sadsacnews2013: SADSAC: Cathie's Mystery Ride. 27 October

Twenty riders assembled at the Port for a day of mysteries.
We had a solid role up from the valley, complete with Tim on his trike. One new rider joined us, being Lionel from Stratford.
The day was always more along the lines of visiting places of interest rather than a serious ride and that was reflected in a total distance traveled of only 21 km. From the Port we headed out along the recently upgraded path to the swing bridge. While most of the path is still smooth gravel, the section along the old highway is quite wide hot mix. The swing bridge had been a feature of a previous visit but the area had a new exhibit containing a model bark canoe. From this point we returned to the port before taking the bike path to Wurruk and the recently upgraded Herb Guyatt Nature Reserve. Very few of the group knew of the existence of this small but attractive reserve. The route now took us back into town and on reaching the houses we paused to inspect an old cemetery that dated back to the earliest of days of the town.
By this stage there were some who were starting to get hungry so the the next place, being the lunch venue, was most welcome. Cathy's choice of a lunch stop would have to rank as our most impressive for the year. Set in beautiful gardens the private residence is used for outdoor weddings and the owners were good friends of some of the group. By this stage of the day the weather had brightened up and conditions were close to ideal.
After a relaxing lunch it was a short walk next door to our last destination. This took the form of a work in progress museum run by Peter and Rose. Apart from information from the owner the group had within it a wealth of knowledge of all things old. The size of the collection was very impressive and the display will be open to the public on a more regular basis next year. As the plans for the museum were as extensive as the collection I commented to the owner that it was fortunate that he was still a young man.
This ride has set a new standard and Cathy will find it difficult to top it next year, but no doubt she will try.