Baum Cycles

The details about when and why we started planning this trip are lost to both Steve and I, all we knew was we wanted to ride some back roads from Melbourne up and through the old gold mining region of Victoria. For years we'd discussed the possibility of jumping on road bikes with naught but credit cards and a will to see the roads less travelled, so when a weekend opened up we both grabbed at the idea with both hands and headed to google maps to decide a route.

The final plan was two be a two day adventure, first from Melbourne, out through the western suburbs, over Mt Macedon and on to Bendigo where we would spend the night in a dim motel room.

Neither Steve nor I had ridden Mt Macedon on the road before. The profile graph looked like a wall, the GPS tried desperately to route us around on flatter roads…

By the time we realised the extent of what we'd signed ourselves up for, we were committed.

These hogs stood vigil over our bikes while we made pigs of ourselves inside the bakery.

Cows chewing cud watched us grind through the last hills into town. With only a few km to go we both succumbed to the first opportunity to buy sugary treats. The chocolate paddle pops tasted better than any childhood memory.

The following morning, after a raid on the towns bakery supplies we would make our way to Ballarat where lunch and a lift home awaited us.

The roll out in the morning was greeted by calm blue skies and empty roads.

Petrol last flowed here when six digit phone numbers worked.

As we rode on along the dead straight roads, the headwind began to bend time like Dali's Persistence of Memory.

Not quite the Arc De Triomphe, but just as surely a sign of an adventure finished.