My new favourite cycling workout

So, just east of the city (~45k) is a "mountain" range (the Dandenong ranges) and a national park. I put the mountain in quotes because we're not talking Rockies or anything here. Melbourne is at sea level and the peak at Mt. Dandedong is at 561m. But, still, it's higher than the hills in Bloomington (though not as steep as some of those) and well, Toronto isn't worth mentioning here. In my view, it is a perfect cycling workout. Start off in the city where it's mostly flat, dabble in a few rolling hills and then do a nice gradual 12-15k climb to the peak, with a reasonably good payoff. And, the good thing about it is there at least 4 or 5 ways to approach the climb and presumably there are more hills/climbs in the national park further away from the city. See pictures below.

You can just see the Dandenong ranges in the horizon here. The one drawback of this ride is that I had to spend about 30k on roads like you see here. Nothing beyond what you'd find on Don Mills or Leslie in Toronto, but not ideal. Next time, I'll try and find a different route.


The good stuff. A few kms into the climb. It's a bit blurry because I was moving.


Still moving. Still climbing.


The payoff. Well, the camera doesn't do it justice. It was actually pretty nice. Wasn't a crystal clear day. A little big of fog or smog or something.


Same shot, zoomed in. You can just barely make out the skyscrapers of downtown Melbourne.


All in all, a sweet 100k ride.

Afternoon tea at the lookout is $14.50. I declined.