Day 2- Daylesford to Castlemaine- 86Kms

Today was a reasonably hot day with the temps in the high 20's to start with and then in the middle of the day it was in the mid 30's with reasonably high humidity...tough in the middle of the day....

We started from Daylesford at about 8.30 after a good breakfast. There was a bit of a shower for the 2 km ride in to the town then after that it was reasonably clear. The trip through to Hepburn Springs was largely downhill then it was open flatish farmland along the Lodden valley through to the Cairn Curran Reservoir. The wind was from the north so we had a little of a headwind. We stopped at Newstead for coffee in a delightful café. This was well served by some very friendly staff with good coffee and muffins....you will see a photo later.

The trip through to Maldon for lunch was through good farming country with many of the farmers out on their tractors doing the harvest.....

The ride in to Maldon was hot and Maldon sits on the top of the hill which caused us to slowly make our way....Gary was struggling with cramps so I made a run in to town to get the ute to collect Gary so he could recover in the A/C car and over lunch .....He made a good recovery.

Lunch was in a delightful park near the Maldon museum and we had the opportunity to visit the history of the area courtesy of the women who ran the venue. Bill Woodfull came from Maldon (Middle name is Maldon after the town where his father was the local minister). Rather topical given Bill's cricket past and the Ashes Test being played in Brisbane.

After a rest and lunch it was off for the final 15 kms to Castlemaine with a largely downhillroad and the wind behind our backs....made for good riding.

we arrived at about 3.30pm and settled in tour cabins with a couple of beers...very pleasant!!

A good day of riding but tough in the middle of the day due to the heat!

Morning Tea at Newstead...Lovely café

Some of the faming country....

After ride beer with the group!