Thanks to Barbara van der Burg for this report.
Warrnambool to Port Fairy rail Trail ride
Six eager riders Dirk, Barbara Carla, John, Dave S, and Lynton met at the Geelong station in time to catch the 8:32 am train to Warrnambool on a grey looking Monday morning.
We all had reserved seats and our bikes were safely handed into the guard’s van for our trip to Warrnambool. Time passed quickly and a coffee and muffin was very welcome morning tea giving us the energy for the first half of the ride to Koroit for our late lunch.
Sky was overcast and clouds threatened rain but the ride was mostly dry.
The track was firm packed gravel but with lots of embedded small rocks making the going as bit tough for Carla’s hybrid bike. Lunch was a welcome break as the stiff headwind made the going a bit tough even though the gradient was small. We enjoyed our lunch break at Koroit and headed off with renewed vigour with Dave promising a downhill ride into Port Fairy.
Downhill it was but the stiff headwind made it seem an uphill push. Once we arrived in Port Fairy we all enjoyed a coffee break and the clouds cleared to show a sunny afternoon for our ride round the town visiting all the sights that our two tour guides in Carla and Lynton had in store for us.
After exploring the town we went to our accommodation to shower and change ready for dinner at the local pub. All riders retired after 9:30pm to rest up for the ride home in the morning.
Weather forecast for Tuesday promised some rain and a tail wind which we all eagerly hoped for to speed the ride back to Warrnambool.
Breakfast at the Hub at 7 am meant that we were on the road at 7:45 to catch the 11:43 train back to Geelong.
As promised the rain came down for the first 6 Kilometers but then eased up and stopped. Unfortunately the promised tailwind didn’t happen so we were on our own with pedal power with no assist.
We stopped at Korouit to look at the Old Station buildings. Some very friendly locals happily shared information about the area as well as acted as photographer.
When we nearly reached Warrnambool the boys spotted a very steep track and walked up to take a look at the vista – both inland and to the ocean.
We arrived back at Warrnambool Station early enough to hose down our muddy bikes before the safe trip back to Geelong.
A great two days ride by 6 keen Cycling Geelong Club members.
