After my road ride with Fyxo, I thought for sure it would be my most memorable experience down under. Monday was a national holiday here in Melbourne. Something to do with the queen, I dunno. When Andy and Dan’s original plan for a 3 day cross ride to the wilderness was thwarted by snow, we decided to do a one day cross ride. With Dan leading, we put our lives and our inner tubes in his hands as we set out from the CBD of Melbourne.
Check out nine more photos below!
When Dan and Andy originally planned a cross ride, I was sans bike. Andy used his blog-master abilities to get a local shop, Fitzroy Revolution to loan me a brand new Specialized Elite Crux cross. While I’ll swear by steel, it was nice to be on a lightweight and solid aluminum frame. It proved to be the perfect tool for the job that day (more on the bike and the shop later).
Unlike this Concorde road with 23c tires and Shamals! This thing didn’t last past the first patch of single track. Better than crashing into the river and bending your Voodoo cross I guess.
From there we headed out to Dandenong Ranges, about 30 miles out from the city. We took mostly dirt and gravel with some asphalt bike paths. As we approached the range, we hooked off to an all-dirt road which was mostly slippery mud. The climbers took off up the 1,200′ climb with ease as I spun up the climb soaking in the beautiful scenery and attempted to dial in my barrel adjusters. Here at the top, we basked in the sun and prepared for our lunch.
Shepard’s pie and coffee (and cookies and pastries and cupcakes).
We ate and ate and ate as people fixed their flats. This was the reoccurring theme for the day…
As we took off down the mountain, we hit One Tree Hill and hopped off to a muddy bike path: through the trees, over mud holes, bunny hopping rocks and pulling lines. Finally Dan halted and invited us down this rocky, mossy descent. In road shoes. Amazing.
There we were greeted with the most beautiful view of the city in the distance.
We sat and soaked up the views, spotted landmarks and discussed how we were all about 2 hours late to our awaiting significant others.
Like loyal men, we hauled ass home along the paths. We made great time on the trip, which totalled about 60 miles and was 70% off-road. Reuben used his Garmin to track our time and climbs. Check out the stats here. I embedded it below as well.
This ride really worked all areas of my cycling experience: mountain biking, fixed freestyle and road cycling all had their chance to shine and offer up the things I’ve learned from riding bikes. I’ve got a ton of photos, some of which are stunning views of beautiful scenery so check them out in a slideshow below! PLEASE view these full-screen!
These are also on my Flickr!
ALSO! Do not miss out on Andy from Fyxomatosis’ photos from that day!
Thanks to Dan, Reuben, Liam, Andy, Benzy and the pissed off old grump on the trails. You guys made my trip! Many, many thanks to Fitzroy Revolution for entrusting me with a kick-ass cross bike! Expect a shop visit and a review of the bike soon!
