Bellarine Rail Trail
It's not very often during October in Victoria that a Saturday aligns with a cloudless 24°C day. It's even rarer that your shift-working friends have that day off and the schedules of four busy people align. When it happens though...perfection ensues.
Bellarine Rail Trail runs 35km from South Geelong to Queenscliff and it is a rail trail ride in the truest sense. Very little of the trail requires you ride on the roads and even then the roads are wide, quiet and completely nonthreatening. If you do the return trip, it's 70km-ish of riding heaven.
We parked the car at South Geelong station, unloaded the bikes and prepared the padded pants. It's not everyday a girl gets to wear her padded pants but, as you can read about in my previous post, I'm all about donning the padded pants and diving headfirst into whatever activity I've decided to get involved in.
As we left the station, our dazed and confused looks attracted the interest of a fellow cyclist, a local. He kindly offered to guide us to the beginning of the trail and we peddled hard to keep up with him as his experienced calf muscles pushed him knowingly ahead of us. Turns out the beginning of the trail is a very short distance from the station where Strong Street (which is just off Swanston) meets a path running behind some factories.
At the end of the nature reserve is a large round about and the beginning of the rail trail itself is almost opposite you, on the right side of the road in the direction you are facing.
Once you find it, the first 8km or so of the trail from Geelong is sealed and a gentle climb. You'll cross the Bellarine Highway and slowly head into farmland and beautiful views. With the old railway track still visible in places, you can't help but be taken back in time to when the old trains carried people and goods along this very route.
I imagine that arriving in Drysdale would normally be wonderful part of this ride. There's a large lake to your right and a stunningly picturesque railway station that, when there's not a cloud in the sky, looks perfectly quaint set against the bright blue sky. However, if you arrive mid mosquito plague as we did, it's best not to stay long. We had a quick half a snack before shovelling the second half of our food down our throats with one hand on the handlebars as we high-tailed it away from the bloodsuckers that had taken a liking to our limbs.
We sped off from Drysdale at record speed taking note of the sign that indicated we had 16km to go. Propelled by the fact that we had passed the half way mark, and possibly the slight downhill, we made our way over the few hills this trail throws at you. We were rewarded with breathtaking views of Port Phillip Bay, the old railway line and the puffing steam train which now acts as a tourist attraction ferrying visitors from Drysdale to Queenscliff.
We encountered more friendly cyclists on this adventure than one could poke a stick at and I was reminded of my own advice to myself when I first started cycling...get off the roads and onto the trails. People smiled, waved, said good morning and led us onto parts of the track that were apparently 'closed' but were well and truly fine for the riding.
Once we made it to Queenscliff we lazily cycled up the hill of the main street and parked ourselves in the local pub, in the sun, next to some live music and quickly got beers in hand. Does it get any better? It may have been the stunning day, the friends, the adrenaline, the pub lunch or the fact that Queenscliff is seaside with a good old Bowls Club but I very quickly imagined myself living there. Until I heard a local mention the winter winds that sweep up the main street for a good chunk of the year. My bet was that he says that loudly enough most days to dissuade outsiders like me from trying to stake out a part his perfect little town.
After a lunch to refuel we meandered back towards Geelong, taking advantage of the fact that the old railway stations have working bathrooms for you to empty your beer-filled bladder at.
We arrived back in Geelong with sore bums but full hearts, proud of ourselves and of each other for getting out and embracing the warm weather and for taking 70km in our stride. We are blessed in Australia to have hundreds of rail trails available to us so let's get exploring!
