Melbourne
I’ve lived in this city most of my life, and have ridden as many trails in and around the city as I thought existed - the MTB parks that lie within an hour such as the You Yangs, Plenty Gorge, Smith’s Gully, Lysterfield and Red Hill MTB Park. I’ve been going out to restaurants forever, in fact, in the 90’s, when I was single, I didn’t eat at home for 2 years! Dining at a restaurant or cafe EVERY night! So good! And I’ve been working in Collingwood since the early 90s (yes Trail Towns HQ is still in Collingwood), in the days when it was ill-advised to make eye contact with anyone on Smith St. Oh wait, it still is…
Anyway, I never thought I knew so little about this beautiful trail town that I call home. Over the week it took to film the episode, I discovered places I never knew existed, did things I never thought to do, and got to see the city as a tourist. And it is some city for bikes, that’s for sure. The cycle path network is massive, and it works. Through COVID the city got busy and built loads of new, separated paths in and around the CBD. They have polarised some opinions, but I think they are great. They made me feel safe and made me want to choose a bike over a car or a tram anyday. As an observer, I felt different. I wasn’t popping down into the city to meet with a sponsor, or doing an errand. Vandy and I were just… exploring. Finding new and funky restaurants, taking time to meander through the lanes and check out the art works and the - quite literally - hundreds of eateries, bars, holes in the wall, and so much more. Melbourne is absolutely heaving with life after the long depressing lock-downs, and really feels like it’s back.
Filming the episode was actually one of the harder ones to film. Vandy and I both felt a sense of responsibility to show the world what we love about our hometown. I hope that came across. As a tourist, or a tourist in your own town, Melbourne has so many layers, so much going on, so much that is unexpected and all of it, every bit of it, is accessible on a bike. What a magical trail town Melbourne is.
