This ride was a family ride: 2 adults and 2 kids. It had been a while since the family had attempted a significant cycling challange. Consequently, this ride proved to be quite testing for most of us.

The weather was execllent for cycling. When we left the house (at around 3pm), it was about 20C and fairly sunny.

In order to entice the kids into this trip, we promised them that we would stop at the cafe in the Fawkner Cemetery for some Milkshake. This would explain the first leg of our trip. From the Upfield Bikeway, we cycled straight to the Cemetery. The Mikeshake really hit the spot for the kids. They certainly had new-found energy for the ride.

We back-tracked a bit to Boundary Road and crossed Sydney Road to travel on Queens Parade which led us to Merri Creek. This section of the ride was overall downhill but with the undulating terrain expected of a path following a creek. We deviated from the Merri Creek trail at Harding Street and took an informal unpaved path just to make things interesting. The adults were riding on mountain bikes and the children’s bikes are essentially mountain bikes anyway. So going off-road did not pose too much of a problem.

We emerged from the unpaved trail near Moreland Road. Following the rest of the Merri Creek trail led us to Rushall Station where it joined the Capital City Trail. This section of the trail is also called the Inner Circle Rail Trail. On certain parts of the trail, one can see rails embedded in concrete or tarmac. We took this trail to Park Street and decided to ride down Park Street instead of continuing on the trail to Princes Park. Park Street took us to the Upfield Bikeway and from there it took us home.

The total circuit was about 24 km. It took us slightly over 3 hours with a number of rest stops during the ride. Looking at the elevation profile above, it looks like when the ride started, the altimeter in the GPS had not settled down yet. The GPS in question is a Garmin Oregon 300 with altimeter set to auto-calibrate. I should probably have turned on the GPS for a few minutes prior to the ride.

Before the ride, I had expected 2 hours of riding time but it took us more than 3 hours instead. It would appear that the family has lost some of the stamina we built up last summer. In the past, we had cycled longer distances than what we did today. We might need to start training up again.

I was alone on this ride. The temperature in the day was about 33C – too warm for cycling. When I left home for the ride, it was around 31C but the sun was low in the sky. This made the ride a bit more bearable.

This route is very familiar to me. The Merri Creek Trail section of the ride was mostly uphill but the steep sections are relatively short. It should suit novice to moderately experienced cyclists. My kids (aged 9 and 11) have been with me on this route in the past, so it should not pose too much of a problem for most cyclists.

I didn’t meet many walkers and cyclists during this ride. That was probably due to the heat. As per yesterday’s experience, there were lots of bugs hoovering around the water’s edge. I had my goggles on this time. They didn’t bother me too much.

I rested at the northern end of Coburg Lake after a bridge crossing. I felt a slight cool breeze then. The temperature had probably fallen to 29C by then. After the short rest, I decided to head home. I put my lights on as I didn’t want to be caught out while on the road. I have by then decided to take Sydney Road home instead of using the Upfield Bikeway as I was not traveling with children.

The total distance (door to door) was about 12.5km. It took less than 55 minutes. The temperature was a bit warm for comfort but it was, nevertheless, still a pleasant ride. The warm temperature has discouraged some people from coming out which was a bonus. Merri Creek can be quite crowded during cooler times. This summer looks like its going to be a scoarcher. I thought I should get myself aclimatised, otherwise, I may not get too much opportunity to cycle.

The day was fairly warm – about 32C. We refrained from cycling in the heat and, instead, decided to cycle before the sunset.

We have not used our cycling lights for sometime now. A quick check revealed that the batteries in one of our lights has run down. A fresh set of batteries did the trick.

With this trip, we decided to do an easy (mostly downhill) ride of Merri Creek and get home via the Capital City trail and Upfield Bikeway. The total distance was slightly over 10km.

Near the end of the Merri Creek section of our ride, the sea breeze arrived. It helped cool the temperature to about 25C – a lovely temperature for cycling.

While on the Merri Creek Trail, we encountered lots of bugs. We should make a note to get the kids untinted goggles for such an occasion. This could prove to be challenging as we have never seen untinted goggles for children.

Overall it was quite a pleasant ride. The fact that it was a night ride made a familar route more interesting.