On Christmas eve, we were graced with a beautiful summer's day for a family bike ride: 21 degrees Celsius, cloudy and not windy or humid.
We rode partly on the pavements and on quiet roads in Surrey Hills.
Two of Thomas' classmates and families drove past us and greeted us with Merry Christmas. We found the Anniversary Trail from Warburton Road and rode towards Hays Paddock. On the way there, we saw one of Thomas' classmates and his family riding toward us.
I like riding under Mont Albert Road and Barnsbury Road. The trail is quite shady and picturesque as we rode under these bridges. There are many different types of surfaces: from concrete to bitumen to gravel. There are many playgrounds on the way, but we saved the play time for Hays Paddock. The path was generally quiet with occasional pedestrian and cyclist.
We stayed and played for a little while at Hays Paddock.This is one of the best playgrounds in the area. It was relatively quiet as it was Christmas eve. The best bicycle parking we could find was the Hays Paddock signage itself.
We rode to Fat Penguin Cafe in East Kew and had a spot of lunch. There were no designated bike park at the front of the cafe. However, we managed to lock our bikes on a public bench nearby and a designated bicycle park across the road next to the post office.
I ordered the salt and pepper squid, Kim had the beef and cheese burger while the children had pikelets with nutella and banana. The squid and salad were good but it needed some carbohydrates. Unfortunate its sauce was too sweet and salty. I would have preferred it to be more lemony. The burger was better than average. The children liked the pikelets as they were not soggy as they were eating them. The coffee was really good. The chai leaf latte could have been done better as it was bland and had no body.
After lunch we carried on our journey on to Outer Circle Trail. We passed Guide Dogs Victoria as we cycle onto the footpath. It seemed daunting at first as the roads are so busy here but being on the foothpath gave us a safer route.
The ride up to Wurundjeri Spur Lookout gave my legs a workout. We managed to ride up without stopping and enjoyed the view of the city with a group of cyclists as well as motorcyclists. I welcomed Kim's suggestion of taking his turn of pulling Ella Mae.
As we were riding towards Bellbird Park, we could hear the chirping of the bellbirds. Then we saw the colony hanging on the eucalyptus trees.
There was a beautiful view of the Abbotsford Convent and Collingwood Children's Farm from here.
We joined the Main Yarra Trail and crossed the bridge with a wonderful view of the Melbourne icon, the Skipping Girl.
We continued on Yarra Boulevard and joined the Gardiner Creek Trail underneath the Citylink M1. The trail underneath the Citylink would have been better if it was wider as some cyclists do ride fast here. Sometimes they pass us without ringing the bell and would give me a fright.
We normally top up our water at the HA Smith Reserve where there is a wonderful playground as well as a simple skate ramp. Also, there is a bicycle station here where you can fix your bike and pump up the tyres.
As always, we stop by the Hawthorn Velodrome and ride around it a few times. The surface was recently been refurbished and was very smooth to ride on.
One of the children's favourite parts of this trail was going underneath Burke Road. They pretended they are trains and "choo-choo" away.
After this, Kim and I took separate trails. I preferred to ride on Great Valley Road. Whereby he preferred Ferndale Trail. Nevertheless we met at Ferndale Park and continued on together on to our journey home.
We left the trail altogether and rode on the roads: Wallis Avenue, Ranwick Street, Howie Street, Goodwin Street and Somerset Road. We cross Toorak Road at the pedestrian light and onto George Street and Bright Street. There was now a ramp at the end of Bright Street to join up to Anniversary Trail.
We leave the trail again at Willow Road and rode all the way uphill home.
It took us about 3 hours 20 minutes for 36km.
We rode partly on the pavements and on quiet roads in Surrey Hills.
Two of Thomas' classmates and families drove past us and greeted us with Merry Christmas. We found the Anniversary Trail from Warburton Road and rode towards Hays Paddock. On the way there, we saw one of Thomas' classmates and his family riding toward us.
I like riding under Mont Albert Road and Barnsbury Road. The trail is quite shady and picturesque as we rode under these bridges. There are many different types of surfaces: from concrete to bitumen to gravel. There are many playgrounds on the way, but we saved the play time for Hays Paddock. The path was generally quiet with occasional pedestrian and cyclist.
We stayed and played for a little while at Hays Paddock.This is one of the best playgrounds in the area. It was relatively quiet as it was Christmas eve. The best bicycle parking we could find was the Hays Paddock signage itself.
We rode to Fat Penguin Cafe in East Kew and had a spot of lunch. There were no designated bike park at the front of the cafe. However, we managed to lock our bikes on a public bench nearby and a designated bicycle park across the road next to the post office.
I ordered the salt and pepper squid, Kim had the beef and cheese burger while the children had pikelets with nutella and banana. The squid and salad were good but it needed some carbohydrates. Unfortunate its sauce was too sweet and salty. I would have preferred it to be more lemony. The burger was better than average. The children liked the pikelets as they were not soggy as they were eating them. The coffee was really good. The chai leaf latte could have been done better as it was bland and had no body.
After lunch we carried on our journey on to Outer Circle Trail. We passed Guide Dogs Victoria as we cycle onto the footpath. It seemed daunting at first as the roads are so busy here but being on the foothpath gave us a safer route.
The ride up to Wurundjeri Spur Lookout gave my legs a workout. We managed to ride up without stopping and enjoyed the view of the city with a group of cyclists as well as motorcyclists. I welcomed Kim's suggestion of taking his turn of pulling Ella Mae.
As we were riding towards Bellbird Park, we could hear the chirping of the bellbirds. Then we saw the colony hanging on the eucalyptus trees.
There was a beautiful view of the Abbotsford Convent and Collingwood Children's Farm from here.
We joined the Main Yarra Trail and crossed the bridge with a wonderful view of the Melbourne icon, the Skipping Girl.
We continued on Yarra Boulevard and joined the Gardiner Creek Trail underneath the Citylink M1. The trail underneath the Citylink would have been better if it was wider as some cyclists do ride fast here. Sometimes they pass us without ringing the bell and would give me a fright.
We normally top up our water at the HA Smith Reserve where there is a wonderful playground as well as a simple skate ramp. Also, there is a bicycle station here where you can fix your bike and pump up the tyres.
As always, we stop by the Hawthorn Velodrome and ride around it a few times. The surface was recently been refurbished and was very smooth to ride on.
One of the children's favourite parts of this trail was going underneath Burke Road. They pretended they are trains and "choo-choo" away.
After this, Kim and I took separate trails. I preferred to ride on Great Valley Road. Whereby he preferred Ferndale Trail. Nevertheless we met at Ferndale Park and continued on together on to our journey home.
We left the trail altogether and rode on the roads: Wallis Avenue, Ranwick Street, Howie Street, Goodwin Street and Somerset Road. We cross Toorak Road at the pedestrian light and onto George Street and Bright Street. There was now a ramp at the end of Bright Street to join up to Anniversary Trail.
We leave the trail again at Willow Road and rode all the way uphill home.
It took us about 3 hours 20 minutes for 36km.
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