I'm heading down to Victoria in February and wondering if its worth bringing my bike, and which one. I'll be there for 3 weeks, and based out of Geelong mostly I think, but I'll have a truck and am fine to travel within 5-6 hours if its worth it. Not sure if its a trail bike trip, or a gravel bike trip. Thanks for any info!
I'm the wrong person to answer this as I've never been to Geelong so I'd just be parroting information from Trailforks, however gravel is pretty popular in Victoria and Geelong is basically at one end of the Great Ocean Road, which is a very popular road cycling route, if that kind of thing tickles your fancy.
Edit: How could I forget the High Country?! What little of that I've ridden (Bright and Falls Creek) was very good gravity riding. Some of Falls Creek's trails run through old growth mountain ash forests which are very scenic.
its worth a trip to Bright and the Victorian High Country, heaps of amazing trails. Theres Bright, Falls Creek, Omeo and all have everything from greens to double blacks. Flow to Tech. Other than tasmania, its the best riding in Australia.
Geelong person here, since have relocated to Whistler 12 years ago so I’m out of the loop on whats new. You yangs is your closest spot, fun for what it is but mostly xc, some enduro stuff that we used to race dh back in the day. Mount Buller, 4-5hr away, is reopening its chairlift for the first time in years this summer I’ve heard, really fun trails to pedal in the area too. Bright has a cool scene with Mystic bike park, it’s also towards the mt buller way. There’s a few places in that zone you could link up and check out to maximize the drive. Geelong is a pain in the ass to get over to the other side of Melbourne so be warned. I’m not sure if he still does it but there was a guy called Mike Kidd who built a private park in Apollo Bay on the Great Ocean Road, was called Iride. He would run shuttles up the hill on weekends, it was pretty rad, I went there a bit since it was closer to home, hopefully it’s still going. Otherwise everyone just goes to Tasmania for Derby and Maydena, the ferry leaves from Geelong so that’s a win, but it’s a 9hr trip..
February is traditionally the hottest month of the year. The alpine resorts are 10C degrees cooler in mid summer and the trails at Mt Buller and Falls Creek are pretty good so worth considering if its classic mid summer heatwave conditions!
Buller is about a 4 hour drive from Geelong and as mentioned is lift assisted this summer (only weekends in Feb). https://www.mtbuller.com.au/summer/things-to-do/activity/downhill-mountain-biking
Bright is around 4 hours also. It's a big trail network with shuttles available and a day pass required. https://www.elevationmystic.com/
Falls Ck is around 5 hours drive. Shuttles are available: https://www.fallscreek.com.au/listing/mtb-gravity-shuttle/
Mt Beauty is at the base of Falls Ck. Its an old school trail network that has hosted national races since the 90s. https://flowmountainbike.com/destination/mount-beauty-mountain-bike-tra…
If you could string together a few days , it would be worth the drive though. Falls Ck , Mt Beauty , Bright are relatively close together.
Warburton MTB park is much closer to Geelong , about a 2 hour drive. Its a fairly new trail network. https://www.rideyarraranges.com.au/warburton-bike-park/
A trail bike would be the perfect choice for all of the above.
The EWS100 and EWS80 were replaced a few years ago (I think when the UCI took over) by the EDR Open, which is basically the same thing. This year, we raced one day out of two when the Pros had a two-day race, or we had one fewer stage than the Pros when it was a single-day event. Unfortunately, we didn’t have Open racing at all the rounds. It was only available in Pietra, Bielsko-Biała, Loudenvielle, Morillon, and Val di Fassa. There was some form of Open racing in Aletsch as well, but I only found out about that after the race 😅.
There’s still no information about Open racing in 2026. If it’s still happening, I’d guess it will take place in Loudenvielle, Haute-Savoie, Val di Fassa, and Aletsch. Leogang and La Thuile are hosting races for all three disciplines, so those venues will already be crowded enough without a few extra hundred amateurs.
I’ve tried contacting multiple organisers to find out more about their plans for 2026. Only Aletsch and Loudenvielle replied, and both confirmed that there will be some form of Open racing at their venues in 2026.
I'll post in this thread when/if I'll have more info
Sorry, wrong thread. And I don't see any option to delete/edit the message
Lived in Geelong for a while, it was okay by I’m glad I moved on.
About 30-45 mins drive from Geelong you got the You Yangs… bit of a mixed bag but I had a bit of fun there. Super unique trails, essentially packed sand with great rock features. The local chief there loved to pave the fun features and make weird jumps.
There are some small but fun pirate spots south in some of the pine plantations.
If you’re looking for some serious features to ride there is the legendary Nxxxxa trails 🤫
Bright and the Warburton trails are worth the drive. RIP Porepunkah. But the best shout for sure would be a Tassie trip.
DM me and I can hook you up with some local contacts if you like.
If you’re based in Geelong for 3 weeks, I’d definitely bring a bike.
MTB is probably the better pick. The You Yangs are super close and have tons of great trails. But there’s also solid gravel riding around the coast if you want something more chill.
If you can only bring one, I’d lean MTB for sure. And yeah, for a longer trip like that, something like Lucid Travel could be handy for planning/logistics.
If you want to make the trip one to remember, and are keen to ride something unique - try get to Derby.
Post a reply to: Aussie trip question