Date: Wednesday, 28 June 2017

From: Neil

Melburn Roobiax

Officially the ride is just 38km ... so why did it take us all day?

Well its first of all a leisurely start ... no race this ... start any time between 9 and 10 at the Hawthorn Velodrome.  Ride at a crawl thru the streets, parks and back alleys of leafy Hawthorn ... a crawl because of the traffic jams of riders.  And just as well because there is no way I could have navigated thru this on my own, this is follow the leader and hope they know the way better than some Joggers who shall remain nameless.  There's a map to follow, and a lovely map it is too, worth framing, but half of Melbourne on a one page sheet ain't an easy call, and now I realised why they supplied a magnifying glass in the musette ... didn't help though!

Food and coffee stops took a while, and the weigh-in at the Temple Brewing Company to win your weight in beer, of course had to be followed by a taste of what we hoped to win.  And then we got lost a few times ... well not lost, I knew where I was ... but where the hell is that sector of pave we need to pound and tick off?  I don't think Elio was impressed when I said we had to return down the biggest hill of the day cos we missed sector 4.

It was about here that we overtook the guy struggling with the steel framed bedhead converted to bicycle (he won the best mount of the day) and soon after got overtaken by the team of astronauts lead by a kid towing the boombox equiped rocket (best team of 4).  Also spotted Phillipa Shotglass and Ben Dover on their Priscilla inspired tandem with billowing silver banner (best team of 2).

The odometer said we covered 60km before we got to the finish at Brunswick Velodrome.

A great day, a great way to see the back alleys of Melburn and ride the bluestone cobbles which are part of the city's history, and it's always great to ride a well organised event, and be amongst other two wheeled, pedal powered enthusiasts.

(Melburn-Roobaix is a relaxed take on the famous race Paris-Roubaix)