The rain poured down as we drove out to Wangaratta on Friday. MLSP said to me "If this keeps up I ain't riding nowhere!" Fortunately she didn't have to make good her threat because the rest of the weekend was bright and sunny. As Gangnails was heard to boast: the north-east had turned it on again.
Best laid plans
After what seemed like hours of endless planning on Friday night, we decided that on Saturday we would head off along the Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail. But with a group of 11 riders varying in age from 5 to 67 (plus some 1 and 2 year old passengers), we needed a few variations on the theme. So we broke it up like this: Super-Gran, Home Brew, and I (with the Co-Pilot for extra ballast) to ride out from Wang to the Everton station site (about 27km), where the rest of the gang would meet us. Gangnails and Bus Walker to do a car shuffle to Tarrawingee (7km back along the line) and ride back to join us. The whole pack would ride the Everton to Tarrawingee section, then Gangnails, Princess Tipstar, and the Bus Walker would join Super-Gran, Home Brew, and I (minus the Co-Pilot) on the return leg to Wangaratta.
Into action
Putting the plan into action was surprisingly smooth, although Home Brew was heard to mutter that he was amazed we got away before 10am. The City of Wangaratta itself seems to be pretty well covered by bike lanes and off-road paths and we soon found ourselves on the levee bank and heading out of town towards Bowser. The sun was out but a breeze was keeping us cool.
The Wangaratta to Everton section of the rail trail isn't the most picturesque, but it's flat and pleasant. And the trail itself is well made and in an excellent state of repair.
The Co-Pilot loves riding, not least because he gets to eat all sorts of stuff. We were making a feedbag stop at Tarrawingee when a call to the advance party told us that we might beat them to Everton. As it turns out we all arrived at about the same time.
Football
While the car shuffle was in progress, we filled out a survey about the rail trail being conducted by the Wangaratta BUG. They're checking on usage of the trail and I hope they'll get some good results. There were quite a few people on the trail, so the bloke from the BUG was kept pretty busy handing out the survey sheets.
The kids also went charging around kicking footballs and generally having a great time. While we were waiting we met Darren Murphy, the Rail Trail Officer, who showed up on his golf buggy to retrieve another rider who'd run into some trouble.
Return
With the whole gang assembled we were ready to get started - well, after Home Brew changed a flat tyre and Middle East got settled into his helmet. Some of the younger guys are only just off training wheels but they handled themselves really well on this stretch. Taking the inexperienced riders out to Everton was a good idea because it's mostly flat and pretty quiet even on a busy Easter weekend. OK, we did have a headwind but you can't have everything!
Back at Tarrawingee it was time for lunch. Peanut butter sangers all around, then back on the trail: the younger kids back to Wang by car, while the rest of us continued by leg power. The headwind continued but the going was easy and before long we found ourselves tucked into the Vine Hotel at North Wang for coffee and a sampling of the Bridge Road Brewery's finest.
Happy hour beckoned, so we found our way back to home base via the ride-through bottleshop.
Monday
Monday's ride was just an extended excursion in search of a cafe. We trundled around the trails and lanes of Wangaratta, bush tracks along the Ovens River, and emerged near the showgrounds. We made our way into town to find that the biggest cafe was having a holiday but (fortunately) this wasn't our only option.
Tuesday
Tuesday's ride (ahem) didn't happen. It was going to be a pre-breakfast dash out the Yarrawonga Road for Gangnails, Super-Gran, and me - but I think we all secretly conspired to sleep-in to a reasonable hour.
Cycling pace
Wangaratta seems like a great place for cycling. The roads in the town are generously wide (often with marked bike lanes) and there are a number of good quality shared pathways within the town itself. And being on the big rail trail helps too. I noticed plenty of people riding around the town (possibly visitors, possibly locals) and even more bikes loaded up on cars and trailers (almost certainly visitors). So I don't think there's any denying the popularity of the cycling holiday - whatever way you do it, it's a great way to get the family out, exercise, and have fun together.