Flinders St to Sandringham via the Bay Trail

Ride on 5 April 2019

After realizing we hadn't packed our DIY resuscitation kit and C&BW suits, the planned Craigieburn trip was postponed because of the raging fire in the recycling plant.

So we turned to Plan B: off to Sandringham via St Kilda Rd, Albert Park, Fitzroy St and the Bay Path. It’s a lovely ride, which we’ve done a number of times before. The bike path alongside the beach is delightful, and the Sandringham Pub always delivers a good lunch.

Weather was a glorious, sunny Melbourne autumn day and the forecast tailwind pushed us all the way to the Sandy pub. All up a nice cruise down the bay and without incident.

The Sandy Pub Seniors Menu was its usual high standard and everyone seemed to enjoy the nosh and theconversazione .

Boronia Circuit via Blind Creek and Ferny Creek Trails

Ride 29 March 2019

On a warm autumn morning, 22 riders gathered at Boronia Station to extend OYB’s conquest of outer eastern Melbourne. We welcomed Linda, who was riding with us for the first time. Linda regularly rides with the Darebin Bicycle User Group. 

From Boronia station we rode south, Jonno leading and Bob as sweep, along the Underwood bike path to connect to the Blind Creek Trail.  We took a loop through Dobson Park and the tranquil Tim Neville Arboretum (named after Jonno’s former boss who died in unfortunate circumstances) and then re-joined the Blind Creek Trail to Fair Park. From there we rode south along Scoresby Road and through Knox Park to join the Ferny Creek Trail, which we followed to Upper Ferntree Gully. We lost David along the way. (Not due to negligence on my part but he needed to train back early to get to another commitment.)

At Upper Ferntree Fully we enjoyed a rest, refreshments and stimulating conversation in Brew’d Café where the service was amazingly quick given the number of riders. We then divided into subgroups.  One group decided to train back from there. Another group rode to Boronia Station along the Underwood bike path. From Boronia one rider decided to continue riding to Bayswater and the rest of us trained home from there.

Overall, a wonderful day of pleasant weather, beautiful nature and fantastic company. Thanks to Bob and Peter for sweeping and John and Joy for the photos.

Jonno.