I started from the actual start at Alexander Gardens at the end of Swan St/City Rd.
The Melb>Sorrento>Queenscliff>Melb 210km entry I bought off this other bloke had the slowest average time (20/24kms) so I was right down the back ‘with everyone else’.
Heaps of riders, thousands I would hazard a guess even.
Official start was 6am, but they staggered the riders out in groups of a 30x odd, I didn’t roll under the start cute & register my start time electronically until 7am.
It was pretty ordered from the start & not that crowded, no stacks that I saw. By the time we rolled past Kerford Rd it was pretty much like every other weekend morning down Beach Rd.
It was cool with a slight tail wind to Frankston. I was overdressed from the start so I took off a layer (I had 2x thermal top ‘cos I thought it was going to be really cold) & packed the vest away for the hills after Frankston down to Dromana.
It was fun to smash it up Oliver’s hill. Funny, but I saw a lot of riders still in the big ring going up there, even the steep bit which was really weird. I couldn’t see the sense is trashing my legs at only after the first 50kms so picked the ratio that carried me up with just the slightest consternation.
Throughout this little section from Frankston to Dromana I saved myself for the Mt Martha climb because it always seems longer than it looks, so by the time I got there I was OK up that. I didn’t stop at the top but changed up & towed the big gear down the start of the other side down the descent down the other side, jumping out onto the car lane to clear the other riders coasting down. Funny that I didn’t see anyone in front of me bombing down going hard towing the bog gear to max out before the bottom, but I looked behind & saw heaps!
Into Dromana the head winds started as well as some rain, but it was coming off the south west so the peninsula was shielding us most of the time. It was getting cold so I put the vest on, but the wind was really blustery & pushed some riders out onto the middle of the road.
I tried to sit on whoever’s wheel was in front on me & I didn’t take a turn (not in that weather!). We all rode in the small chainwheel out from here to Sorrento.
Got to Sorrento at about 10:30. They kept the riders off the pier because of the cold wind so the queue started just as you got your food-bag. Most riders went over to the grass to eat, but I stood in the queue & got on the very next ferry 11am.
Ferry was crowded but I found a spot I could actually lie down & I noticed lots of riders with bloody knees, shins & elbows. Which showed that some had a far more colourful ride down from Melbourne to the Sorrento ferry.
At Queenscliff I rolled out of the ferry at the other end at 12:30 approx. It was really crowded just as I got off with my ‘ferry group’, but after going for a slash & getting myself worked out, everyone had already gone, so there weren’t many riders to follow for the ride out of Queenscliff to Geelong..
I found that I had a head wind all the way to Geelong. Doing a dog leg route to Ocean Grove we got a side wind & then a head wind, but it all seemed really heavy going. A lot of riders were suffering in this bit, I just tried to jump onto the back of the next best group that came by. i had to stop at the Leopold & Geelong rest stops to fill the biddons & have a jelly baby.
The ride from Geelong back to Melbourne: New roadworks with the freeway & around the Laverton/Altona meant that a lot of those really crappy zig-zagging roads from previous years route was dropped & the roads were flat, fast & smooth.
But the best bit was: tailwind! 45kms/hr tailwind all the way back to Melbourne from Geelong. Most of the route was along the main freeway, but the shoulder was now at least 5metres across. I was in top gear & riding along on the ‘tops’ (of the handlebars) sitting on about 43kms/hr. I skipped the Little River rest stop (which was the freeway servo).Even though my back & arse was kinda sore I kept going all the way to Werribee for a Powerbar.
From Werribee into town & onto the bridge seemed like it only was a few kms. New smooth roads & a tailwind made it all feel real easy.
There didn’t seem to be many riders around me at the finish & as I crossed the finish line at 5pm , back at Alexander Garden, there weren’t many riders about.
We got a little medal & a bottle of water instead of a showbag with a newspaper in it, but everyone got a medal, even those doing the 50km, so that took away some of the kudos off the memento for the riders doing the whole lap of the bay (210/250kms).
I hung around & ate all that was left of my munches & then rode home really carefully straight up Swanston St in the CBD (a first for me this year even though I ride into work everyday. I always try to avoid one of the most notorious bike strips in town whenever I can).
At the end of the day, it felt like the easiest Bay ride I ever did. Nest year I’m doing the same thing: wait until a fortnight from the event & bay someone else’s discount entry as they can’t make it on the day. Although I would love to do it on something less suitable, like a single-speed or fixie to spice it up a bit.
Ride stats:
It’s official (as my alias on the day Alex Edwards) I got a total elapsed time of : 8 hours, 31minutes & 50seconds. Average speed of 24:62kms/hr.
Split times were:
Melb>Sorrento: 3hrs 45mins 5sec (avg 27.99kms/hr)
Ferry: 1 hour, 22mins
Queenscliff>Melb: 4hrs 46min 44 sec (avg 21.97kms/hr)
*Includes stopping for wee & munchies.
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