The Great Victorian Bike Ride isn't easy, but it's worth it

Joining the travelling circus that is the Great Victorian Bike Ride is no walk in the park, but this traveller has no regrets.

There are times during the 40th-anniversary Great Victorian Bike Ride when I wonder what the hell I have gotten myself into.

Times, like at 7am on the third day’s cycling, on a 60km loop out of the riverside city of Wangaratta, when I question not only my own holiday choices but those of my 2700 fellow riders.

We could, after all, be nestled between 1000-thread sheets in some glamorous hotel, or contemplating the breakfast buffet on a South Pacific cruise. Instead, we are pedalling into driving rain beside Winton Wetlands, about to tackle the first of two big climbs, during which I’ll grind uphill like a tortoise wading through treacle.

Yet, while my red Lycra outfit is clinging unflatteringly to my torso, my feet are squelching inside sodden trainers and rain is streaming down my chin, I couldn’t be happier than to be cycling through rural northeastern Victoria.

Daniel Scott, wet and happy at the top of Warby Hill.

Reaching the top of the Warby Ranges 30 minutes later, I stop and ask another cyclist to take my photograph, capturing his in return, “otherwise our kids won’t believe we did this”.

On a large-scale, multi-day ride like this, run by Melbourne-based Bicycle Network, camaraderie and shared endeavour is everything. This is the third ride I have done with them – including a 2016 saunter along the Great Ocean Road – and they always mix fun, connection with the countryside we travel slowly through and physical challenge, allowing us to indulge freely in food and drink along the way.

On this ride, also known as the Great Vic, I’ve opted to complete five of nine days, cycling from Wodonga, on the NSW border, to Mansfield: 311km altogether. This includes one of the Great Vic’s longest-ever rides, 113km from Wangaratta to Mansfield, further than I’ve ever cycled in one day.

The Alexandra campsite on the Great Victorian Bike Ride. Picture: John Myers

Over the first two nights, I’m staying at the Great Vic campsite, which is like a travelling circus of Lycra-clad humans and velocipedes. I’m sleeping in a stand-up tent, set-up each day by volunteers, at extra cost. During the whole ride, staff and volunteers serve 67,300 meals, 500 litres of beer and wine per night and shift 55,000kg of luggage each day.

Arriving in Wodonga, it is 35C, and after checking in and attaching labels to my luggage for transfer between campgrounds, I settle into the on-site café for a cold drink.

Our first dinner is lamb souvlaki and vegies, followed by chocolate brownie, and I eat mine at a table shared with a Perth mother and daughter, and Melburnian Ross, cycling to celebrate his 65th birthday.

The historic gold mining town of Yackandandah.

Our first day runs for 72km, through rolling hills to Myrtleford. After a 6.30am start, I pause for coffee in the village of Yackandandah, then again, after three hours, at our lunch stop, where there are portaloos, bike mechanics and chicken caesar salads. The last section to Myrtleford is a downhill joy, and by 1pm I’m in my tent listening to the growing pitter-patter of rain outside.

In the afternoon, I duck into town to the Myrtleford Hotel, falling easily into conversation with locals and several Melbourne cyclists. The Great Vic is great socially. Over the next few days, I’m regularly passed by riders who greet me like an old friend, among them a hardy 85-year-old, and Bonnie McBeath, with daughter Olivia, 4, clutching a Vegemite sandwich on the back of her bike.

I am not a serious cyclist but I complete the distances on the first three days – 72km, 54km and 60km – by lunchtime, leaving plenty of time to explore. With nights booked at Wangaratta’s Quest Hotel, on days three and four, it is this regional centre I get to know best, taking in the excellent regional art gallery, lunching on crispy chicken bao buns at riverside café the PreVue, and savouring a pasta dinner at new restaurant Luca.

Rail Trail on the Great Victorian Bike Ride. Picture: John Myers

By my final day, I’m ready for the challenge of over 100km of cycling. Pacing myself, I chalk off milestones: one 10th of the distance, a quarter, over halfway at our Tatong lunch stop, and after 87km, 30 minutes’ rest, beside Lake Nillahcootie.

Arriving at Mansfield by early afternoon, I check into the Delatite Hotel, having covered 121km, and while heavy-legged, I am flooded by an endorphin-filled cycling high.

I made it, and as I celebrate with fellow cyclist John over dinner at trendy Mansfield Mexican restaurant Honcho, I’m beaming.

Then, unexpectedly, tears of accomplishment moisten my eyes, dissolving any doubts over why anybody would cycle through the undulating Victorian countryside, over several days, in all weathers, and call it a holiday.

Countryside near Mansfield. Picture: Visit Victoria

The author was a guest of Bicycle Network and Visit Victoria.

Great Victorian Bike Ride 2025

This year’s Great Victorian Bike Ride route is from Mortlake to Camperdown and along the Great Ocean Road from November 24-28. Early-bird adult price is from $950, rising to $1250 on August 3. Camping and meals are included.

Originally published as The Great Victorian Bike Ride isn't easy, but it's worth it