Trailer Plus Trikes to Don

Yes – we have a tow bar !!

But first, before tow bar, the normal Norfolk Plains rides continued in increasingly cold conditions.

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One of those days was so cold the ice in the bird baths didn’t thaw during the day. The ice sheets did lessen but were still there to welcome the next frost.

One day I fancied a longer ride and so put together three routes often cycled to create a 67k loop. The two batteries were charged and I set off. By the time I reached the Armstrong Lane turnoff I knew I hadn’t put on enough clothing! The south-easterly wind was really quite cooling and called for high power levels to keep up a reasonable speed. I did check at one point and, no, I didn’t have a puncture.

Pressing on I passed through Bracknell and turned onto Oaks Road to ride through to Carrick. The wind was opposite of normal and it was now coming in from behind. The sun was out. This leg was nicely warm and by the time I reached Carrick, was actually a bit too warm!

Carrick provided a “sticky” chicken and cheese sandwich (very dry) and a poor coffee. That was a surprise as the service station shop has made nice coffee for the past few weeks. This one was a sinkable and half was thrown out.

Batteries swapped over I continued on back down Bishopsbourne Road to Bishopsbourne. This leg was into a headwind so quite a bit cooler. Higher power levels were used and helped things along.

There is an issue here. Using more power helps get the ride done BUT, because you use less muscle power, you don’t generate the body heat that you would on a non e-bike. Hence you run colder!

An interesting ride nonetheless.

Now – Don to Latrobe

The trikes were loaded into the trailer. There was plenty of room for the two and anchoring them to stop them moving about proved easy.

The plan was for Colin, Sue and I to head off to Don. Colin and I would hop out there and board the trikes to ride to Latrobe while Sue drove there. Hopefully we wouldn’t take so much time that Sue got bored.

The drive along the Bass Highway went OK. The day before I was driving past Deloraine and received a flying rock into the windscreen. By the time I got home there was significant starring from the hit moving across the screen. I had coated the cracks with superglue to try and stop the spread. By the time we got to Don it was obvious this was working.

Setting off we started by travelling through a bushy area full of musky, bushy smells and dappled sunlight. Great. The track leads down to and through the Don College Campus before running alongside the Don Railway for a little while. The Don Railway is a community run heritage railway which is allowed to run trains along a stretch of rail from Don to the “mainline”. We had seen an engine steaming up as we set off but nothing passed us today.

After crossing the mainline we ran along the edge of Bass Strait along a very nice shared path. It twists and turns and provides views of the water all the way to The Bluff, Devonport. At this point we take the pathways running up the Mersey River to Devonport town. This section is very well used by locals to walk and ride. There are lots of signs advising people to stay away from the river as the wash from large ships – like the Ferry to Melbourne – can be dangerous. Not today though as the tide was out.

The Tide is Out ! Looking downstream towards the Strait

Looking upstream towards Devonport

We cruised on down, past the CBD, over the Mersey and onto the opposite shore. There we cycled the East Devonport trails for a short way before returning for a coffee in the “Village”.

It was then time to head to Latrobe and ride down the newly completed shared path – part of the planned Latrobe to Wynyard shared walk and cycleway.

Arrival in Latrobe and finding the car/trailer went well and Sue was only a little bored!

A good ride, good weather and so nice to ride somewhere other than the local rides. A good day.

Til next time ……………….