Introduction: What’s going on here then?

I began blogging in the pages of a website called crazyguyonabike (CGOAB). I started with posts in a section called “Bicycle Life” and there I documented my riding adventures as I recovered from surgery for prostate cancer in 2014. By 2017 I was fit, had ridden a number of 2-3 day rides and was ready for a proper tour.

Before I left CGOAB and began my own blog I downloaded all my entries as files but have never uploaded them into this blog. In fact, the detail of the Rail Trails tour disappeared amid a heap of other files on the computer.

Guess what – I just found them!

So, I would like to gradually add the Victorian Rail Trail tour of 2017 to this blog and enjoy a nostalgic recreation of the tour while imagining Colin and I cycling the same area in, perhaps, March 2022.

Unfortunately I can’t add this historical information without the blog raising notifications – so expect a few extra blog posts over the next week or so.

Let’s begin.

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Friday March 17, 2017

After spending a couple of years documenting my day and multi-day rides in Bicycle Life I am about to go on my first multi week ride – which I decided would be long enough to document in CGOAB proper.

This is our best Rail Trail in Tasmania. Running from Ledgerwood to Scottsdale, I decided to cycle it again to give me some idea what the Great Victorian Rail Trail may be like.

This ride was completed using the Dahon Speed TR.

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The bike and I are booked on the Spirit of Tasmania to travel overnight between Devonport (Tasmania) to Melbourne (Victoria). We will then catch the train from Melbourne to Seymour and eventually begin cycling.

The tour will take 3 weeks and the end date is set because I have a berth back to Devonport just before Easter and the Ferry is so busy at the moment a date change would be a problem.

As most cyclists who blog about the trails seem to knock each of them over in a couple of days, 3 weeks will allow me to cycle a bit more slowly! This is desirable ‘cos I am no longer young and like to stop a lot to learn about the countryside I am travelling through, take pictures, talk to passers by and drink coffee. Good coffee. I also carry a bit of gear as I like to camp in comfort even if it means carrying more stuff.

Over in Bicycle Life we are running something called the Bike Life Challenge over 7 weeks from March 11. It involves cycling and buying something local, photographic evidence and a write up. So once a week I will be tackling the Bicycle Life Challenge – ride somewhere, buy something local, take a picture.

See you in a few days!