General News
30 August, 2022
Groups can benefit from Great Vic Bike Ride
ICONIC riding adventure the Great Vic Bike Ride is set to return to the Corangamite Shire.
ICONIC riding adventure the Great Vic Bike Ride is set to return to the Corangamite Shire.
It will bring up to 3500 riders and volunteers for overnight stops in Noorat and Timboon.
The Great Vic Bike Ride will return in late November after a two-year COVID-enforced break.
It has been three years since the ride last explored Corangamite Shire’s rolling countryside.
The event will give Noorat, Timboon and the wider Corangamite shire a unique opportunity to showcase their communities, culinary delights, local arts and talents and glorious landscape.
Riders and their supporters will stop overnight at the Noorat Recreation Reserve on Sunday, November 27.
Timboon Rec Reserve will host them the following night on Monday, November 28.
Organisers are calling on community groups and businesses to get behind the event.
The temporary population boost promises financial benefits and promotional rewards.
Corangamite Shire mayor Ruth Gstrein said the Great Vic Bike Ride would give community groups and businesses a rare opportunity to host a riding event of this scale.
“It’s fantastic to have this event back in our well-known cycling area after a two-year hiatus,” she said.
“Let’s make the Great Vic a memorable experience for riders and local communities.
“Leaving the riders with a lasting impression will encourage them to come back and visit us again at another time.”
The organising body has opportunities for the community to help feed 3500 riders and volunteers.
Bicycle Network acting chief executive officer Rebecca Lane encouraged communities to think outside the box and diversify food options where possible.
“This is a fantastic fundraising opportunity for the local community, and we love to see community groups get creative and offer a range of options to riders,” she said.
This could include providing cooked breakfasts, morning tea on a rest site, barbecues at campsites and snack and bake sales.
The average spend per rider per town was estimated to be $35 in 2019.
Up to 90 per cent visited again – bringing between two and four other travellers with them – within 12 months of participation in theGreat Vic.
The Great Vic campsites will all feature a Main Street promenade of goods from local shops, bars and entertainment.
This is an opportunity for retailers to bring their goods to participants who do not wish to leave the campsite.
Hospitality and retail businesses are encouraged to consider extended trading hours, a shuttle bus, markets and other ways to benefit from the population boost.
There will be opportunities for community groups to provide morning tea and snack packs at rest stops on the Monday at:
The corner of Old Timboon and Old Geelong roads;
Lake Bullen Merri Reserve; and
Ecklin Hall and recreation reserve; and on the Tuesday at Jancourt East.
Schools are also encouraged to get involved with signs and messages for riders and to cheer on the riders as they arrive in the community.
Bicycle Network also wants to hear from Corangamite Shire entertainers and musicians who would like to be involved.
Community or business groups who want to take part should email Chelsea de Ruyter at chelsead@bicyclenetwork.com.au or phone (03) 8376 8828.
More information is available at bicyclenetwork.com.au.