The Yarra Junction to Yarragon run is an all-time favourite of mine. Though the pace starts slowly on the run between Yarra Junction and Powelltown, the subsequent roads make the run a lot of fun with their twists and elevations. Once we reached the Princes Highway at Trafalgar, I usually turn right and sail into Yarragon Village. Not this year, as I decided to add a loop through Thorpdale and then come into Yarragon from the south.
There is nothing worse on a club run than to lead your fellow members down a dirt road. The Mazda MX-5 is best suited for tarmac roads, so members avoid gravel roads at all costs. So, when I led the convoy towards a dirt road, we had to do a u-turn and retrace our steps. I led a similar run a few years ago on these roads, and I swear there were no gravel roads back then. I created the route for this run from Google Maps, and I couldn't see any dirt or gravel roads on the map.
My mistake was not to do a reconnaissance run the week before, to ensure the route was good. I usually do this, but I relied on my memory of the roads, which was different to what I remembered. Fortunately, the run group was forgiving. As we turned back on our route, someone had a good laugh at my expense over the radio. He suggested that I should have known better than to lead us down this path.
Nevertheless, it was great to be out on the run with others, even though we had to take a detour. I'll try to do better next time.
There is nothing worse on a club run than to lead your fellow members down a dirt road. The Mazda MX-5 is best suited for tarmac roads, so members avoid gravel roads at all costs. So, when I led the convoy towards a dirt road, we had to do a u-turn and retrace our steps. I led a similar run a few years ago on these roads, and I swear there were no gravel roads back then. I created the route for this run from Google Maps, and I couldn't see any dirt or gravel roads on the map.
My mistake was not to do a reconnaissance run the week before, to ensure the route was good. I usually do this, but I relied on my memory of the roads, which was different to what I remembered. Fortunately, the run group was forgiving. As we turned back on our route, someone had a good laugh at my expense over the radio. He suggested that I should have known better than to lead us down this path.
Nevertheless, it was great to be out on the run with others, even though we had to take a detour. I'll try to do better next time.