Yarrawonga to Chesney Vale Ride : March 16 2024

Not the best night - windy almost all night. Awake a lot - up a little after 6 - still dark. Went back to lie down for another nap - got up as light was coming along - a little sore after basically sleeping on the ground. Takes a while to get organised first day from the tent. Shuffled things between panniers a bit so that I could ride the last section tomorrow with just one. Late leaving for the cafe stop - not a problem as I had eaten breakfast already. Discover soon that GPS had not charged yesterday and I had not checked. Plan B for recharging worked - power pack and stash the pack in the phone holder on the bike. It worked

Coffee and breakfast gathering in town - run by family of our organiser. Food looked fab. Today we head south along the Silo Art Trail - wind is from behind

Flat country - narrow roads but low traffic. Country sure is dry - surprising so close to the Murray River

First of the silo art towns - Tungamah - this was the first silo painted in North Victoria

Posed bike photo - panniers deposited in Brent and Meghan car - hopefully to be delivered to Goorambat where I branch off to go to my mate's place. Bike riding well with no load

Unobstructed view of the first silo

Old Court House - 2 blocks from the main street. Locals said it was too far from town

Sunflowers and rosellas

Town was a bustling town when the railway was operating. Pub would have done good business in those times. Not opening until 11:30 on a Saturday - wow

General store was open - coffee was on. Sat in the park to wait for the other riders. Sat quite a while.

Checked with Meghan had told Brent to drop my panniers off. Glad I asked as she had not - she called him - left a message

Short ride to next town - St James - art tells the story of the town - first cool store built out of Melbourne and where the Coles supermarkets started

Old man Cole on the left

Modern transport - for many years it was all horse drawn in bags. Meghan did get call from Brent and asked him to drop bag off. Got to say I was not convinced on the communication

Short hop to Devenish - pub open at least - stopped for a bit

Silos are a tribute to veterans including the nurses

Nice touch - and around the corner a station scene

Decided not to join for lunch stop here - keen to get to Goorambat only 10 kms away - Brent was parked up there - fast asleep in his van. Could not wake him.

Goorambat silo - lovely dray horse scene. Van was parked next to picnic table - set about my lunch until Brent woke.

Good thing I popped ahead. He was not sure where he was supposed to drop the bag - was confused between two close by towns. Decided to wait. Grabbed the clothes pannier - moved a few things to the one coming with me. And off he went. I waited for the others. Meghan was pleased we had exchanged stuff and was a bit surprised that Brent gave me his number in case I needed help

Onto the Chesney Road - 3 kms of dirt. Hope the tyre holds - a few sections of sharp blue metal stone could be bad news

Good to get to the main road and the turn to Lake Mokoan. 6 kms to my next turn

Lake Mokoan is well known for the Winton Wetlands and not far off the Winton Racetrack - cars. Took the wrong turn on the loop road. Cost me a big hill before dropping down to the correct side.

Longest ride for 18 months - flat helped.

Noce to meet my friends - been 18 months. Had a good chin wag. Watched a bit horse racing - my mate likes the horses.

Nice dinner - AFL on TV for a while - started getting some cramp in thighs mostly. Unusual = not enough electrolytes. Topped that up pronto. Got the post done and to bed earlier than normal. Should be a good night - mattress - no light - no noise until the birds wake.

Tomorrow - a quiet day as my riders are doing a loop ride from their base for 2 nights. Gave me the chance to spend 2 nights here.

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Cycling, Daily Activity