Tour de Commute 2012. Stage 1.

In the spirit of the Tour de France in July, I’m attempting to spice up the commute home from work with a new route every day, as much as it is possible, while still attempting to stay in the relative restrictions I have on time/distance due to other commitments (which is approx 45mins and/or up to 25kms).  As is my want, I’m trying to stick to off the road shared paths & relatively quiet roads where I can as it seems to enhance my riding experience – I hate dealing with cars out on the roads.  I’ll be tracking these rides on Strava .

Stage 1 – Gold Buddha:  13.3kms, flat, 80% shared path, 20% road.

Flat stage, very cool & wet after passing rains. High traffic & pedestrians early in the stage: CBD, Southbank, Crown promenade & Docklands, reduced opportunities for breakaways . Footscray Rd shared path heading west from City link was the first real sprint point up Alpe d’Footsrcay Rd, having a wheel up to the traffic lights helped gain a PB.  West towards Sheppard’s bridge was a great place to get to light the afterburners, keeping the avrg in the high 30s.  Over the Maribyrnong river & then loop back under Footscray Rd to head upstream on the west bank of the Maribyrnong river, alongside the Gold Buddha.  Then across the river via the old stock bridge & then north east onto the Kensington Rd climb, the traffic light sequence effecting my approach & any chance of KOM bonuses today.