Thomas Bike Tours 58

This morning it rained and stormed. Good reasons not to move and work on my social media. At 10 am the rain stopped and I continued my bike ride along the GREAT SOUTHERN RAIL TRAIL. The rail trail goes through eucalyptus forrests. You should think that you would see lots of Koalas because eucalyptus is their main food but I didn't. After 30 km I came to a little town with a cafe. I stopped and enjoyed my breakfast. A few kilometers further I crossed ways with an ECHIDNA, an ant eating hedge hog. Along the way there was a place with a fantastic overview over the bay. At 5pm it started to rain again and I decided to stay in the town I just went through, Welshpool.

I took the train to the suburb of Melbourne and started my tour. My todays destination was Leongatha. I had heared about the GREAT SOUTHERN RAIL TRAIL and was eager to ride on this trail. So I put my Komoot on Gravelbike setting to make sure it leads me along this trail. When I got out of the suburbs Komoot led me to a closed road. I thought that path does not look as if it leads to somewhere. So I cross checked with google maps. Google confirmed, this was the right path. So I pushed my bike over a meadow. The fact that there were lots of tracks gave me a good feeling. This path was obviously used by lots of people. So I went on further down that path. It was muddy. I didn't think that this little mud would effect my bike. Further down the path it was getting more muddy and the tracks were filled with water from yesterday's rain. Eventually the path got more and more into a muddy battlefield (pix) and ended up at a stream that was about 10m wide and so deep that I could not cross it. I had to turn around. The mud was everywhere on the bike and the wheels were blocked. I had to scrape some mud out to make the wheels turn again. When I was back through all the mud I decided not to ride the bike because it would have possibly damaged the drive train and other parts (pix). I googled a truck wash in 2 km. So I pushed the bike to the truck wash. After a short negotiation with the guy at the washing station he agreed that I could wash my bike by myself. I was really happy that I had found this place. After the bike (and my boots) was clean I changed my Komoot setting to "road race bike" and rode on the road to the beginning of the rail trail. On the way to the rail trail I passed a guy with a mountain bike who had a flat tire. I decided to help him and we fixed the flat. I arrived pretty late at the trail head. However I was determined to ride the trail. The trail was made with gravel similar to the Mickelson trail in South Dakota. It was great fun to ride. So I decided to ride the remaining 40 km on the trail in the dark. Of course I had my hands on the brakes all the time. Just in case of wild life. That was a good decision because a Wombat was crossing my way. On the trail there were some nice facilities for BBQ , rest stop and toilets The rail trail led right to my overnight stay in Leongatha. I arrived really late at 20.30.

Coole Tour along the coastline into Melbourne, Southbank.

bought the new tire and rode out of the city along the Yarra river. Then I took the bicycle ferry "THE PUNT". What a little shoe box. The rest of the way I rode along the coast.

Exciting new bicycle path into Melbourne city. Had to go to TREK to buy a suitable new tire.