Melb -> Bright 'in a day'

[jules21]

I rode up to Bright last week. planned 300km in 1 day - no chance. did it in 2 days.

Day 1 was OK up until I left the Melba Hwy, shortly after I found myself on 4WD tracks. not good on my roadie with 23c tyres and carbon steerer fork. I battled through those for about half the day before coming out at Alexandra. I passed some hillbilly shanty-houses with improvised construction techniques and loads of wrecked old vehicles. I had to jump gates on what turned out to be high voltage electricity line access tracks. Then a farm. Then more 4WD tracks on Maintgonoon Rd until I approached Bonnie Doon. It was slow going on such rough road so I only did 180km, a bit less than the 300km planned. I also ran out of spare tubes and had to do about half the ride on a slow leaking tube that I pumped up every 20 minutes. Stayed in Mansfield.

The highlight was the road from Kinglake to Castella - what a beauty. I think the Sun Tour will take it on next weekend.

Day 2 I was determined to do better. After purchasing spare tubes from helpful folks at Mansfield LBS, I headed off up Old Tolmie Rd, ignoring the bike shop's advice about it being a hard climb. It was, but it was bitumen, and I was happy. The road to Tolmie rose to about 900m or so and is absolutely stunning with views across the Vic Alps. Then a long descent down to Whitfield.

I took a wrong turn at Whitfield and headed 'towards' Myrtleford. This turned out to be a logging truck road and more bone shaking corrugations for a few hours. I passed a farm and heard some shooting and briefly wondered if I was the target. I had no holes in me, so continued on, then rode past a big brown snake that was relaxing on the sizzling hot road. It reared up at me but I was far enough away that it was no threat.

I ended up dehydrated after bouncing one of my bidons out of the holder, never to be seen again. I hadn't realised I had taken a wrong turn yet, and thought I was going to somehow arrive in Oxley before Myrtleford.

Eventually it dawned on me that Myrtleford was the next stop, so I stopped at a couple of places looking for water. The first was a govt building and the water looked more like ginger ale. I used that to tip over myself in the heat. The next was a CFA building and the water looked clear. I took a risk and drank it, and suffered no ill effects.

Finally, Myrtleford - coke, ice cream and confectionary. Then the rail trail to Bright.

Anyone got a better route?

Strava links:
day 1 Melb -> Mansfield https://www.strava.com/activities/841397291
day 2 -> Bright https://www.strava.com/activities/841397260 (Garmin battery ran out at Myrtleford)

[BJL]

Depends if you like sealed or unsealed roads. There's a couple of ways from Kinglake. Either through Castella like you did but then up the Melba to Yea, or through Kinglake West, Flowerdale to Yea. From Kinglake, you could have also taken Kinglake-Glenburn Rd which brings you out further up the Melba.

The main roads joining Yarra Glen - Healesville - Yea - Alexandra form a loop surrounding Murrindindi. North of Healesville and Kinglake/Toolangi, there are no sealed roads between the Melba hwy and Maroondah Hwy until Molesworth/Alexandra that I'm aware of.

From Yea, take the rail trail or the highway to Mansfield.

From Mansfield, I'd ride to Whitfield, then to Lake Buffalo and then to Bright. It sounds like that was your plan until the wrong turn.

[jules21]

thanks. that sounds like a better route from Kinglake to Alexandra.

however, I did ride past Lake Buffalo. but the road from Whitfield was not sealed. it would have been rideable on a CX or gravel bike, but I won't repeat that route again on my roadie.

[BJL]

Yeah, I initially missed the Strava links. I would have taken Lake Buffalo-Whitfield Rd to Lake Buffalo instead of going through Cheshunt but there's no guarantee that that road is in any better condition. From your description of a missed turn, I gathered that may have been your plan. It's on my 'to do' list.

But the route you took is interesting. I'm always looking for new roads. The main highways bore me. The other ways from Alexandra are to ride towards Fraser National Park (UT Creek Rd) which is sealed to Skyline Rd and then Skyline Rd (unsealed) which brings you back to Maintongoon Rd but it's still a pain of a road.

Or to Yarck and then to Mansfield.

[find_bruce]

I approached Bonnie Doon

How’s the serenity?

[Uncle Just]

A suggested route.... https://goo.gl/maps/pX2ZWYtEohD2 or you could go further north from Whitfield towards Moyhu and cut across to the Snow road near Gapsted and onto the rail trail.

Firstly well done on your ride. You will need wider, tougher tyres than 23s to cope with the rougher roads as you learnt. A CX or gravel bike would be ideal. Like BJL suggested I'd go early via Kinglake West , Flowerdale and Yea to get out of Melbourne. I too prefer the road less travelled but you can do such a ride by using a judicious combination of the rough and the smooth. Spring Creek/Coles road gets rough near the summit which has a final very steep pinch but then descends nicely into the valley to join up with the rail trail to Mansfield. The climb to Tolmie you took would be brutal as I've descended on it and it was super fast. Better to go via the C521 ime. The Lake Buffalo Whitfield road was worse than the Rose River road when we did it in a 4wd but that was some years back and maybe it's in better shape now? If you want to do the ride in a quicker time or even a day as you posted, then time on bitumen is faster than rougher gravel roads.

[warthog1]

I rode up to Bright last week. planned 300km in 1 day - no chance. did it in 2 days.

Day 1 was OK up until I left the Melba Hwy, shortly after I found myself on 4WD tracks. not good on my roadie with 23c tyres and carbon steerer fork. I battled through those for about half the day before coming out at Alexandra. I passed some hillbilly shanty-houses with improvised construction techniques and loads of wrecked old vehicles. I had to jump gates on what turned out to be high voltage electricity line access tracks. Then a farm. Then more 4WD tracks on Maintgonoon Rd until I approached Bonnie Doon. It was slow going on such rough road so I only did 180km, a bit less than the 300km planned. I also ran out of spare tubes and had to do about half the ride on a slow leaking tube that I pumped up every 20 minutes. Stayed in Mansfield.

The highlight was the road from Kinglake to Castella - what a beauty. I think the Sun Tour will take it on next weekend.

Day 2 I was determined to do better. After purchasing spare tubes from helpful folks at Mansfield LBS, I headed off up Old Tolmie Rd, ignoring the bike shop's advice about it being a hard climb. It was, but it was bitumen, and I was happy. The road to Tolmie rose to about 900m or so and is absolutely stunning with views across the Vic Alps. Then a long descent down to Whitfield.

I took a wrong turn at Whitfield and headed 'towards' Myrtleford. This turned out to be a logging truck road and more bone shaking corrugations for a few hours. I passed a farm and heard some shooting and briefly wondered if I was the target. I had no holes in me, so continued on, then rode past a big brown snake that was relaxing on the sizzling hot road. It reared up at me but I was far enough away that it was no threat.

I ended up dehydrated after bouncing one of my bidons out of the holder, never to be seen again. I hadn't realised I had taken a wrong turn yet, and thought I was going to somehow arrive in Oxley before Myrtleford.

Eventually it dawned on me that Myrtleford was the next stop, so I stopped at a couple of places looking for water. The first was a govt building and the water looked more like ginger ale. I used that to tip over myself in the heat. The next was a CFA building and the water looked clear. I took a risk and drank it, and suffered no ill effects.

Finally, Myrtleford - coke, ice cream and confectionary. Then the rail trail to Bright.

Anyone got a better route?

Strava links:
day 1 Melb -> Mansfield https://www.strava.com/activities/841397291
day 2 -> Bright https://www.strava.com/activities/841397260 (Garmin battery ran out at Myrtleford)

Epic trip on a carbon roadie with skinny tyres. One would have expected it to spontaneously disintegrate within view of a dirt road.
Did you fall off at all on the dirt? I'm sure I would have managed on loose gravel somewhere.
FM098?
Any pics of the bike?

[jules21]

thanks for route advice guys.

warthog - no falls, thankfully. a few "wheel goes that way" moments on loose surfaces, but due to a mixture of luck and MTB experience I managed to not fall off.

pic of bike:
https://www.facebook.com/CyclingVictori ... =3&theater

[warthog1]

Thanks
Is it a dengfu R02?
Happy with it?

[jules21]

Thanks
Is it a dengfu R02?
Happy with it?

I'm unsure about the precise model name. I'm pretty happy with it. It hasn't done anything wrong. The only little thing is I reckon the head bearing seats are not moulded very accurately and this seems to cause creaking in the steering action. Apparently this is common with no-name carbon frames. It's hard to say 100% that's the cause but it sounds like it and I read about it being common on the web. It's no biggie.

[warthog1]

Thanks