Treadly and Me

It was a perfect day for riding yesterday: sunny but not too hot, breezy but not too windy. So MLSP, the Co-Pilot and I all piled into Grandma's jalopy and headed off for what seems to be our usual weekend starting point these days. Our target today was the Studley Park Boathouse on the Yarra Boulevard in Kew.

Familiar

Taking the now familiar route from University Square to Rushall Station via Princes Park and the Capital City Trail was fine. MLSP hasn't ridden for awhile so she and her bike were wearing each other in, and the gradual downward slope of the Capital City Trail isn't a bad place to get your cycling legs back in order.

Pinch

However, one place that isn't good for unconditioned legs is that nasty little steep pinch just as you come under Heidelberg Road. Ouch! I went for it as best I could but the Co-Pilot was being a real anchor on the back there and when the front wheel started to get airborne I thought it was wise to bail-out.

Coffee beckoned, so we took ourselves down Yarra Bend Road, past leisurely games of cricket on tree-ringed ovals, across the freeway, and down to Kanes Bridge (maximum load 100 persons). And then we were at the Boathouse - just under 10km to here and that's far enough out for a coffee break on an easy Saturday afternoon roll.

Studley Park

It's hard to believe how close you are to the CBD here. With all the bushland and no city skyline in sight, it feels like Studley Park should be somewhere out past Warrandyte. But no, it's right there just across the water from Collingwood.

The cafe and the whole setting is gorgeous. Grandma reckons this was a favourite of hers and the Retired Marathoner's for a Sunday morning trundle (starting out from North Blackburn), and I can see why. You really don't mind standing in line or paying a bit above the odds for a coffee when it's served up in a spot like this. We downed our caffeine infusion in the dappled shade then it was time to crank the pedals again.

Ascent

Grandma conceded that the next stretch had some climbs in it that MLSP might find nasty, so we sent her to retrace her route back to Heidelberg Rd while we Grandma and I (with the Co-Pilot on the back) headed up and up Boathouse Rd and onto the Yarra Boulevard. Great to have a cycle lane here and we made quick work of the stretch down to Andrews Reserve and Collins Bridge. We'd just like to recognise the work of the complete goose who nearly bowled Grandma off her seat at the end of the bridge.

Steps

Down the infamous Abbotsford steps. I think the Co-Pilot probably would have just made it down in one piece if I'd left him in the rear seat but Grandma's wisdom prevailed and she made a second descent holding his hand. Where does she get the energy? My quads are still complaining about coming down just the once!

Onward through Collingwood Childrens Farm, past Dights Falls, and as just as we passed under the freeway again we get a message from MLSP to inform that she'd safely made the return trip - her notoriously bad sense of direction had not got her into trouble this time - yay! And within a few minutes we were all there (the bike computer indicating just under 15km to this point). Descend back under Heidelberg Rd (some of us more recklessly than others).

Green-ish

If you ignore that much of the greenery is actually weeds, the stretch along Merri Creek from Heidelberg Rd to Rushall Station is divertingly pretty, with a couple of little bridges that are fun to swoop across. But by now MLSP wasn't sightseeing - her lack of cycling condition was starting to make going a bit tough but with a few stops here and there she pushed on gamely and kept up a good pace.

The stretch of the Capital City Trail from North Fitzroy to Princes Hill is pretty darn good really. I suppose being an old rail route helps (it's a steady, gradual grade) but it's also clear that a lot of work has been done to make this a quality pathway. The Co-Pilot and I took a little side track to explore the crossing over Merri Ck at the rail bridge, but that really is a pedestrian-only option: too many steps!

Downhill

Note to self: it is not all downhill once you get to Princes Park. MLSP needed another stop on Princes Park Drive and the Co-Pilot overheard me mention the playground opposite. Nothing for it - he had to have a swing. He didn't mind making it a pretty short one and we were soon belting along after MLSP and Grandma, catching up just in time for us to arrive back together. The whole route was just over 20km - a comfortable jaunt on a pleasant Saturday afternoon.

Hmm, these ride entries are a bit dull aren't they? I've got to remember to take the camera with me…