Inverloch and Baw Baw

Following a 5 day lockdown in Victoria that meant we had to cancel the second half of our Lakes Entrance holiday we managed to move the dates to last week. I also had a pre-planned cycle ride from Noojee up Baw Baw climb so we combined both with Michelle picking me up from Noojee and then we continued down to the coastal town of Inverloch.

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Gravel Bike and Good Friday Crucifix

It has been a while but it has been a busy few months moving into our new house. We’re pretty much settled in now, just waiting on the dining chairs to arrive! Other than that I have been keeping up with the cycling when I can.

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Harrietville Cycling (Victorian Alps)

View from Tawonga Gap
View from Tawonga Gap

Last weekend i was lucky enough to be invited to go on a cycling trip to the Victorian Alps staying in the small village of Harrietville down the road from the larger town of Bright.

The trip was organised by one of the guys who I’ve met through Croydon Cycleworks and they have been going for a few years now. We stay in a large house that has had bunk beds put in all the rooms and use that as a base for a few days of riding.

This was my first chance to try some of the climbs in the 7 Peaks challenge. The aim to to ride 7 specific climbs in Victoria during the summer season, this is something i hope to complete this season if i can.

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Alternative Cycling Climbs on Mt Dandenong

Mast Gully Road
Mast Gully Road

In a previous entry i have written about the main climbs on Mount Dandenong, – our local hill which is very popular amounts cyclists being the highest point in the metropolitan Melbourne area. As we are lucky enough to live so close that means that i get the opportunity to explore the other routes up, these alternatives are mostly from the Fern Tree Gully side and a bit more out of the way. Similar to my previous post i will just give a brief description and link to the Strava segment for each of these.

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Around the Bay 2018

Around the Bay Strava map
Around the Bay Strava

The Around the Bay in a day cycle ride is an annual ride around the Melbourne bay now in its 26th year. Since i first visited Michelle’s family over here it has always been mentioned as i ride i should do, so was on the bucket list from the moment i arrived. Almost as soon as i got a bike here i booked a place on the 210km Anti-Clockwise loop.

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Cycling Mount Dandenong

We are very fortunate to live so close to Mount Dandenong which is a hill just over 600m high to the East of the Melbourne CBD. The various hills in the range form the Dandenong Ranges National Park, the ranges are mainly covered in large trees and ferns forming a ‘temperate Rainforest’ (stole that definition from wikipedia).

Chicken Parma
Parma at Pig and Whistle Tavern

There are a number of roads that criss-cross around and over the hills with some great climbs (then descents) in lovely scenery. There are a few little villages dotted around with some pubs, restaurants and cafes; at the Pig and Whistle Tavern as well as great parmas (Australian “classic” which is schnitzel with tomato, cheese and ham on – just realised now it is a schnitzel pizza…) you can get Old Speckled Hen, London Pride and other English beers. I’ll go through the main cycling climbs on Mt Dandenong and throw in some pictures too.

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Strava Starred Segment Explorer

Since I have moved to Australia i have started using the starred segments in Strava to find climbs and recommended routes to ride but it is a real pain to see where these are located relative to each other. So I decided to knock up a page using the Strava API to do it (the weather was rubbish so i didn’t use up cycling time).

Click Here to give it a go let me know what you think or if you have any issues / ideas in the comments below.

Update 19/09/2018: Now includes segment category filters

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London to Windsor Loop

As my wife and I will be emigrating to Australia (more entries on that to come later) the guys i normal cycle with decided to do what they kindly called a memorial ride – not the nicest choice of names! We decided to do the Strava London route of the London to Windsor Loop. Being January we weren’t expecting the best weather but the forecast wasn’t that bad – just a bit cold. The guys got me a SouthAustralia.com gilet which i was very thankful for the extra warmth.
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Lee Valley Velo Park

Having never been to the London Olympic Park Velo park before I have no had the pleasure of visiting twice in the last 2 weeks. Last night I went to day 2 of the London Six Day event in the velodrome itself and last week my friend and I did an hour session around the flood lit road track on the park.
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