around the bay in a day

[geoffs]

Is anyone else heading down to do this ride?
We will be doing the Melbourne to Sorrento and back option sans ferry. The Melbourne cycle fest will be on as well so it should be a great weekend. We will be taking the tandem down by train and will be there for a few extra days so Marian can have some retail therapy.
A friend of ours, Martin will also be doing the ride. Any others keen for a fun 210km ride?

[simon.sharwood]

A mate of mine did this last year and said it was bloody punishing. He finished in the dark, after just missing a ferry.
But I have been thinking about a Bay in a Day for Sydney. Start at Marrickville, out to La Perouse, down to Kurnell and back to Marrickville. Probably about 100ks all told ...

[Stuart]

What's a train??

[simon.sharwood]

A train? It's what people did before JetStar

[geoffs]

What's a train??

Atrain is something that is more expensive than a plane so we'll be flying down via virgin.
$140 each way per person by train.

[geoffs]

The alarm went off at 4.30am as we had to be at the start for 5.30. We were with Martin and another tandem couple we know from Coff's who were riding their Santana. The start was very slow as were at walking pace for the first few kms as when the lights changed red it would take a while to get going. We tried keeping up with Mark and Tracey but they were too strong for us as we were riding into a stiff headwind. They had ridden 500kms in 20hrs on the Coff's velodrome 2 weeks ago, so they were fit. Once Marian warmed up we were riding at about 28kmhr. Except for the odd hill we maintained this pace all the way to Sorrento. The drizzle started around Dromana and had turned to rain by Sorrento at the 100km turn around. We had a great lunch in a bakery and by the time we left the rain had stopped. At the ferry terminal we found our ride lunch so we ate that too. The ride back was much nicer with a tailwind but the energy levels were dropping so we were back to our granny gear to ride up Mt Martha at a steady 8kmh. I was starting to fade a bit by Frankston so we stopped at Mordialloc at the 170km mark for a double shot coffee, more power bars and some energy drink. I felt much better very quickly and we were back up to 34kmh cruising speed. If we were charging a fee for each oh the people that we pulled along in a pace line we would have been rich. We arrived at the finish at 3.15pm with a riding time of 7:35. We felt a bit sore but otherwise fine. Plenty of time to wander around the bike show with Martin and stare at some bike porn such as the 2009 Dura-ace.
After cleaning ourselves up we went for a nice dinner and drinks at Longrain. When we told the waiter what courses we wanted it was suggested that we might like smaller serves. We managed the lot no worries. After dinner we were had the dessert tasting plate which serves 4. Marian's not a big sweet eater so Marty and I were forced to eat the 8 differnt desserts between us.
All in all a great day.

[Stuart]

Sounds like great fun - kind of. Glad to hear you two finished and that the rain stopped. BTW - how was Longrain Melb - I've only been to Sydney - how do the two compare?? This is much more important then the cycling you understand

[geoffs]

we haven't been to the one in sydney, but martin who has says it's of the same standard.
the dishes we had were fantastic. my nephew works as a chef at jimmy likks in potts point and they view longrain as competition. after eating at both, i think longrain is definitely in front.

[Jono]

It is good to hear you all finished safe and well. I had heard there was some trouble during the ride. It still hasn't stopped me from thinking about doing it next year.