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The Great Victorian Bike Ride, 2002

... a 590km odyssey ...

Nine days on the Great Victorian Bike Ride - AND the hardest ride they'd had in 20 years - AND WE MADE IT!!!

Jeni Blake (Visiting Teacher, Southern Metropolitan Region) and I (Deb Lewis, Co-ordinator Statewide Vision Resource Centre) accompanied two students - Ben from Ballarat and Nathan from Mordialloc - on a 590km odyssey across Victoria! We started close to the South Australian border in the historic village of Warrock.

Nathan, Jeni (Visiting Teacher) and Ben on their bikes and ready for the first day's ride.

Our first day's ride took us a hilly and sunny 35km to Casterton, with white cockatoos in the evening and black cockatoos the following morning. Hamilton was 73km away with long tall hills in each direction (up and down) - the boys didn't make it all the way - but the girls did! Then the weather turned - and the promised tail wind the following day became a fierce headwind in which you even had to pedal down the hills or you'd be blown straight back up again! A welcome rest day in Halls Gap was followed by two cold and rainy days (some even had hail!!!) to Stawell and then to Maryborough. By Daylesford, conditions were beginning to improve and the last 40 km from Hanging Rock to Sunbury was positively warm again!

The boys did a magnificent job of riding the complete distance nearly every day, managing their belongings and erecting tents each evening, whilst maintaining their senses of humour. We often had the company of Darryl and his daughter Erin who were riding a tandem bike with Darryl's 32kg guide dog 'Van' who travelled with them in a bike trailer - it was quite a sight!

The sense of community within the 3,000 riders on the GVBR was extraordinary and something which, in our increasingly speedy world, is becoming increasingly difficult to find…

I can strongly recommend the Great Victorian Bike Ride as a fantastic event for students (and Visiting Teachers) who have:

a reasonable level of fitness
a love of camping and the great outdoors (sun, rain, mozzies etc)
a desire to make new friends
a desire to improve their organisational skills (try living out of a 20kg bag for 10 days), time management (making sure you get to breakfast before the queues), and fitness level (try riding 500km+ and remaining unfit!)

Thanks to Jeni Blake for organising our participation in this event for a fourth year - and for the dozen or so students who have participated over those four years, congratulations on your magnificent achievements!

See a student's report on the 1999 Great Victorian Bike Ride.

Thinking of Taking Students on a Great (name of your state or country) Bike Ride?

Do you have a Great Bike Ride in your state or country? If so, consider rounding up a few kids and riding off into the sunrise with them. If not (or even if so), I can highly recommend our bike ride. Costing A$660* per adult or A$230-$515* per child, fully catered, plus optional insurance, transport to the beginning and from the end of the ride, it represents excellent value for money. It also offers the kind of experiences that money just can't buy. [* based on 2007 GVBR costs - discounts for early booking, school groups and families]

For your planning pleasure, the aims of the camp are to provide the students with:

an unparalleled challenge
the opportunity to gain a sense of achievement by cycling over 500km
the opportunity to join a group of 3,000 other cyclists where it is considered 'cool' to be on a bike - assisting students' perception of a bike as a future transport option
training in skills to ride a bike safely in all conditions, with a sighted guide or in a group
encouragement to participate in physical/fitness, recreational and/or outdoor activities
the opportunity to be part of a great social event where co-operation, friendliness and teamwork are encouraged
opportunities to develop resilience, self esteem and self confidence
opportunities to develop responsibility, decision-making and maturity
opportunities to meet and form networks with other people with vision impairments
opportunities to interact with people of all ages
opportunities to gain knowledge of Victoria's geography, history and culture
the opportunity to be involved with many forms of entertainment provided by Bicycle Victoria including movies under the stars, bike education, games and competitions
the opportunity to be independent in self-care and organisational skills
the opportunity to camp in tents
the opportunity to have a lot of fun

If you think you'd like to be involved in this exciting event which is held in November/December each year, please contact:

Deb Lewis, Statewide Vision Resource Centre - (03) 9841 0242 / deblewis@svrc.vic.edu.au or
Jeni Blake, Visiting Teacher (Vision Impairment) Southern Metropolitan Region - mobile 0428 134660

For more information about the Great Victorian Bike Ride, the Great New Zealand Bike Ride, the Great Tasmania Bike Ride or other bicycling events, see Bicycle Victoria's website: http://www.bv.com.au

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Website editor Deb Lewis , Statewide Vision Resource Centre - Victoria, Australia. Last updated August 2007.
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