Day 6 : Macedon to Moonee Valley

The last chapter in our ride this year!  I know there are a number of people anxiously awaiting this post and I apologise for its lateness.  The day started well with bacon and eggs cooked by John Gatt, to complement our normal breakfast and to make sure we got through to the finish. Katrina "Kathy Watts"  decided to grace us with her presence on the last day of the ride, by special arrangement with Trevor, who brought her to Macedon in time for the start of the ride.

The weather was fine and sunny in distinct contrast to the weather on Wednesday morning.  We retraced our  route from Wednesday by cycling back to Riddells Creek where we were treated to morning tea in the Club rooms of the Rotary Club of Riddells Creek.  Many thanks to Charles and the other members who looked aftter us.  En route to Woodlands Historic Park, a distance of some 36km we had a challenging gorge at Emu Creek and an even more challenging one at Deep Creek which had several team members reduced to walking or if they happened to remain on their bikes, walking speed.  Not so for multi-disciplinary Craig "Mottram" Overend who rode the gorge not once, not twice but three times while waiting for the rest of the field to catch up.

The support crew for the day excelled themselves and guided us, by placing themselves strategically at all of the turning points, clad in highly visible orange vests.  We  all made it to Woodlands Historic Park after negotiating the gravel driveway.  We were presented with platters of delicious sandwiches and bowls of fruit for lunch accompanied by jugs of soft drink and tea and coffee to finish. 

The original homestead was built in 1843 and it was interesting to see the method of construction of this pre-fabricated dwelling which has been extended over time and occupied by fourteen families, including the Canadian Chaffey family.

After lunch we set off on the last leg of the ride, essentially down the Moonee Ponds Creek trail.  Soon after setting off, we saw a mob of kangaroos that must have been well in excess of a hundred, much to the delight of Katharina our German Ambassadorial scholar. There were some tricky sections of loose gravel for the first 6 km but after that it was relatively easy going on a made surface, running alongside the creek.  The detour for the road works at the Western Ring Road found us cycling up a very steep pinch, which only a few completed without dismounting, before crossing the ring road on a pedestrian bridge.  We left the bike path at Eric Street where we had afternoon tea before cycling along McPherson street to our final destination, the gateway to the Moonee Valley Race Club. 

DG David Anderson welcomed us and congratulated us on our epic journey! 

We are all deeply indebted to Graham and Margaret for the incredible amount of time they spent planning and organising the ride, and for guiding and supporting the team throughout the whole journey. Our heartfelt thanks to them and also to Wendy Smith for her valuable role in the support team, which was always there to sustain us and assist whenever needed.  Thanks to Trevor, who was involved in support as well as cycling.

In the evening, a select group attended the Sports dinner, once again compered by Graham "Smokey" Dawson from the Rotary Club of Heidelberg. The function was held at Windy Hill.  Bruce (and Katrina) got there after visiting several sporting venues, including Moonee Valley Race Club and Northern Golf Club. Another fail in navigation by yours truly!  A highlight of the awards presentation was Eileen Gatt receiving the Sportswoman of the Day award for her amazing effort of swimming 40km in the 6 days the rest of us were cycling from Wangaratta.