Riding to Mt Eliza

I set off on Sunday morning at 6:30am to do my regular Sunday morning circuit of Beach Rd but a few minutes into my ride I caught up with a small pack who were headed for Mt Eliza. "What the hell" I thought. "Let's go".

The ride down to Frankston passed without incident but what a struggle getting up Oliver's Hill. A couple of times I nearly came to a dead stop but I saw a couple of MTB cyclists legging it up and I decided I would do everything I could to get to the top without stalling. I laboured on, standing on the pedals in my lowest gear breathing raspily with the effort, past the walkers, and finally the grade started to level out. I continued on about 50 metres further and stopped at the side of the road to catch my breath. I had made it.

The rest of the distance to Mt Eliza is almost all uphill and, after the effort of getting up Oliver's Hill, I felt as if I was almost out of energy. The rest of the pack decided to continue on to Mornington. I thanked them for the ride and continued on into Mt Eliza and turned back towards Frankston. The ride downhill out of Mt Eliza and then down Oliver's Hill is exhilarating in the extreme. I clocked a max speed of 63Km/h which I think is my fastest yet.

I joined a passing pack at Seaford and kept with them on the Nepean Highway, slowly turning into the westerly wind as we went. I stopped for a few minutes in Mordialloc to refill my water bottle and remove my thermals. I joined another pack heading my way through Parkdale and stayed with them until Black Rock where I dropped into Kennedy's for a coffee before making the final warm down stretch to home.

Total Distance: 70Km in 2h:15m.