2: Gardner's Creek Trail

Ride for as much or as little, or as short or as long as you like. But just ride.

January 11 is a special day for my family. Not only is it my birthday, but it's also my brother's. We are not twins. I am born on January 11 1995 and he is born January 11 1997. Crazy right? My family has been immensely supportive of my 50 Challenges and is always looking for ways to help. One of the most expensive challenges on the whiteboard was to bike ride Gardner's Creek, as I did not own a bike. So, discussing birthday presents with my family, a bike was top of the list. My family bought me the Dual Sport 3 from Trek Bikes and when I picked up the bike to ride it home I was completely gassed, even though the ride only lasted 5 minutes.

The Saturday after my birthday was show time. I woke up early and convinced Dad to ride with me, even though he had somewhere to be later that day. He borrowed my Mum's old bike, which required a serious service with a flat tyre and a busted seat. Dad struggled along the trail stopping every 5 minutes to adjust. Sucks to be him!

The Dual Sport 3 was seamless. From the gear change, to the pedals, to the seat, I was in heaven. This truly was an engineering masterpiece for the ages.

Gardner's Creek is one of my favourite spots in Melbourne. It is near my house and has an authentic Australian quality that reminds me of the outback. When I was younger, I used to ride the Gardner's Creek track to South Yarra, so this Challenge had a nostalgic feel. The ride itself was moderately challenging, but I think that if you asked Dad, he would have said it was tough.

Once we arrived at South Yarra Dad returned straight away, he was already late for a meeting and he didn't want to push for more time. I was in no rush though so I parked my bike and settled in for some breakfast at Kanteen. The sautéed mushrooms were awesome and the orange juice was perfect to wash it all down. Even though I relaxed for 30 minutes I arrived home 2 minutes before Dad.

The Gardner's Creek track takes me right to Chapel Street where I work and I intend to ride it every morning. Thanks Mum and Dad for an awesome birthday present, and I hope I can do it justice over the years to come.