australia

Well, I managed to buy a used ride bike on Friday through a classied ad on BikeExchange.com.au . For those who care it is a Giant TCR C2 with full Shimano Ultegra components. The previous owner replaced the stem, bars, seat, and tires which is good cause I probably would have done the same.

So, on Saturday afternoon I took Wyatt and went across Dandenong Road where there are two bike stores. I bought a new helmet for $100AUD and a pair of new shoes for $150.00 AUD since I left mine back in Canada. I then went over the bike and made a few adjustments and planned out a route for a ride on Sunday.

On Sunday the kids went down for thier naps at around 1:15 pm and I dressed and departed on my first ride in Australia. It was about 12 degrees, overcast, and threatening to rain. My plan was to ride out to Mt. Dandenong and back. Mt.Dandenong is in the Dandennog Ranges National park and has an elevaation of about 2100 feet, or 500 meters. Rought twice the height of Gatineau park in Ottawa.

The roads are great here and drivers almost always give you a wide berth. Almost as soon as I had left our area the hillls started. Nothing major at first but big enough ! The route was up and down the whole way out. I have to say that riding my bike down roads lined with Palm trees and Eucalpytus trees was pretty cool. Having been here for over a month I didn't think it would be a big deal but it was. The off and on rain was not quite bad enough to erase the smile from my face. Plus at the crest of every hill I would get glimpses of the base of Mt.Dandenong. Unfortunately with the rainy weather I wasn't able to see the top of mountain at all.

It took me about an hour to get to the foot of the National park and being the first ride of the year for me I figured it best to turn around and head back.

On the way back the sun started to come out. To think that this was the middle of winter and the the sun was shinning on my face and heating me up was a nice thought. It took me about anouther hour to get back to our place.

I decided to take a quick swing by the park with the velodrome to have a look at it on my way back. It is outside and in the middle of huge park with a playground and footie field. The track looks to be concrete but it has a blueish green surface on top. It isn't an oval exactly, but rather a weird circle with a few small straight section. It is open to the public but doesn't have lights or anything. At the time I got there there was one guy doing some training on a road bike and about half a dozen kids riding on it.

I did a few laps to check it out and then headed home.

It's pretty amazing to be able to ride an hour in our direction to mountains and 10 minutes in another direction to a velodrome. I'm looking forward to a chance to do a lot more riding ! Considering my first ride fell on the dead of winter here I'm very impressed.