Cycling in Melbourne Australia
Roadie friendly paths.. advice
Now my wife has gone and got herself a roadie, it seems only fitting that it gets ridden on the road. But before that happens, I'd like to be able to take her out on a nice road bike friendly path so she can get the hang of the brifters, realise that the bike will not stop when you put the brakes on, unlike her disc braked MTB.
As far as road goes, I think that probably the safest, easiest bit, would be around Anne Jovis neck of the woods, a Carrum/Seaford to Mordialloc stint, wider bike lanes, dead flat, easy to turn around if needed. (We live that side of town anyway). I have to remember she hasn't been able to ride for the best part of a year, and its less than 10 weeks since the lil fella arrived so it's gotta be a gentle ramp up.
Now as far as discussion goes, Bike paths. What can people recommend, prefer this side of town, but not fussed if we need to travel a little to get to the start of one, needs to be pretty flat and forgiving. whats your local path/trail like ?
Also, reckon the road section I suggested would be the best "beginner proof" section of road to start on?
Thanks everyone and welcome any advice... If I stuff this up, I'm in the doghouse!! j/k
As far as road goes, I think that probably the safest, easiest bit, would be around Anne Jovis neck of the woods, a Carrum/Seaford to Mordialloc stint, wider bike lanes, dead flat, easy to turn around if needed. (We live that side of town anyway). I have to remember she hasn't been able to ride for the best part of a year, and its less than 10 weeks since the lil fella arrived so it's gotta be a gentle ramp up.
Now as far as discussion goes, Bike paths. What can people recommend, prefer this side of town, but not fussed if we need to travel a little to get to the start of one, needs to be pretty flat and forgiving. whats your local path/trail like ?
Also, reckon the road section I suggested would be the best "beginner proof" section of road to start on?
Thanks everyone and welcome any advice... If I stuff this up, I'm in the doghouse!! j/k
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by vx255 on -
She has been, its now getting used to the differences between the roadie brifters and the mtbs shifters, no point showing someone how to fly a 177 Cessna, then chuck them into a Boeing 767. But thanks for the bit of lateral thinking :)
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Permalink Reply by Cory on -
Cool, cool.
I just asked SWMBO. She's not the most coordinated person (I asked her if before I typed that) and she said she was fine after a few short rides. The brifters were fine - it was the cleats that took a while (no clip(less) on her MTB).
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Permalink Reply by vx255 on
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Pedals are the next step, I even dropped the toe clips and fitted standard pedals. She will be assimilated into the eggbeater collective soon enough though.
The issue atm, is she has a habit of wanting to grab the flats of the bars, which is miles away from the levers, but its a natural thing after coming off a mtb, I know I was guilty of it at first
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Permalink Reply by Oz on -
Eastlink from Boronia Rd all the way down past Dandenong is wide and as smooth as the 'lil fella's bum....but it does have a few raised undulations in sections that may water down her enthusiasm a bit.
How about cutting some laps of Casey Fields when there's no racing on ?
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Permalink Reply by vx255 on
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usually cop an eleventy billion knot wind along the back straight, even I sometimes consider taking up religion just to get back to the start/finish line. Cheers for the tips on the Eastlink trail, I haven't done it and wasn't sure where the silly bits of useless hills began. Undulations should be good, need to get a bit of hill into the legs. running a triple, she should be able to spin her way up a cyclone wire fence.
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Permalink Reply by weg on -
Not your side of town, but how about Hawthorn velo for some braking practice, then a little cruise towards the city? The velo is flatter than CC so she could work up through gentle braking to emergency, and work up and down the gears. Then take Gardiner's Creek path over the river and you can do Richmond bouli (flat and never busy, especially on the bottom half and much kinder than Beach Rd) or path it to the city.
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Permalink Reply by Stavros on -
Theres a freindly little velodrome down here at Edithvale Eddie - not to far from your place, then, I know you want path, but to and from the velo to Station Street, is flat bike lane as well as nice and cruisy flat quite streets. At the back of the velo is a bike path that runs along the Edithvale wetlands. It's not sealed but rideable with road tyres.
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Permalink Reply by vx255 on
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Never thought of a velo, good thinking Wendy, Although Casey Crit track is 5 or so mins away, its a wind bowl, and frankly, not conducive to keeping you awake. A velodrome may be different.
Hey Stav, I grew up in Chelsea/Edithvale, I remember that little velo from when I was a kid, I can't believe its still there.
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Permalink Reply by weg on
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Yep Hawthorn velo is nice for this stuff, with quite good public toilets that seem to be open whenever I'm there. Nice little food shops at Kooyong on Glenferrie Road and up in Hawthorn too (on-road lane up there via Auburn Road is good, and a more gentle rise than Scotch Hill on Glenferrie) if you want to make a longer day of it.
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Permalink Reply by RobE on
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Chelsea CC Velo at Edithvale, well it's not bad at 500m too, bit exposed in winds but...really try and encourage her to venture on to the road , say Station Street from Mordy south is a good one to work on, it has a bike lane pretty much full length, a few spots where merges happen and if you cross the Patterson River on the path rather than the traffic bridge there is a tight little corner at each end of the bridge that might call for hands on the hoods rather than the flats, but steady as and shouldnt be a problemo...
good luck and best wishes...the best riding on a roadie, is on the road... paths IMHO are unsafe at any speed and best avoided... ( say I using the Beach Rd path as an eg: gotta be the wildest most unsafe piece of shared pathway in Melb, with blind access points, errant pooches and mad roadies and MTBers doing huge knots among the joggers, and walkers, when they should be on the road and being visible, predictable and legal etc etc..)
enjoy Chelsea CC's velo, it was resurfaced a year or so back ( make that 3) but its accessible at all times and generally devoid of others, except the odd fallen tree branch, a kidlet on a trike riding back at you or raucous sideline bellowing from soccer moms in the middle... heheh!
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