What we’re about
Welcome to bicycle touring!
It’s all about what the great Australian outdoors has to offer, the only thing missing is you! This is the Meetup page for Melbourne Bicycle Touring Club.
There’s nothing quite like the ‘spirit of place’ and freedom you will experience when riding a bicycle on an isolated back road through farmland, along a bush track, over a mountain range, or across a desert. The satisfaction and sense of independence is incomparable.
The Melbourne Bicycle Touring Club has been running recreational rides and tours continuously since 1973. Check out our rides program and see what’s coming up this weekend.
At MBTC we aim to give you a large variety of rides that cater for a broad variety of people, from simple sightseeing metro rides all the way up to multi week expedition touring and everything in between. Many of our rides are suitable for many different types of bikes as we often ride along bike paths and rail trails. We run social get together rides that start in the CBD and take us along a beach or river path to have either breakfast, lunch, or dinner at a nice place with some amazing people.
Our most common rides are one day urban or country tours which may start in Melbourne or at a country location. These rides may be either car or train based.
We regularly run overnight tours that will cater for people who prefer to travel light and stay in accommodation, but we also cater for the hard core tourers who prefer to load up their bikes, carry everything out to a great spot in the bush and tell stories around the campfire. We also run regular social nights at various venues near the CBD, as well as special club meetings throughout the year.
Meetup Riders are not automatically financial MBTC Club Members, but are welcome to take up full club membership by visiting www.mbtc.org.au/membership. Our club policy is that visitors may participate on three rides before making the decision to join our club for an annual fee of $25. Benefits include other club rides and activities not listed on Meetup, member-only rides, weekly club emails, social events, club meetings, Ride With GPS club subscription with premium navigation features & offline maps, etc.
For more information about MBTC please feel free to take a ride through our website www.mbtc.org.au and follow us at:
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Understandably COVID-19 is affecting how we do our rides. Our COVID-19 page ((https://www.mbtc.org.au/covid-19/) describes what you must do when riding with us.
Everyone is riding at their own risk and the club does not take responsibility for any injuries or accidents you may have on any of our rides. It is now a requirement of this group that you use a recognizable profile photo of yourself.
Upcoming events (3)
See all- Heathcote weekend. 54 km and 54 km. Hard rideBendigo, Bendigo
We will depart Bendigo Station and cycle the O'Keefe Rail Trail to Heathcote, dinner at the pub.
This is a cycle touring weekend and so everything needs to be packed in paniers or tube bags.
It is not practical to bring equipment and food in a back pack.
Even if you are new to cycle touring and are planning to stay in accommodation this is a good chance to test out having your bike set up with pack racks, paniers and tube bags.
We will depart Bendigo Station at 10 am. Trains on the weekend have become very crowded and so it is best to drive or grab a lift if you can.
For those who are on the train, there are trains departing Southern Cross 7.01 and 7.40 am arriving 8.56 and 9.55 respectively.
We will depart Bendigo Station at 10 am, if you wish to have brekky before you depart please catch the early train or arrive by car early so that you can be ready to go at 10 am.
The good news for train people is that Bendigo is easier for bikes than Castlemaine.
If you can’t get on the first couple of trains, it is quite feasible to get to Heathcote on a later train and cycle the O’Keefe trail by yourself and arriving plenty of time before dinner.
And vice versa, on our last trip plenty of people departed Heathcote early on the Sunday morning to catch an earlier train back to Melbourne.
The ride Saturday can be viewed on Ride with GPS:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50318077
The return ride on the Sunday to Bendigo can be viewed on Ride with GPS:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50318097
Please download both the Saturday and Sunday route in case you wish to ride ahead of the group or arrive in Bendigo after 10 am.
There is cabin accommodation at Heathcote Camping ground but you need to book this yourself, possibly organising a group with others.
For those who are camping, the cost for an unpowered tent site is $32 and a site can accommodate two people in one or two tents.
Dinner will be at the Union Hotel, please advise Liz if you wish to join the group for dinner.
The main group should arrive Heathcote mid afternoon.
For late afternoon entertainment we will walk to the Heatcote Lookout from the powder magazine. It is 1.8 km return with 70 metres of climbing. I would guesstimate 2 hours return.
The walk can be viewed at:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50318823
There is also a brewery that could be visited and a shopfront for Heathcote winery:
https://pallingbros.beer/
https://heathcotewinery.com.au/
Heathcote camping ground has a very good camp kitchen with indoor kitchen and dining area if you wish to bring your own brekky or even dinner.
If you wish to have brekky at the bakery Segafreda’s is recommended but there is also Gaffney’s.
We will stop for lunch both days at Axedale which also has a bakery, Rise and Grind:
https://riseandgrindaxedale.com/
Please bring pleasant and enjoyable conversation, appropriate to the beautiful and peaceful place we will be cycling through.
If you do feel the need to express political opinions please keep it very, very brief... yes, mea culpa, I may also require a reminder on that one. (LOL)
The weather has been very warm and dry recently and this increases the risk of tyre puncture by thorns and Bindis as the dry hardens the thorns up.
Please try to cycle on gravel or bitumen at all times, no matter how neatly mowed or green a patch of grass may look, it could be lethal to your tyres.
Unless you are running tubeless tyres and are experienced in fixing them, then you need to bring two spare tubes.
Always expect the unexpected when touring in the country in Autumn so bring an all weather rain proof jacket regardless of the weather forecast.
Please don't hesitate to leave a comment in 'comments' or message me or Liz if you have any queries.RIDE REGISTRATION FORM
This will be available within a day of the ride being announced. Preferably it is to be completed when you RSVP, but no later than the day before the ride. It can be found at
https://www.mbtc.org.au/registration-forms-rider.ESSENTIAL ITEMS
Functioning headlight & tail light
Spare tube and a puncture kit
MYKI card, ATM card/cash, basic tools, rain gear, food/snacks, etcWATER
It's your responsibility to check the temperature and distance for the day and carry an appropriate amount of water. When riding outside suburbia remember that carrying too much water is better than not enough as the distances between water availability may vary greatly from the planned route due to road closures or other unforeseen circumstances.
Check Meetup for any changes the day before the ride, as the ride may be cancelled in the event of extreme weather or other unforeseen circumstances.If you cannot make it to the ride please change your RSVP to 'NO' at least one day before the ride day.
This ride is for MBTC club members, or those who have not yet done 3 days riding with us. To join our club check out https://www.mbtc.org.au/membershipWhen I RSVP for this event/activity I acknowledge that the activity of bicycle riding can be dangerous and that I may suffer loss or injury or death and I agree that in consideration of my participation in any event conducted by the MBTC that I will absolve from liability the MBTC, its officers, and any event organiser from all claims, demands, or suits whether for personal injury or property loss suffered whether by negligence or breach of contract or otherwise, save for any right I may have pursuant to the Australian Consumer law. I acknowledge that photos may be taken of me during MBTC rides and social events, and that it is club practice that these photos will be published on Meetup, Facebook, and the club website. I will notify the ride leader and other riders if I wish to not be photographed. MBTC cannot guarantee that my photo will not be published and will promptly honour requests to be removed from MBTC controlled sites.
- East Gippy Kings Birthday ride - Intermediate - 50+50+54Bairnsdale Railway Station, Bairnsdale
A long weekend base camp ride exploring rail trails and surrounds.
In early June the forests and rolling hills of will be lush and green. Much of the ride will be on the East Gippsland rail trail which passes some epic rivers and bridges. We'll start and finish in Bairnsdale and stay two nights in picturesque Nowa Nowa.
For this winter time ride, we'll use indoor accomodation at the Mingling Waters Caravan Park where there is an excellent pub/restaurant and camp kitchen. A general store is across the road for basic supplies.
IF there's enough interest we will book one of their awesome rustic bunkhouses (sleeps 10-12), which will be around $35 per person per night ($70 total). Linen and towels are provided.
**To help with logistics please message me or hold off signing up for now if you intend to book other accomodation in the area**
DAY ONE - Bairnsdale to Nowa Nowa - 50km - 430vm
We'll ride along the rail trail stopping at the delightful village of Bruthen. We'll visit the tearooms for afternoonn tea and/or Tambo Honey for honey tasting.
Day 1 route map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50152503DAY TWO - Loop ride - 50km - 510vm
A loop ride through the Colquoun forest, taking in gravel forest roads and part of the Discovery Trail. Depending on weather and appetite for gravel, we may opt for an out-and-back ride to Orbost continuing along the rail trail.
Picnic lunch
Day 2 route map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50152488DAY THREE - Nowa Nowa to Bairnsdale - 54km - 390vm
Back along the rail trail with some variations along back roads to keep things interesting.
Day 3 route map: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50152494Further details to follow, and we'll reach out to participants ahead of time to make payment and (as the cabin is non-refundable) commit to the booking.
TRAVEL
VLine trains travel from Southern Cross on this line so we'll start from Bairnsdale Station. Alternatively you can drive and park at Bairnsdale. In the event of a rail disruption we'll do what we can to support non-drivers (including me).RIDE REGISTRATION FORM
This will be available within a day of the ride being announced. Preferably it is to be completed when you RSVP, but no later than the day before the ride. It can be found at https://www.mbtc.org.au/registration-forms-rider.ESSENTIAL ITEMS
Functioning headlight & tail light
Spare tube and a puncture kit
MYKI card, ATM card/cash, basic tools, rain gear, food/snacks, water.It's your responsibility to check the temperature and distance for the day and carry an appropriate amount of water. When riding outside suburbia remember that carrying too much water is better than not enough as the distances between water availability may vary greatly from the planned route due to road closures or other unforeseen circumstances.
Check Meetup for any changes the day before the ride, as the ride may be cancelled in the event of extreme weather or other unforeseen circumstances.
If you cannot make it to the ride please change your RSVP to 'NO' well before the ride day.
This ride is for MBTC club members. To join our club check out https://www.mbtc.org.au/membership
When I RSVP for this event/activity I acknowledge that the activity of bicycle riding can be dangerous and that I may suffer loss or injury or death and I agree that in consideration of my participation in any event conducted by the MBTC that I will absolve from liability the MBTC, its officers, and any event organiser from all claims, demands, or suits whether for personal injury or property loss suffered whether by negligence or breach of contract or otherwise, save for any right I may have pursuant to the Australian Consumer law. I acknowledge that photos may be taken of me during MBTC rides and social events, and that it is club practice that these photos will be published on Meetup, Facebook, and the club website. I will notify the ride leader and other riders if I wish to not be photographed. MBTC cannot guarantee that my photo will not be published and will promptly honour requests to be removed from MBTC controlled sites.
