Beechworth and its Rail-Trail

The blokette had bought a Ford Ranger from the dealer in Wangaratta and required a lift to pick it up.  Set sail early on Friday, hit the usual winter's fog around Jugiong, coffee at Gundagai and hit Wangaratta after 12 with 2 very full bladders.  There was a mad search for some public loos then I dropped Michael at the dealers and headed off to Beechworth.  A couple of caches along the way before arriving at my digs at Beechworth.  A counter lunch at one of the local pubs and the most disgusting Lasagna of my life, leaving a very bad taste in my mouth.  Yuck, time for a stroll!  Beechworth is really a very pretty town.  Lots of very old buildings going back to the Gold rush.  Very much Ned Kelly country with lots of his history being on display (he was tried in Beechworth after his capture at Glenrowan).  I think Beechworth is worth a re-visit........but maybe in a warmer month, it was very cold and I had to resort to the leccy blanket.
    I kick myself for ignoring the intelligence I gathered from the Tourist Information Centre.  It showed that the Rail-Trail from Beechworth to Everton (my proposed turn-around spot) was basically down-hill.  Why oh smegging why didn't I drive to Everton so the first part of my journey would be uphill?  So, when I set off in the freezing temps in the morning, I wasn't pedaling to keep warm, just free-wheeling down the friggen long hill.  Caching on the outward bound journey wasn't particularly fruitful.  A quick pep-talk from a caching buddy (Hi Sol) and the return journey caching wise was much more fruitful.  BUT that hill !  I was absolutely stuffed by the time I got back to Beechworth.  The actual journey was about 33km and I have pedalled further than that on many occassions but I haven't done a consistent 16k up hill before.  I grabbed some pies from the famous Beechworth bakery and had a very early night.