Day 3 - The Heinz 57 Trail to Port Fairy

Day Three- The Heinz 57 Trail to Port Fairy
After our long day in the car yesterday, it was time to get back on the bikes for our ride from Warrnambool to Port Fairy and back again. No one in our group had ridden this trail before, so we had absolutely no idea of what to expect. One thing that we did not expect was warm/hot weather at this time of the year, but that is exactly what we did get.
After unpacking our bikes and heading off in search of the beginning of the trail, we soon became very aware of a fearsome adversary - a howling head wind ! As if the head wind was not enough of a challenge, we also immediately discovered that the first few km were distinctly uphill. It was the evil combination of hills and head wind that soon had us all wondering why we had driven all the way to Warrnambool to suffer in this way.
Michael and Christine had made the sensible decision to completely ignore the start of the trail, and drive to meet us at Koroit instead. This not only cut about 20 km from the ride length, but also completely bypassed the hills as well.
When the rest of the peloton reached Koroit Station, there were several who were already considering stopping there and riding back to Warrnambool. The peloton split into a mens group and a womens group, but I was not sure how many (if any) of us would actually reach Port Fairy.
Fortunately the trail turned southward and the headwind turned into a not so evil side wind. The going got easier, well sort of. Although we were not battling a direct head wind, the surface of the trail quickly deteriorated into a corrugated, rocky cattle track. For some reason it also appeared that every few hundred metres, the surface changed from one material to another. For brief patches it was smooth, then it would shake you violently, only to turn sandy. And so it went on.
I lost count of the number of different surfaces we rode on, but I think it must have been at least 57. In spite of the challenges, we did reach Port Fairy without mishap, and were soon settled in front of one of the numerous bakeries. About 15 minutes all of the ladies also arrived.
By this time it was quite warm in the sunshine, and cold drinks were the order of the day.
After lunch, the men went on a cycle tour of the Port Fairy fishing wharf and saw the beautiful homes that line the waterfront.
The return ride turned out to be significantly easier than the outward ride, due to a combination of favourable winds and a welcome succession of downhill sections.
By the time I reached the waiting cars, my computer was telling me that we had ridden 63 km, although the combination of poor surfaces and challenging winds, made it feel more.Read more