Combined Branches Ride to Mortlake, Wednesday 10th November

Pics: Peter Townsend

Report: Rob Pow




We set off from Waurn Ponds Macca's with 9 riders in total. Gentle was leading and Indian Jim was TEC.

 Have Jim ride that Indian back there was easy to see and unmistakable. It rained all night before this ride and it rained very soon afterwards, so the roads were still damp in patches and we know how awkward wet patches can be.
 






With morning tea over at Skipton, I was surprised how bad the road was on the other side (Geelong bound) there were big potholes, missing tarmac and a lot of loose edges. Our side wasn't so bad, but you had to keep an eye out. We met several riders from the Grampians crew in town, so we had a chat, had a coffee and of course - visited the toilet.




 The roads to Mortlake were much nicer, but we still had gravel in sections. Personally, I'm happy to ride a bit of gravel to avoid a stretch of straight boring highway. Riding through the Western District, I've never seen so many lakes. Big, small, medium and all full to the brim, it was quite picturesque.


We stopped in Mortlake for lunch and met Jimbo from Portland, Jim seemed in good spirits and he had a chat with most of us. Clarke's Pies was the popular choice amongst the group and I can vouch how good those pies were and cheap to boot







After lunch we headed homeward weaving in between all the lakes north of Camperdown and Colac and into Winch for our final stop, before we parted ways after another great Ulysses Ride.

Rob Pow, Branch Welfare Officer.