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Around the bay (210km) in a day
It's a long way, wouldn't normally drive that far

Well The day started at 4:35 when the alarm went off...as usual there was some slowness at getting up, but I could only allow myself a few minutes, for I needed to be at the start line at 6am.
The sun was not yet up, everyhing was dark, I had some lights to fit to the bike, but by the time I had finished my shower, applied suncream and got dressed, the sun was slowly rising, and the sky was lighting up.
Everything had been prepared and mostly packed the night before, I didn't want to foul the whole day up by not being organised.
I already had spare tubes and levers packed on the bike, I borrowed some tools for emergency chain repair. There was the obligatory bag of snakes, the bag of Arnotts fruity pillows, the sealable bags of Gatorade powder that made me look like some kind of drug dealer, some suncream, some plasters, and the emergency cash/credit card pack. The waterproof jacket in was stuffed in, and adding the charged mobile phone and the doorkeys completed the packing.
The bibs were attached the night before
There was no breakfast as such, I am always to nervous to eat much that early before such a day, so I just ate some spare Fruity Pillows, a few snakes, and drank a pint of water.

The brisk morning air
At the entrance to the flat we climbed aboard, and headed off past the casino to the start line at Docklands. A number of other cyclists were heading in the same direction....well except for one that broke away from his friends, and went another way, only to be called back.
A good start to the day, getting lost on the way to the start line doesn't bode well, at least I knew where the start was.
A number of riders didn't appear to have bibs showing, perhaps only newbies wear the bibs ?
The police controlled the junctions near the start, the roads were closed to cars, and riders were directed to join the back of the queue strechting hundreds of metres down one side of harbour esplanade.
The start line was cold, the sun was not yet up, and standing stationary in cycling gear is not warm.

We're off
There were some inaudible instructions from the marshall at the front, and at 6am, the first bunch were released.
The riders were released in bunches separated by a few minutes, presumably to avoid chaos of a mass group start. The gaps allowed plenty of space to form in the road, and the police split the groups up at traffic lights further along the route.
When our turn came, the guy in front promptly dropped his tyre pump.
The ride started quitely, pleasantly and in quite a civilised way. The riders cruised through Port Melbourne where the bunch was split by road signs redirecting riders for their chosen ride direction. Another kilometre down the road, and I was back on my regular training route again, heading off down Beach Road.

Find a bunch to Frankston
210km would be a long way to ride on your own, so I had planned to join up with a group, but all the splitting up of riders had fragmented the ride quite drastically, and the initial traffic lights weren't helping. I was surrounded by individual riders who appeared to have no intention of forming any sort of group.
Once on beach road I tried to find some similar paced riders to ride with, looking in the distance, catching some riders before deciding they were too slow, in retrospect this exercise was pointless, the faster riders in front, would be already long gone
After a group or two had flown passed, I realied that there were plenty of groups behind, and all I needed to do was to get on the back as they went past. This was much more successful, but was not easy. Most groups had no alliances, and varying ability, following the last rider often resulted in loosing the group as the rider in front lost the rider in front of them.
Added to this frustration was the traffic, not cars, other riders !. The groups swept up and spat out some of the social riders who then suddenly appeared in front of my wheel hindering my progress. Concentrating on who was in the group was just as important as not running into them, at the lights I learnt to be nearer the front, but on occasion that left me out the front either on my own or working for others taking advantage.
Good progress was made, time went so fast, there was so much to think about, I was in Mordialloc before I realised. The groups must have helped, as the time was as good as the hardest training rides but it felt as if I had expended little effort.

Olivers Hill
Frankston came just as quickly. the roads in Frankston were wet, we had seen the big clouds as we left Mordialloc, the second rest stop was at the side of the road leaving Frankston, and some dodgy manouvering was done by some riders to get from one side of the road to the other, surprisingly without incident on the slippery road with so many riders.
The field had thinned somewhat from that point, the road out of Frankston to Olivers Hill was very wet and slippery, it had been well worn by large nubers of vehicles, so much care was needed. The road was familiar, but this early in the morning there was much less traffic than I am used to.
Riders started to slow as the gradient increased towards Oliver's Hill, but I had not realised the danger, many riders didn't know Oliver's Hill, and were unprepared. The rider in front suddenly stopped, and I just managed to swerve past, just in time to have my photo taken climbing the steepest gradient of the ride.
Olivers Hill was no great problem, I managed it many times before on training rides, usually successfully, today I was fresher, but the main task was avoiding the weaker riders weaving all over the road, or jumping off their bikes to complete the climb on foot.
At the top there was a large number of people at the side of the road, I didn't immediately realise, but many of these people were repairing punctures, I had never seen anything like it, I carried on towards Mt Eliza, and thought nothing more.

Disaster
Part way up the next hill I am feeling the effort required rising, and a strange noise, like scraping, maybe there is a leaf or twig in the wheel or something? Part of the way up, I look down only to realise I have a flat. No wonder the hill was hard work !
I had only done 50k and got a flat tyre- incredible. After 2000k of training on the bike, the first flat I get is on the ATB ride, how unlucky is that. I had become complacent. I did however have 2 spare tubes, so it was no great drama.
It had then suddenly dawned on me that I had not Actually changed a tube for something like 10 years, I remembered how to do it generally, being careful not to pinch the tube with the levers etc etc.
I got the old tube out, new one in, blew it up, but as it was becoming hard, there was a sudeen loud whooshing noise, and tyre deflated. I knew it was bad, I hoped it wasn't, but it was - the valve stem had broken off the tube, maybe a faulty tube or a faulty fitter, just be more careful with the next and last tube.
I rechecked the tyre for embedded glass and stones, this was my last tube, there needed to be no errors. That one went on ok, I carried the bike up the hill, the side of the road where I stopped was littered with broken beer bottles, I couldn't take the chance that I would run over more just there.

What next
I have only done 50k, I don't trust the tyre, there are some gashes, something went through, and now I am down to no spare tubes, with 160km to go. I must find a bike shop !
Returning to Frankston was an option, there was a shop there, just turn round, go back about 4k or less. I was already late, the tube change must have lost 30mins or more with all the messing about, and I didn't want to go through the 'danger zone' again and get another puncture. It would also mean another ride up Oliver's Hill ( a second photo! ), and Dromana was only 25k or so ahead, there would surely be a bike shop there.
I continued along the Nepean Highway, I didn't really know where I was, this was beyond the normal training route, but progress was reasonable. Then I felt a regular bump-bump from the rear wheel. I didn't want to look but knew I had to. Sure enough I had messed up the tube replacement, the tyre wasn't seated properly.
I stopped at some lights, let the air out, and banged the tyre back in, and blew it back up, hopefully it would be ok, I just wasn't happy.
The scenery rolled past, I tried to keep out of debris as much as possible, but now I was much further back than I needed to be - I was with the recreational, social, and unfit cyclists, this was no help at all, I am riding alone, overtaking everyone just to keep a good pace.
Especially tedious was the Nepean Highway up Mt Martha, the hill was not very steep, although the climb was long, the problem was the single lane vehicle and single lane cycle paths in each direction. Overtaking slower cyclists took some planning to check for cars behind while timing the mot to not crash into them in front.
The descent down the other side was done with great caution and care, I was now with unpredictable cyclists on road I had not been on before, which was also now wet. Half way down an ambulance was parked, and someone was flapping and waving - don't know what the problem was, but I just slowed and took care. The other side of the ambulance there were strong gusty sidewinds, very scary, I really dislike sidewinds. I would later learn that someone had gone down the hill and suddenly come off for no apparent reason, and continued by rolling down the road. I made it to the bottom without incident, and continued to Dromana.

Dromana
Dromana finally arrived and I started looking out for a bike shop and the rest area. Here I was able to gather my thoughts and formulate a plan for successful completion of the ride, - the minimum was completing the 210km, failure due to a puncture was not an option, I simply was not going to risk success by not restocking with spares. I was going to have the tyre and tube replaced, and stock up, but I needed a bike shop.
The rest area was very conveniently located at a Tourist information office, I was a tourist, so I decided to take full advantage, it was open too ! The lady there was very helpful, despite all these annoying people stopping her from parking her car in the usual place out front, she was still very helpful with a smile. The nearest shop was apparently in Rosebud, she pointed to the map, it was one thumb width away - on British tourist maps this would be 1km or less - cracking stuff ! "Hold on" she said, "we'd better check they're open", it says only open in summer. It's "Round the Bay" day, I thought, they must be open, 14,000 cyclists past the door, they would be mad not to be open - fortunately they were very aware of the event, and were indeed open and stocked up.
Off I went, somewhat renewed, but not yet happy or confident.
After about 2k I remembered the problem with the scale of the maps here, but also wondered whether I had missed the shop. My short term memory is not always so good with detail, the directions had been somwhat simplified in my mind - I was looking for a sign of a town beginning with R, I forgot the name in the excitement, it was at the corner of some road beginning with J - more detail I had forgotten.
It then got worse....'pssshhhht'...another flat, there was nothing to be done, I had no way to fix it. Even if someone gave me a tube, I really couldn't trust the tyre now, it could be wasting someones tube that they may need later.
I got off and started to walk, but I didn't know how far it was, it could be 1k or 5k to go, I didn't know the scale of the map. It would take ages, I am already late, I have a ferry to catch.
I walked for a hundred metres, then thought, can I ride the bike ? The road was flat and smooth, there were no hills, the tyre was not to be trusted, I could sacrifice that, but I don't want to damage the rim, riding slowly would be faster than walking. I took the chance, climbed aboard. The bike wheel sat on the rubber quite evenly protecting the rim. I stood up and leaned over the front wheel, maybe if I hit something, there would be less load on the rim, I was slow and careful. About 1k or so later I reached an intersection with traffic lights "Jetty Road", this was the right place, where was the shop, it wasn't "on the corner".
Just round the corner was a large sign n the pavement "Bike Shop" I had found it.

The Rosebud bike shop
Inside there were more victims, the guy in front had found a shop earlier with a repair kit, I hadn't taken one, because I had spare tubes, but his efforts were also in vain, he's swapped tyres in the hope that the front one would have been better.
I just started getting the wheel off and taking it apart, while I was waiting to be served.
I was offered a choice of tyres, not the cheapest tyres I had come across, but cost was not the issue now, success was the issue. The "continental" one costing $20 extra claimed extra puncture protection with a warranty - how stupid would I feel if I had saved $20 and got another puncture in the remaining 135k - there really was little choice, I had come this far. Under normal circumstances I would have been buying a $15 tyre.
The mechanic fitted the tube, tyre and inflated it, saving me time and energy.
1 new tyre and 3 tubes $97 on the credit card - the most useful tool I had with me.
As I refitted the wheel, more victims arrived, more punctures, folloed by a guy who's gears had "stopped working"
I later discovered this was the only bike shop in a 20k radius, the last one before the ferry at Sorrento.

To the Ferry
With a functioning bike and some confidence I started to try to catch up. I would not be able to make up for lost time, but I needed desperately not to waste more time, I needed to get to the ferry before other people to secure a place on the next one, every one in front of me was a place in the queue, I didn't know how many places there were, or how many people, faster was better.
half way to Sorrento, the heavens opened, the roads were quiet, the cyclists had thinned out, actually I think they had thinned out some time ago. I stopped and put on the waterproof, put my glasses back on, I had left them in my pocket while at the bike shop. I ploughed on through the rain, careful to keep upright and out of danger on the soaked roads.
"Road Closed" "Ferry traffic turn left" - great we must be close now ! At least I can use all the road. It was over 1km to the ferry, maybe 3 or 4 from that point.
At the ferry terminal people were directed to collect a coloured band as a ticket, there are limited places on the ferries, and in previous years people have successfully jumped the queue, much to the disgust of courteous people - this year controls were tighter. I had arrived at 11:20, over 1 hour and 20 mins off my normal 100k time, the next ferry was leaving at 11:30, all the tickets for that one had gone, I was on the 12:00 ferry.
Lunch was provided on showing the "Rider Passport", a chicken tandoori sandwich which was quite tasty, an apple and PowerBar, the most unappetising looking lump of chemicals, which of course tasted quite good.
The apple was saved for later, water bottles were refilled from the taps, adding the sachet of powder. I wasn't sure I was drinking enough, but I was going to the toilet, there was no indication of dehydration, but I drank more while I was waiting and while on the ferry.
11:45 and people started queueing for the ferry. At 12:00 it arrived from Queenscliff, packed with riders, they streamed out in a massive line that extended the length of the pier, much to the disgust of the drivers of the cars that unloaded afterwards, the pier and road from the ferry was jammed solid. The ferry was like a tardis, it looked very small, but so many cars and cyclists came off, it was quite an impressive sight, then to consider that there was probably a full load every half hour in each direction since 9am.
The cars were loaded first to the uppder deck, then riders streamed on, one-by-one past two ticket collectors, and onto the lower car decks where the bikes were propped up against the sides of the ferry.
On the ferry, I was concentrating on not getting seasick - I sometimes get a little queezy, but that's mainly after consuming alcohol, anyway, today was not a day to to test. The journey was 1 hour, I took a bottle with me to the passenger lounge to slowly sip on.
At that point I realised that most of the people I was with were recreation or social cyclists, they had taken over 5h to do 100km most of them without incident, that was some 20km/h. I needed to go faster than that if possible, I needed to be with the fastest people in the ferry, so I need to be off the ferry early.

Queenscliff 16
I was off quite early, but then I saw the toilet block and realised I needed to pee. It kind of messed up my plan to be off the ferry early. Better now than later I guess! Finally, I am off again 110km to go, overtaking more of the same people I had overtaken before. The ferry journey had refreshed me a little, I was almost half way, hurdles and obstacles had been overcome. Hopefully there would be no more.
There was a chilly southerly wind hitting my left as headed West to Geelong, not entirely welcome, but that would be very welcome when heading north after Geelong!
In the worst case I thought, I need to get to Geelong, because there is a train service there, that was another 30k, so if I have any more problems or feel really bad, I can at least get back without waiting for the Sag Wagon.
Thre section of ride from Mt Eliza to Werribee was all unkown to me, the route was all signposted, so detailed maps were not provided, but I knew the large scale map that was published for the route, and is was somewhat surprising when the route veered off away from the main road to Geelong. I was sure there were no other roads, where are we going ? Some distance later and a 90 degree right turn - now I have no idea where I am going, this better be right. Some riders have stopped for a chat, not sure what's going on, no time to waste chatting, I carried on.
A roadsign: "Queescliff 16" Sh*t, I just came from there, did I accidentally find the route for the riders going the other way ? I don't see how that could happen, just carry on.
Eventually, the next turn takes us back on the main road, it appears the diversion avoids a busy single lane road, but not knowing was unnerving. I am now travelling along the Bellarine Highway, guessing how far it is to Geelong, overtaking slower people. The sun has come out now, I have to stop to remove my rain jacket, I am soaked with sweat inside, and need to dry out, the first km without the jacket was a little chilly as I dried out. The arm warmers stayed on, the southerly wind was chilly.

Geelong - a geelong long way
In the distance there was a group of Cyclists, the "Caltex rest stop" as I had rembered it from the guide, so named because of it's location at the Caltex Service station, a name of a town was mentioned, I forget. The main thing I was thinking is - I'm still not at Geelong !
The rest stops were very basic, a few taps for water, and a toilet.I don't know what I had expected, but I did have an idea of something more, but no time to dawdle. I refilled the water bottles, took a quick pee and set off for Geelong. The volunteers cheered on all remaining the cyclists "you're doing really well" - I didn't agree, I was about 2 hours later than i had hoped to be at this point. But it was a nice thought.
No time to sight see in Geelong, had to navigate the streets, cars and route signs. It was a pity, I haven't been to Geelong before. At one set of traffic lights I saw the Wool Museum, just as I had seen in the Geelong Tourist guide - "ohh, so there it is", "that's nice" I thought, "must visit one day".
More twists and turns, the rest stop is on the right, but I am ok, don't need to stop, have water ready to go. There were quite a few riders at Geelong, maybe, I thought, if they were fast enough, a group would catch me on the M1 freeway to Werribee, and I could jump on the back.
The route out of Geelong travells on a 3 lane + hard-shoulder freeway, the M1, the only road between Geelong and Melbourne, without taking a significant detour. I knew we had to go on it, but it was not pleasant, only slightly comforting to have other riders around, but trucks and cars passing at 100kmh in the next lane is not nice. Fortunately most drivers kept out of the leftmost lane.
The first section is short, my reccollection of the map was hazy at that time, but before the main haul up the M1, the ride passes through Corio

Werribee
I knew that I would be ok in Werribee, I had been through before on training rides, and was happy I could find my way home, the finish wasn't far from Werribee, 30 or 35km perhaps, I wasn't sure, but it didn't seem that far. I wasn't in Werribee yet.
I was back on the M1 Most drivers kept out of the left lane around the cyclists, but then there were the sliproads that cyclists had to cross. The markings told the cyclists to go up the sliproad and cross further up, I took the advice - serious injury or death would not help my goal. Travelling as a single cyclist I was less visible, so was very cautious, The worst sliproads were the incoming sliproads, because they were quieter, it was very easy not to look and easy to look early, and not recheck, forgetting the cars are travelling 100k down these too. I had to stop twice for incoming traffic.
The scaryness of the road was balanced by the tailwind which made the progress much quicker, but I was glad to find the rest stop at the Little River service area, the break was mental as much as physical.
The route had already been some 12km on the freeway, and as I had expected we were only half way along, another 12k to the exit. The freeway was very dull, it's not nice to ride along, the view's not good, and evein if it was, the task of avoiding debris on the road takes full concentration..
I was feeling cold, the sun had started it's descent, and the cloud cover had increased. So I visited the canteen and purchased a chicken schnitzel bun, I ate half then to fill my stomach, and kept the rest for later, I visted the loos, and had warmed up a bit by then I finished the Fruit Pillow bits, and had a few snakes - I was guessing 40-50k left to go.
The Sag wagon arrived while I was at the service area, I was worried that if I was that far behind, could I get missed if I needed help, but I had my mobile phone, spare tubes, so there was no real danger of rotting at the side of the road, Sag Wagon or no. Besides, I was confident I could do the next bit to Werribee.
I passed a few more casualties of tube failure, they all seemed to be working on a fix, or had company, so must have had spares, I carried on with the tailwind, 12km of very dull riding. The Weribee exit was ahead, I couldn't see the route sign, and the cyclist ahead missed it too, he was continuing on the M1 ! There was a sign there it was just too small.
According to the map, the M1 bike path then joins a seperate path, but earlier in the year that path was not built because of some legal dispute. I would have called the guy back, but he was too far away.
The ride into weribee was stress free, I was in familiar territory now, and traffic was slower and quieter.
I stopped at the Weribee rest area to finish the Schnitzel, refill the water. My array of inner tubes tied to the bike attracted attention, and I briefly explained the story of my stressful ride to a group of riders.

The final push
The Sag Wagon had overtaken me on the M1, and was haunting me at the rest area, this was the last place to get on reliably, otherwise I would have to hope I was spotted, I wasn't planning to need it though.
Amazingly it was about 16:15, relatively good time had been made in the last segment, there was only 35k to go there was no chance of giving up now, I knew the area, most of the route, and could get home easily by myself if nescessary.
I set off for the home stretch, and it wasn't long before I was on Point Cook Road, a familiar part of the route. I was used to riding on my own now, and not paying much attention as I slowed at a junction I heard a shout of "Slowing". The group at the rest stop had caught me and was just behind, I was following some slow people by then, mainly because it was hard to pass along Point Cook Road, quite a busy and unnecessarily narrow road. At a convenient break in traffic the group passed me, some 5 or 6 cyclists, I lost count as the last one passed and invited me on the back.
I didn't have much energy, but I knew if I could keep up, it would be quicker, more efficient, and morale boosting. The pace was good, just enough to give me a boost, but just slow enough that I could keep up. That worked for several Ks until the leader changed at an island, and the pace picked up, I dropped off the back - it was good while it lasted.
The roads in the area are lined with trees and power lines, an evil combination that Magpies like, fortunately it could not have been peak season for magpie attacks, as I only saw the shadow of one that called the attempt off before it hit me.
Tiredness was increasing now, the speed was dropping, but there was no pain as such just general aches, and there was only about 15-20k to go, I was unsure of the distance. I arrived in Altona where two SES volunteers sitting next to a big Pink arrow directed me to turn Left.
That was the last arrow I saw, I arrived at Koroit Creek Road (KCR) A big road running by all the refineries in Altona, I had been along this road many times, but didn't know the intended ride route from here. There was no detailed map for the 210km ride. As it happens I missed the sign, which was apparently at Grieve Road.
The time was now 17:40, the guide said the Westgate Bridge would close at 17:45, maybe the signs had been removed to stop any more riders going that way, but there was supposed to be signs and people redirecting late riders, I saw neither, mainly because I had missed a turn and lost the route.
I decided to carry on down KCR to Werribee and back to the city my normal way. Part way back I met another rider, he had got lost too. There were some signs approaching Footscray Road. It would have been very confusing if you weren't local.

Finish
We finally arrived at Footscray Road for the last few ks to the finish, but there were no signs from our side, it was all set up for people going over the bridge, we arrived at the point where we started, somewhat lost as to where the finish was and how to get there. The other rider asked a passing cyclist, "It's back there", he said, back up Harbour esplanade, in the other direction was a coned-off lane leading up the docklands waterfront to a proper finish.....complete with photographer.
"6:45 is your finish time",
"I finished" was all I could think, 210km, I've been so far, I started at 6am just down the road, and have cycled all the way around Port Phillip Bay.
That's 12:45 - Twelve Hours Forty Five Minutes I was not happy about the time. I was very happy about finishing just not happy with the time.
Then I was somewhat dissapointed that the whole thing was being packed away, there was supposed to be some post-ride festival, freebies and other good things, it may have been hyped-up, but anything would have been better than people packing it away. I was by no means the last rider to finish, there were many other late finishing riders, some of whom were probably just slow

Next year
This year's goal was always to complete the full distance, a good time would have been a bonus.
I hope to be entering again next year, with more training and better luck I may arrive at a more reasonable time.

Design by Ed Maher 2002