Long Trail Rides out of Melbourne. Suggestions?

[misterhorsey]

I do love a long ride out of Melbourne, on trails.

So far I've figured out the longest, most trailiest routes are:

- Melb to Warburton (with a tiny bit of road, but with the Tarralla Creek to Lilydale maybe it's all trail?)

- Melb to Belgrave

- Melb to Werribee

Are there any others I'm missing? If not trails, are there roads that are quiet and car free?

One day it would be great to be able to ride out to the smaller towns surrounding melbourne by bike, without getting on freeways or roads. Kyneton, for example, is close enough for a long good ride, but the route and roads seem a bit intimidating for those who are a little unenthusiastic about sharing the road with internal combustion engine powered mobile phone users.

Look forward to any suggestions!

[djw47]

There's an extension of the Lilydale Warburton trail in the offing - they're going to extend it out through Yarra Glen to Healesville. Not sure how far progressed it is, but last time I drove through Healesville, there was definitely work completed at that end.

[Calvin27]

https://www.railtrails.org.au/trail-des ... s/victoria

[antigee]

once rode to catch (the cancelled due to high winds!) ferry to Phillip Island picking up the Peninsular Freeway trail off the eastlink trail memory says only around 2km was on road around Baxter with a shared path along the road around Tyabb and some nice coastal trails around Hastings, have also used the peninsular route to get to Frankston and catch train back.

More Melbourne than rural and a loop but Yarra Koonung or Mullum then Eastlink to Patterson Lakes and then the trails that run by a golfcourse and Edithvale wetlands to join the Bayside/Beach rd shared path at Mordiallic back to the City is a good 100/150km depending on variations and all off road

Another loop is Yarra then Diamond creek trail to Eltham then some complicated joining of trails around Greensborough to pick up Plenty trail

Whittlesea is an option for me using the Darebin Creek trail to get to Western ring rd trail and then Plenty road north has a generally wide cycle lane all the way to Whittlesea with annoyingly a couple of narrow bridges where care is needed

Not sure what you use to plan routes but I find ridewithgps with OSM as the default works well

ref Tarralla trail extension to Lilydale recently posted an update in this section and yes 99.5% on share paths now

[Leaf T]

"I do love a long ride out of Melbourne, on trails."

Late reply....

Join MBTC. They often have long rides in and out of the city. They also have a massive collective knowledge on where to ride especially in Melbourne and Victoria. They're on Meet up but I'm not sure if they publish all their rides on that site.

[misterhorsey]

There's an extension of the Lilydale Warburton trail in the offing - they're going to extend it out through Yarra Glen to Healesville. Not sure how far progressed it is, but last time I drove through Healesville, there was definitely work completed at that end.

Yep that would be brilliant once completed. I didn't realise they had actually broken ground on this. Exciting!

[misterhorsey]

https://www.railtrails.org.au/trail-des ... s/victoria

Thanks for that. I'm familiar with the site, and the many trails. It's a great resource.

I guess my question was more along the lines of knowing whether there were any trail heavy Urban to Regional routes that other riders were familiar with.

On a bit of a tangent, I've sometimes wondered whether there is a small regional town that has better biking than Melbourne. But then I realise that Melbournes extensive trail network is far superior to any smaller town as it just goes on and on.

[misterhorsey]

once rode to catch (the cancelled due to high winds!) ferry to Phillip Island picking up the Peninsular Freeway trail off the eastlink trail memory says only around 2km was on road around Baxter with a shared path along the road around Tyabb and some nice coastal trails around Hastings, have also used the peninsular route to get to Frankston and catch train back.

More Melbourne than rural and a loop but Yarra Koonung or Mullum then Eastlink to Patterson Lakes and then the trails that run by a golfcourse and Edithvale wetlands to join the Bayside/Beach rd shared path at Mordiallic back to the City is a good 100/150km depending on variations and all off road

Another loop is Yarra then Diamond creek trail to Eltham then some complicated joining of trails around Greensborough to pick up Plenty trail

Whittlesea is an option for me using the Darebin Creek trail to get to Western ring rd trail and then Plenty road north has a generally wide cycle lane all the way to Whittlesea with annoyingly a couple of narrow bridges where care is needed

Not sure what you use to plan routes but I find ridewithgps with OSM as the default works well

ref Tarralla trail extension to Lilydale recently posted an update in this section and yes 99.5% on share paths now

Thanks antigee - you've mentioned a few options I hadn't considered.

I haven't made it down to the Peninsular freeway trail yet - it seems a bit disjointed from last time I looked but worth a explore perhaps now the weather is getting a bit warmer.

I've ridden to Whittlesea but only with other roadies who prefer riding on the road all the way instead of the admittedly slower trail.

[misterhorsey]

"I do love a long ride out of Melbourne, on trails."

Late reply....

Join MBTC. They often have long rides in and out of the city. They also have a massive collective knowledge on where to ride especially in Melbourne and Victoria. They're on Meet up but I'm not sure if they publish all their rides on that site.

Thanks for the tip LeafT. I'll look them up.

[misterhorsey]

So thanks for all the suggestions. I ended up posting this and then going travelling for a bit to various parts of Australia which meant that I wasn't on my bike all that much over the past few months.

Anyway, on my return to Melbourne in September I went for a sedate ride on the merri creek trail on my single speed. As I entered a blind corner, a cyclist coming the other one on the wrong side of the collided with me head on. He ended up with a broken collarbone and broken ribs, I ended up with a fractured vertebra and concussion. Thankfully the fracture is stable and I've no other complicating injuries. But it could have been a lot worse.

I've cycled the trails for a decade now and seen much aggressive and clown like riding on the trails, particularly amongst the commuter warrior class during peak hour. The rider who crashed into me was inexperienced, but also full of hubris. The reason he was in the wrong lane was because he overtaking a pedestrian around a blind corner - and following the accident he didn't seem to understand the concept that he could have slowed down and waited until he could see around the corner to pass.

I tend to favour trails and gravel these days for the same reasons that many other people are. To get away from the cars and the danger they pose to cyclists. I am confident on the road, but I don't always enjoy it.

So it does sadden me slightly that my biggest and most serious injury came on a bike trail, which I had previously considered my safe haven!

I know this was a freak accident. And I hope I'm not put off riding once I've healed. I guess there aren't too many blind corners on the trails.

Anyway, that's why my responses have been so delayed!

[mtb1011]

that's not good, it's usually some plonker on an ebike riding way beyond their skills and experience.

where was that blind corner? Under Heidelberg Road on the steep path?

[misterhorsey]

that's not good, it's usually some plonker on an ebike riding way beyond their skills and experience.

where was that blind corner? Under Heidelberg Road on the steep path?

It wasn't that corner, but I am ALWAYS apprehensive around that corner. However I like to reassure myself that that corner is so high risk that people are generally sensible enough to take care, particularly when descending.

No it was the first corner north of Arthurton Rd / the CERES bike shed. It was an older man on his first ride for a long time. I reckon he was racing himself into tunnel vision. He's also denied fault at the first instance, and is likely to be uninsured, so I'm not likely to recover cost of cracked helmet and bent fork, but we'll see how that plays out.

I get what you say about the e-bikes. I'm generally supportive of their adoption by the wider population, but dismayed to see how its played out in reality. Like you say, people riding beyond skills and experience, endangering others (however unintentionally).

[brumby33]

Misterhorsey, sorry to hear of your accident, hope you're on the mend and won't be too long before you're back riding.

I was scouting the internet over the weekend for bicycle touring websites and found this beauty for Victoria, it was Vic that I was trying to get info and of all the googling I've done, this is the first time I've come across this site but it's awesome and kept me occupied for some time...it's quite touring bent but good info just the same. Sorry if you've already seen these but they are worth passing on and sharing the knowledge
http://www.adventurecyclingvictoria.com/

and here's another I found from amongst the top site....it's full of knowledge too...again mainly based in Victoria.

http://blokeonbike.com/bloke1/

Hope you get some good use out of these.

Cheers

brumby33

[antigee]

.......Anyway, on my return to Melbourne in September I went for a sedate ride on the merri creek trail on my single speed. As I entered a blind corner, a cyclist coming the other one on the wrong side of the collided with me head on. He ended up with a broken collarbone and broken ribs, I ended up with a fractured vertebra and concussion. Thankfully the fracture is stable and I've no other complicating injuries. But it could have been a lot worse.......

sorry to hear that and trust a good recovery

^^^^ and Brumby33 thanks for the links just above the Adventure Cycling Victoria looks very interesting...just come back from end of season skiing at Falls Creek and really need to get out beyond the Melbourne suburbs a bit more

[Coffee_Jimmy]

Guys after doing a few 50, 70 and one 80k ride on my new Fastroad I'm keen to do a 100k loop from home (Knox) down to Mornington and back.
On Google Maps it's 52ks there so that's a clean 104k loop.
Ive been as far as Patterson Lakes (Carrum) on the bike track but has anyone continued on to Mornington and suggest a good safe way to get there?
I'm not a fan on riding on roads but can if needed.
Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks JR

[djw47]

Guys after doing a few 50, 70 and one 80k ride on my new Fastroad I'm keen to do a 100k loop from home (Knox) down to Mornington and back.
On Google Maps it's 52ks there so that's a clean 104k loop.
Ive been as far as Patterson Lakes (Carrum) on the bike track but has anyone continued on to Mornington and suggest a good safe way to get there?
I'm not a fan on riding on roads but can if needed.
Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks JR

I rode down the Peninsula once from the Dandenongs (200km round trip). After Frankston it's not great for cycling until you reach Dromana. You'll find yourself riding along a bike lane on a busy road only to find the lane abruptly stops and dumps you in the traffic. It wasn't pleasant riding at all. Once I got down to Dromana I rode along the beach road and it was quieter but equally unpleasant local traffic stopping and starting and loads of traffic lights. I wouldn't ride down there again. If you're not a fan of roads, you'll not enjoy it. The Peninsula would benefit from a proper bike path that runs from Frankston to Portsea.

[antigee]

Not easy I've used the Peninsular Freeway trail a few times to head down the peninsular including once to pass through Mornington...unfortunately the trail (literally) ends in the middle of nowhere opposite the Mornington Railway Preservation Society at Moorooduc (Erasmosa Rd West Junction) I carried on through the woods on a narrow and very very muddy path beside the railway line which looked quite well used but was very very slow going to then use some very quiet roads to get into Mornington...hopefully the trail will get finished at some point. From the Dandenong creek trail the Peninsular trail is a pretty mixed bag of urban / wetlands / parkland and noisy sections beside the freeway with quite a lot of signalised crossings of busy junctions and ped crossings on slip roads that count for nothing ...has some good bits and nothing too grim just functional....will advise that I only did the section beyond Moorooduc once and not sure if would do again...a week or so I road the busy roads to drop south of Mornington and wasn't pleasant.... anyway here is a ridewithgps track which includes the mudbath section

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/33194418 I'd be interested if anyone has other options

[Coffee_Jimmy]

Thanks for the replies guys. Yeah not a fan of roads nor the hassle it seems you have both encountered on your rides.
Sound like I'll be heading to Patterson River then heading north to the city and loop home that way.
Thanks again for the replies.