10th Dec: Melbourne Australia ride and social chat

[Samd]

Agreed. And plenty of train stations handy in the worst case, though prob not needed.

[Timbo]

Great idea, but not sure if I can commit due work. My battery is showing its age so I'm only getting about 25 - 30kms range. Bayside or Yarra trail are both good choices. Could also consider Port Melbourne & then take the punt across and on to Williamstown for cafe stop. T

[BiGH]

Great idea, but not sure if I can commit due work. My battery is showing its age so I'm only getting about 25 - 30kms range. Bayside or Yarra trail are both good choices. Could also consider Port Melbourne & then take the punt across and on to Williamstown for cafe stop. T

I prob would have come if my bike was running. but have fun everyone!

[AussieRider]

I'll be there. I'm thinking if We met at Federation Square in front of the big screen it would be easy to find each other with plenty of roon so we wouldn't block the footpath like at Southern Cross. Flinders St station is across the road & the Yarra trail nearby. See you all there!

AussieRider.

[AussieRider]

I'll be there. I'm thinking if We met at Federation Square in front of the big screen it would be easy to find each other with plenty of roon so we wouldn't block the footpath like at Southern Cross. Flinders St station is across the road & the Yarra trail nearby. See you all there!

AussieRider.

[shorza]

Great idea guys. Unfortunately I'll going to have to give it a miss due to me being out of town for that weekend. That yarra area is my neck of the woods too.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread for future meet ups.

Have fun.

[BenMoore]

A splendid idea!
Fullthrottle brought this to my attention (thanks mate!) and I would like to join in if I can get a bike going in time...

[Samd]

With a week and a bit to go here is the final plan:

10.45 Depart Southern Cross from the location in the google link posted earlier (may just be me.)
11.00 Meet Fed Square in front of the big screen (I will be the silly looking bald guy on a black Aprilia)
11.15 Depart Fed Square along the north bank of Yarra, 13km leg to Abbotsford (heaps of time)
12.00 Meet for lunch at Abbotsford Convent. Anyone out of batteries can get the train.
1.15 Depart Convent. 9km leg to Melbourne Zoo
1.45 Meet Melb Zoo (suggestions where). Anyone out of batteries can get the train.
2.00 Depart zoo for another 9km leg to Docklands.
2.30 Meet up for a drink at Docklands or shoot through. I will be planning at least one beer by then before getting the train back to Ballarat later.

Anyone know clear spot where the trail meets the zoo in case we split up? No biggie.

Anyone know a good spot in Docklands with bike room to meet up after? Or we can wing it.

If you want to print a copy of the route notes here you go:
http://www.bv.com.au/media/vanilla/file ... %20map.pdf

[RobinW]

Just joined. I live in Melbourne western suburb. Melbourne Ebike group great idea. Unfortunately can't make this ride.
Look forward to next.

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[Kepler]

Long range forecast is for rain. Not good

[Samd]

Eek! 10mm of frequent showers. Let's start to discuss here on thursday about whether to cancel.
if it still looks that way on Friday morning I will be rescheduling to January...

[adrian_sm]

Yeah, I would probably be a no show if rainy. Don't mind it commuting to work with a warm shower at the end, but not for a social ride.

Let's see what it says closer to Saturday.

P.S. My wife will be pissed if it is cancelled, I made her change her return flight from Perth, to get her back in time so I could make it along.

[adrian_sm]

I did a quick ride along the Capital City Trail that we are planning on taking today, as I had never ridden a lot of it before, and need to go for a decent ride anyway.
It was pretty slow due to a lot of bends, quite a few stops, and traffic. There were also a set of stairs people will need to get their bikes down at one point, and a detour onto some roads in another.

So it should be a fairly leisurely pace for those worried about battery capacity. I only averaged about 25kph.
Including my ride in from the Eastern Suburbs I managed to only use 270wh, for about 40kms round trip. But I do tend to pedal. : )

Here are some of me GPS stats so you can see the sort of speeds I was doing.

Here's hoping the weather stays good for a little longer.

- Adrian

[Kepler]

Looking at the weather pattern, it looks like the morning will OK with showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Perhaps we should consider bring the start time forward, say a 10.00am start from Fed Square. Not sure if that works for Samd with him coming in from Ballarat but this would give us a better chance of staying dry.

[Samd]

Awesome research Adrian.

Yeah, I can be at Southern cross at 9.30, and Fed Square for a 10am kickoff, no probs.
Does this work for the others? Let's see who responds by 9am tomorrow (friday) and then decide to lock the new time in if they can.

I guess if anyone doesnt see the new time they can still chose to take a ride!

[adrian_sm]

10am start @ Fed Square sounds good.

If the weather starts to turn, I may head home from the Zoo or the Convent rather than doing the full circuit.

Kepler, Did you still want to ride in together? I am in Surrey Hills, pretty much on Whitehorse road between Union and Balwyn Rd.
If you still plan on heading up Canterbury, I can meet you @ cnr of Balwyn & Canterbury @ say 9:15.
That should give us heaps of time to get in to Fed Square and have a chat before others rock up.

If anyone else is in the area feel free to join us for the ride in.

- Adrian

[ElectricEd]

10:00am at Fed Square sounds fine to me.
See you there.

[Kepler]

10am start @ Fed Square sounds good.

If the weather starts to turn, I may head home from the Zoo or the Convent rather than doing the full circuit.

Kepler, Did you still want to ride in together? I am in Surrey Hills, pretty much on Whitehorse road between Union and Balwyn Rd.
If you still plan on heading up Canterbury, I can meet you @ cnr of Balwyn & Canterbury @ say 9:15.
That should give us heaps of time to get in to Fed Square and have a chat before others rock up.

If anyone else is in the area feel free to join us for the ride in.

- Adrian

Just thinking how much LiPo I need to carry for 70 to 80km. I might just drive to your place and go from there. Lets me run a bit lighter and have less distance to pedal if its a wet ride home.

[adrian_sm]

Fine with me. I'll PM you my address in case you don't have it.

I only used 270wh from my place to do most of the trial, but ended up pedalling a far bit since it was so slow, and at first I wanted to conserve batteries. But you have an extra 2x 11kms to get to and from your place to mine. Plus I just joined the trail at the closest point to me, then went around, on Saturday we have a few extra kms to the meeting point and back.

I'll just run my 5s20Ah pack. I may throw a spare 6s5Ah pack in my backpack just in case.

[Samd]

I've had a lot of buy in on the new time.
With one person committed to go come hell or high water, here is the (new) final plan:

9.40 Depart Southern Cross from the location in the google link posted earlier (may just be me.)
10.00 Depart Fed Square from in front of the big screen, along the north bank of Yarra, 13km leg to Abbotsford (heaps of time)
10.45 Meet for a bite at Abbotsford Convent. Anyone out of batteries can get the train.
12.00 Depart Convent. 9km leg to Melbourne Zoo
1.00 Meet Melb Zoo (next to Royal Park Train Station). Anyone out of batteries can get the train.
1.15 Depart zoo for another 9km leg to Docklands.
1.45ish Meet up for a drink at James Squire Brewhouse in Docklands or shoot through. I will be planning at least one beer by then before getting the train back to Ballarat later.

I have pm'd my mobile number in case they don't let me on the train down to Melb - I will catch you somewhere downstream!

Anyone know clear spot where the trail meets the zoo in case we split up? No biggie.

Anyone know a good spot in Docklands with bike room to meet up after? Or we can wing it.

If you want to print a copy of the route notes here you go:
http://www.bv.com.au/media/vanilla/file ... %20map.pdf

[adrian_sm]

The best place to meet at the zoo would be directly in front of the Royal Park train station, near the back entrance to the zoo.
The bike track crosses the train tracks here, and anyone lazy and training or driving in to catch up will find this easy enough.

I don't know docklands that well, but have been to the James Squire Brewhouse. Vaguely remember there being an outdoor area under cover. Should be able to find enough room to stash the bikes there or in eye site. And I don't mind the Squire's Amber Ale.

Ah, found a photo. Should do as a meeting place at the least.

[Samd]

Those photos make me thirsty! Let's do it. Have amended the plan to officially include beer. Which feels good.

[adrian_sm]

[Samd]

Stop it! Just took a ride to Aldi with the wife (bought a nice pannier set and bags for 39 bucks). I am thirsty and could drink a whole bakfiets of beer...

[adrian_sm]

"bakfiets" ? I had that look that one up