Reccce Trip 3, Day 4

A sting in the tail! Mernda line trains were replaced by buses and I was forced to ride home from Southern Cross in the dark and rain. 

Penshurst

Penshurst - note truck reflection cantre

Penshurst: Been a while since a Nash car was serviced here!

Penshurst

Wecumbent bike and wainbow near the Wannon, not far out of Coleraine. 

 This was day 4 of my third Recce trip to Coleraine, and I was up early again and on the road by about 7:20 for the long climb up the Glenelg Highway hill out of Coleraine toward Hamilton and home. This time I took a more direct route through Penshurst to Warrnambool station. 

Recently I'd Patsy Adam Smith's book "When we rode the rails" about her young life in a family of railway workers. That book features Penshurst at the end, and describes her life in a bustling town just before World War Two. It was a bit less than bustling when I was there, but a caf, general store and hardware store were open, A truck driver who had seen me on the road had a bit of a chat in the caf and outside the shop. He offered to give me and my bike I lift in to Warrnambool but I politely declined. 

After Penshurst the going got quite fast and a lot of fun with combinations of sunshine, strong tailwinds and flat roads or downhills leading to high speeds. But near Koroit my route turned 90 degrees and the northerly tailwind became a strong gusty cross wind and the traffic increased. It was hard to contend with the wind along the Failors Flat Koroit road. 

Turning in to Carrumut Road the wind was behind me again but I had to deal with heavy traffic including trucks and absolutely no shoulder on the road. At one stage I got completely off the road and into the grass to let trucks go past. I arrived at Warrnambool station about 20 minutes late for the 3:10 train but 2 hours early for the 5:30 train. I think that given the same circumstances again, I would come in to Warrnambool via the rail trial. There would have been plenty of time to take this route to avoid traffic or wind problems, and I might even have met other cyclists! 

On the train, I could rest and eat some cookies I'd bought, and it was a nice trip. However at Southern Cross (Melbourne City) Station I found my local trains had been cancelled due to maintenance issues and I needed to ride home through the city in the dark and wet. This wasn't too bad as I had been on a trip and had good lights and rain gear and got home not too late (about 10pm) after a long day traveling. 

Overall the Recce trip had been good it was nice to meet William, Chris, Claire and Rodney, and if I follow up on my notes from the day three meeting should be able to organise a good grant application for OzHpv. It's currently very economical for anyone to travel by public transport in Victoria, and its highly recommended! As a Senior's card holder, my total spend on fares for this trip was only $2.85.