neon wrote:
> Sorry to ask about ATB, I'm sure it been ask before, but the search
> didn't come up with anything.
>
> Is it tough ride? I assume it's pretty flat. What the best direction
> to travel, clockwise or anti? Is it well run?
It's reasonably well run, sometimes the signs are a little lacking -
mainly in Geelong.
It's flat, there's 2 climbs of any note, the Westgate bridge and Mt
Martha. The rest are babies along Beach Rd. The food is sometimes
dodgey, who remembers the green bananas last year and the soggy wraps?
It's best to carry a few bucks and be prepared to feed yourself - for
200km, one salad roll and a banana is not enough, by several orders of
magnitude!
As to which way is best? Neither really. I've done both ways.
Geelong first gets the boring bit out of the way and usually misses the
afternoon sea breezes (headwinds!) - remember the main wind in Melb is
a souwesterly and it usually increases in the afternoon, and then look
at a map. But, going via Sorrento first gets you to the ferry faster
and the ride home is usually pretty fast (tailwinds, usually). Then
again, the weather can do anything in October ... and often does.