Melbourne 1 Day ride

kaeotee

I'm going to be in Melbourne the first weekend of December. I've arranged to hire a bike for Sunday (I pick it up Sat arvo) and need some suggestions for an easy paced morning (no more than 60km as I'm not sure about the quality of bike - $35) which will let me see some of Melbourne without having to dodge too many trams.

I'd be happy to catch transport somewhere and ride back.

I'll be leaving around 6 am. Include somewhere nice for breakfast / Lunch / Mornig Tea (only one!!!)

Thanks in advance.

Marx SS

city bike trail, Southgate, city centre, Docklands, Williamstown, Beach rd Port Melbourne to St Kilda.
Look all these places up in a Melways (street directory) & join them up. No mega hills to speak of between all these locations & some bike friendly roads & pathways.

kaeotee

After looking at the internet I'm thinking of Frankston (2 hours) look around for 3 hours and back (2 hours ? Train 1 hour). That'll get me back to Melbourne for Lunch and maybe a beer at the Belgian Beer Cafe.

Does this sound feasible?

Shabby

Beach Rd is good for finiding bunches and just cruising, but if you've never been to Melbourne I'd just do a trip to Moridalloc and back (60km from city), then cruise along the bike path along one side of the Yarra and come back on the other side, then head down St Kilda Rd to the Belgian. There's not much to see in Frankston, and the road between Mordy and Frankston is pretty boring (straight, flat and some crappy surfaces).

Check out this link for an easily printable map:

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/vrne/vrnav.nsf/9e58661e880ba9e44a256c640023eb2e/1433003f1fdf2231ca256ed1002d4074/$FILE/map06.pdf

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"I believe that one of these days we're going to have brand new types of cars that are going to make us less dependent on foreign sources of crude oil, and we'll be more better at cleaning our air". -- George W. Bush. 15/4/2002

MikeyOz

Agree with Shabby.... Frankston is definately not worth the effort for a sight seeing trip. Would definately recommend going to Moordy, possibly even just to black rock and maybe take in some of the docklands as well or one of the trails as suggested in the first post.

At least you have your priorities right, all paths leading to the Belgian Beer cafe

And not even any Triathlons on that morning either! Good timing.

have fun.

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MOz

siay

I'll be in Melbourne for the Chrismas/New Year period and am thinking of hiring a bike for some rides, let us know how the hired bike goes and where you hired it if its any good.
Siay

kaeotee

I cannot say enough bad things about my experience with this company. It is a tiny business that operates out of a container just near Flinders Street station.

The bike itself was a complete piece of crap. I hired it anyway as I really just wanted to use it for a look around rather than a serious ride. My hands and wrists are still numb as the handle bars were not the most ergonomic design ever. I probably did 40 km yesterday.

However the worst part is on returning the bike the place was shut. The information centre told me it wasn't open today for some reason. The situation was desperate as he took my Drivers licence as a deposit and I needed it to catch a plane last night. Thankfully the airline eventually accepted my Visa and Library Card as sufficient ID. After wasting an hour on desperate phone calls I finally decided to lock the bike up outside his shop/container where it is now (hopefully). I'm mailing him the key once he returns one of my phone calls / messages and hopefully he will return my lock, key and licence.

Anyone living in Melbourne has my express permission to beat the hell out of this man.

MikeyOz

Ohhh the bike container company, is this the one on the banks of the yarra river ??
Ive always wondered what they were like...

A bit late now of course, but Bike Now hire bikes out on a day and hourly basis, they are in South Melbourne and hire out good quality bikes, maybe next time, and they are open on sundays as well!

at least the weather was nice!

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MOz