Bikepacking Fun – Part 3 of 3

In Part 1 of this thread we discussed preparation and what to pack for this bikepacking gravel ride weekend, while Part 2 was on stage 1 of our ride on the Great Southern Rail Trail.

After yesterday’s fun and a LOOOOONNGGG wait for dinner last night I was lights out pretty damn quick. After a pretty good nights sleep I was up and about and feeling pretty bloody good. While our dinner was some two hours after we were seated (& 4 beers later) last night, it had obviously topped me up pretty well. I changed for the day and commenced packing my bag and bike up again. I’m glad I packed a 2nd set of Knicks and All packed up very easily and quickly, but I noted I needed a good dose of deodorant.

All ready to go we rolled out and it was very fresh. I’m glad I packed a long sleeve jacket as the air temp was single digits. Rolling through town to the rail trail was down hill thankfully. In fact most of the first 30 mins of riding was flat, which was good to allow the legs to warm up again. Coffee would fix it, so we looked at where would be the best place.

Mine were not the only legs lacking a bit of spark and looking at the clock, we thought Fish Creek would align nicely with opening for breakfast. We rolled into Fish Creek just as our lunch spot from the day before. Great coffee and one of the best Bacon & Egg rolls I have ever had later and the legs were ready for more. A quick check and I still had all my bags and my thongs in tact.

The legs were returning to life, just as we arrived in Leongatha and ready for the last sectors of climbing for the weekend. I was in need of a little top up of fuel, so reached into my top tube bag for a gel. A quick wee stop, with the girls in the local café watching me with embarrassment. Not sure who was more embarrassed.

We returned to the bike and start climbing. The going was a little bit slow, but the vistas were very enjoyable. There were plenty of people between Leongatha. Families riding bikes, couples out for a walk and the odd gravel cyclist out for a spin. It seemed so much faster to return to the bridges near Nyora. A quicker trip across the bridges and we finished our weekend of riding back in the start town of Nyora.

This was a great two days riding. The Great Southern Rail Trail is a great ride for everyone. Whether you go the entire distance from Nyora to Port Welshpool (return) or something in between, this ride will not disappoint. Do brekky, lunch or dinner in a small town. They will appreciate it and you will be doing a great thing for them. The more people head down there the better this trail will be cared for and more open the local towns will be to cyclists.

So what did we learn on this trip. Well again on all our trips – Less is more. You have to have a ‘why’ for taking something. There were things that never left my bag, such as back up tools & clothes and wouldn’t be considered next time. There were something I took that were really an unrequired luxury such as back up charging cables. I personally would pack my seat post bag in a different order to ensure the heavier chargers etc were closer to the seat post for weight.

The last lesson I learned was that we need to do this more often, so keep an eye out for our next adventure.