Clifton Springs looks north across Corio Bay, and on a clear afternoon the view is the reason to stop: the water in front, the industrial skyline of Geelong to the west, the granite bumps of the You Yangs rising out of the plain beyond, and on the best days the Melbourne towers far to the north-east. The town is part of the Bellarine Peninsula, a fist of farmland, vineyards and small seaside towns that closes off the western side of Port Phillip.
The name comes from the mineral springs at the foot of the cliffs, which drew day-trippers by steamer in the late nineteenth century when taking the waters was fashionable. The old jetty and the bluffs along the shore still give a hint of that era, and the shoreline walk is a decent leg-loosener.
As riding goes, the Bellarine is gentle. Roads roll between Drysdale, Portarlington and Queenscliff, with a few nice crests and open views but nothing technical. What you will notice is the wind, which comes hard off the bay and Bass Strait and can push a bike around on the exposed stretches. Summer weekends bring holiday traffic, caravans and families heading for the beaches; a weekday or a winter morning is a different, quieter world. Queenscliff, at the tip, has the ferry across the heads to Sorrento, a handy way to turn a ride into a loop around the bay.
Drysdale, a few minutes away, is the local service centre with fuel, a supermarket and bakeries, and Geelong covers anything larger. Local wineries on the peninsula open cellar doors, though of course that is for passengers or for later. Grab a coffee, look at the bay, and decide whether the next leg is the ferry or the long run west towards the Otways.