Linda who had been awake only moments before looked across at me and gasped. I stared at her too.

“Winda, you’re wips are aww swowwen!”

“What the – ?”

Yes, Linda’s lips were swollen… and so was my whole face. But where Linda had the sexy botox thing happening, I looked like a pale watermelon withlegs!

Times like these the mind does a quick panicked once over of every possible scenario…

Dehydration? Wind burn? Bee sting? Wasp bite? Spider bite?(yikes!) Allergy to the camping pillows? An allergy to my sister-in-law that has remained dormant for the past 20 years??? Some unidentified, highly contagious, tropical disease that we were about to die from?

Fortunately we’d bought a 4L bottle of water the afternoon before and we were able to wet our camping bathtowels and lay the coolness on our faces. The swelling began to subside… much to my relief!

We got dressed for the day – on the ride you don’t have access to the showers in the mornings (blearh!). We both cursed the fact and hoped we wouldn’t B.O. (body odour) anyone to death during the day.

We filled our water bottles and got our gear together for the ride. Then as I struggled to get my contact lenses in (the skin around my eyes was still swollen) Linda raced off to the breakfast tent with instructions to bring me back some fruit.

She came back about 20 mins later laden with food and a huge grin…

“You’re sure you only want some fruit?” She waved her chocolate muffin in front of me, the plate of bread with butter and strawberry jam sachets, a banana, apple, tub of yoghurt and bowl of cereal precariously held in the other hand. I took the apple and packed the banana in my backpack.

After Linda finally got through her meal (I should mention that she’s as skinny as a rake handle!) we packed our bags. As we only had 66km today we weren’t worried about leaving a little later.

We dismantled our tent, packed it and loaded our bags on the luggage truck – a BIG thank you to the guys on Luggage Truck 2 for helping us get our bags on top of the huge pile in the truck!

And we were off. Today’s ride was from Portland to Macarthur – 66kms.

The course proved to be fast and mostly flat. There were a few nice steep climbs close to Mt Eccles which I thoroughly enjoyed (did I mention that I love the hills?). I’m ashamed to admit it, but I experience this peverse pleasure when passing cyclists on the uphills… especially when most of them could easily pass me on the flat. The only challenge I had today with the wet roads was losing traction as I kicked up the hills, but as we had started later we were amongst slower riders who were also having challenges with the hills.

On going up one hill I passed a young couple struggling on their bicycles and as I passed I heard the man say to the woman, “See, Monica! And yesterday you were mocking the scooter!”

I thought, ‘Yeah! No one mocks this scooter, babe!’  And pumped my legs faster leaving the mockers behind for dead.

When we turned right onto the Princess Highway there were three Police Officers slowing traffic to keep it safe for the riders. My ‘up and down’ motion caught their eye and one of the Police Officers yelled out, “What happened to your pedals?!”

I said, “Someone nicked them!”

He replied, “Maybe you should call the Police!”

A group of us laughed as we turned onto the busy road.

On the Princess Highway we were directed to travel in a single file and stay as far to the left as possible…

Unfortunately, not everyone adhered to that information!

I got stuck behind two rather large cyclists who sat two abreast, chatting away, oblivious to the world around them. The cyclist on the right (closest to the traffic) kept drifting out into the traffic lane – sometimes half way in the lane! I thought it was only time before a semi collected him. As they were only sitting on about 18 to 19km per hour other cyclists had to overtake. The overtaking cyclists were screaming out ‘passing!’, ‘passing on your right!’ and ’stick to the left!’ and one party did yell ‘oh! get over for (expletive) sake!’ but this only had a momentary impact on the pair. I looked for an opportunity to pass as well, but with traffic roaring alongside us I decided it wasn’t worth the effort or danger, so I tucked in behind the larger of the two (fortunately the one on the left) and drafted for a while. It turned out to be a good thing as a headwind had picked up.

Eventually we turned off onto some nice little back roads with no traffic and I was able to get around the pair.

Linda and I were then able to ride side by side for a while and chat.

A cyclist pulled up beside me to have a chat as well. Apparently I was getting a reputation and had earned the title ‘Scooter Girl’. The man turned out to be Ian Trevaskis, the author who does a bit of freelance journalism on the side. We spoke for a while and he asked if he could do a piece on the kickbike for the cyclist magazine, Australian Cyclist. I readily agreed. He was fascinated with the kickbike, and being a keen cross country skiier, could see similarities in the movement.

Eventually we parted ways and came into the lunch spot.

Lunch was delicious – cheese, tomato and basil on thick bread – yummmmmmmm! It was so big I could only eat half of it, so I stored the other half in my Reservoir Dog (backpack), donated the choc-chip cookie, cheese block and crackers to Linda which she stored with some more fruit (more Chipmunk behaviour) in her tool bag.

Back on the kickbike and only 16km out a group of ‘real ones’ passed me. ‘Real ones’ are what I call the male ‘elite cyclists’… you know the ones: they wear team colours, have shaved legs, are tanned from their long rides, have diamond calves, ride bikes worth more than my car and basically look super hot in their lycra! This group congratulated me, one honked his horn, and another said, “I’m going to marry someone like her.”

I thought ‘See what a kickbike can do for you! It not only carries you 550km around the south coast of Victoria, it can also get you hitched to a lycra-clad hottie!’ So sweet!

When we arrived at the Macarther campsite, Linda and I found an area for our tent. I sat down in our spot with the bikes to eat the rest of my lunch while Linda had the near-impossible task of finding our bags amongst the other 500 pieces of luggage dumped on the ground.

A cyclist came over and said ‘hi’, squatted down beside me, checked out the kickbike and raised his arms in a gesture of amazement.

“How – ?”

I smiled, “It’s like riding a bike – at first it’s a challenge but when you get the fundamentals and put the mileage in, it’s not as hard as it looks.”

“You’re amazing. And you’re doing the whole ride on it?”

“Yep”

“Wow!”

“Thank you” I laughed.

“Good luck” he said and with a wave, left.

Linda staggered back, hefting two of our bags, which we dumped beside our bikes. Then we both went back to find the ‘big’ bag and carried it between us back to our spot.

We laid our tent out and thus began the laughing and chatting associated with two totally inadequate tent-erecting individuals.Obviously our lack of expertise showed as we received several offers of help, including the man I had chatted with a short time ago. We declined each offer – afterall isn’t putting up the tent half the fun of camping!

After our tent was up we attempted to call our husbands with updates but mobile phone coverage was shocking in the area, so we decided to walk into town, try for better coverage and get some water for tomorrow. Fortunately, our sandshoes were dry – so no more thong torture… my dead blister twinged with relief! In town we found a sausage sizzle, so I had two sizzles without the sausages… basically two pieces of bread with a bit of tomato sauce.  Linda, wisely decided to wait till dinner time.

Finally we got through on our phones and chatted with hubbies – then my phone beeped with a low battery.

“Don’t worry – there was a sign back at camp for mobile phone charging and they’re open till 7pm.” Linda assured me.

So we headed back to camp to find that someone had crossed out the 7pm on the sign and changed it to 5.30pm. I looked at my watch: 5.40pm… bummer! I would have to wait until the service was offered again at a future campsite, keep my phone switched off and only use it in an emergency.

We lined up for dinner behind some 500 other people – which sounds like a drag, but the line moved very quickly. There was an abundance of volunteers serving up the meals, all very efficient at piling your plate full. The meal again was delicious – chickpea curry, rice, thai salad, and pita bread. Linda scored a Mango dessert and gobbled it down in two seconds flat. It’s funny, I’d read on a forum before the ride that the meals would be pretty ordinary and this particular person had recommended eating non camp food. By now you’ve probably guessed I love my food – indeed any event is highlighted in my memory in regards to the food served - and I can honestly say I was enjoying the meals so far! The food was hot, tasty and there was plenty of it.

As the weather turned colder we headed over to the shower trucks hoping there was no line up. How lucky were we! We only waited a few minutes before we got to the head of the line. Yikes! I stared with horror at the flimsy shower curtains on the front of each cubicle that flapped open and closed with the wind that whipped through the open door of the truck. Linda couldn’t disguise her groan as she saw the same thing.

But I must admit it was gorgeous under the warm stream of water and the sudden flashes of bare skin fell away to oblivion. It was also clean in my cubicle and as I was wearing thongs my tinea-phobia was held at bay.

There had been a note in our camping guide as to the shower routine. We were to: turn the water on to briefly wet ourselves, turn the water off, lather up, turn the water back on to quickly rinse, then turn the water back off again. In the warmth of the shower I had one clear thought: screw the shower routine! I certainly didn’t hear any showers being turned off and on around me, and I most certainly didn’t follow the routine either!

It wasn’t until I was towelling off that I discovered that the backs of my legs were sun-burned. Then when I got dressed and finally got to see myself in a mirror… OMG! Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer had nothing on me. My nose was glowing, as were my cheeks and chin. Fortunately, I had worn a Ground Effect Cycle Shirt which has a fairly high collar so the back of my neck had been protected. (Thank you G.E. – your design wizards are my heroes!)

Linda fortunately had avoided the sunburn as her makeup has sun protection, and she wore leggings. I made a mental note to put suncream on tomorrow.

Back in our tents we settled down to sleep, and that’s when we heard the noise. The tent directly behind us was obviously a love nest… and the female party, a ‘moaner’. So Linda and I spent the next half hour (very impressive) stifling giggles like a pair of teenagers…

Gee, we really do need to get out more!

Would morning never come???

Yay! 5am and we’re up. Did a quick race to the toilets before the crowds gathered.

Started getting things together and packing my Reservoir Dog (backpack) for the ride…

Kickbike? Check (not in the backpack of course!)
Sunnies? Check
Gloves? Check
She Shell rain jacket? Check
Water? Check
Spare tubes? Check
Hand pump? Check
Dates? Check
Mobile phone? Check
Ride guide? Check
Bike lock? Check
Sister-in-law? Check (LOL)

Suncream? Forgot to check! Damn… that became a habit which I paid the price for later…

As we were staying in this campsite for two nights, there was no need to dismantle the tent or pack our bags… yipee!

53km bike ride today from Portland out to Cape Bridgewater and back to Portland.

As we rode through the Start Banner a Police Officer yelled out, “You’ll have one leg shorter than the other by this afternoon!” I laughed and waved.

200m from the start, Linda encountered a problem us Kickbikers don’t have – her chain came off. We pulled over and threaded it back on the chain wheel, wiped the grease off my hands onto the grass, and took off again.

It rained a short way out from Portland… and this rain was not like our Brisbane rain – where it was a pleasure to ride in – this was freezing!!! We passed a bunch of cyclists all huddled under an overpass trying to get out of the rain as it started to hammer down…

No room for this little kickbiker and her sidekick (Linda, my sister-in-law) under the overpass, so we kept riding and stopped under some trees so we could get our She Shells out to combat the rain… and we were off again.

We were doing a good speed by this stage. We had started out slow for the first few k’s to warm up – 16 to 17km per hour and were now sitting up around the 23km per hour mark when we came into the Lunch stop.

Yumbo – crusty roll with cottage cheese, avocado, lettuce and tomato, an apple, a choc-chip cookie (which I donated to Linda as well as the crackers and cheese).

The only problem was, I was freezing. The wind was blowing and the rain kept falling. I huddled in beside Linda trying to get some warmth. Linda is used to riding in these conditions and had worn leggings for the ride while I was in shorts. When my lips started to turn blue we decided it was time to get going again.

Phew! Warmth again as we hit some hills.

On one hill a man on a bicycle pulled up beside me.

“How old are you?” he asked.

This is interesting, I thought.

“How old am I?” I repeated.

Linda, who was cycling behind me was about to reprimand him – ‘don’t you know it’s rude to ask a lady her age!’

“Are you young and adventurous or old and silly?” he enquired.

Oh, now I got the context – this was an enquiry about an adult riding a ’scooter’.

“Oh, definitely old” I assured him.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Deb”

“Deb what?”

Pause… Don’t tell me the Great Vic Ride is actually a Night Club on wheels and I’m getting picked up on my first day of riding???

He must have sensed my disapproval…

“I’m John – I’m the media guy for the bike ride.”

“Oh! Ok! I’m Deb Stewart.”  LOL

“If the media contacted you would you be happy to speak with them about your bike?” he asked.

“Certainly!” The more people who know about footbiking and kickbiking and scootering… the better.

The day got steadily colder as the rain fell harder and as we turned back towards camp (the ride was a loop) I soon discovered why we’d been doing such good speed on the way out – we got blasted with a headwind home. Once again, my She Shell saved me.

A cyclist asked, “You’re not seriously going all the way on that are you?”

“Yep”

“The whole 50kms?!”

“I’m doing the whole 550kms on it.” I told him

“You’re doing the whole ride on that thing?”

“Well unless I’m abducted by aliens or eaten by a rogue kangaroo, I plan to.” I assured him.

“Geeze – that’s gutsy!”

When we got back I was so relieved to get into some warm clothes. I donned a Thermal Top – a Hot Toddie… yup, you guessed it – from Ground Effect! Why do I love those guys so much? Sports jumper, jeans… and finally warmth!

By this stage we were starving and dinner provided by the ride wasn’t until 5pm… so Linda and I decided to walk into town for a snack. We stored my kickbike in the tent, figuring if any bike was to draw attention and be nicked, out of the 5,000 on-site it would probably be my baby! A small luggage lock came in handy for securing the tent zipper.

As our sandshoes were sopping wet from the ride, and mine were also muddy from kicking, Linda and I donned our thongs and walked into town. Hmmm! Why did I send that second pair of sandshoes home with Eddie? Within ten minutes of walking in thongs a blister on the webbing between my big toe and 2nd toe grew and popped. Ouch!

My grumbling was soon drowned out by another grumble – my stomach. And then in the distance I could see the answer to all my cares… A haven for any starving vegetarian… Subways!!! And across the road – Brumbies for Linda (she’s very partial to a vegimite roll).

We sat on a bus seat, Linda with her roll and me with my foot-long Vegie Delight Subway.

On the way back to camp we visited a shop and I witnessed a strange phenomenon – Linda has a fossicking, gathering and storing behaviour… sort of like a Chipmunk! She bought two bags of fruit and nut (although she already had a bag of Trail Mix in the tent) and was about to buy a huge bag of lollies as well until I talked her out of it. (Those two bags – 500g each – she carried the entire way of the ride and never ate, and continued to gather and store more snacky stuff along the way… Linda the Chipmunk!)

It started raining again and we did a bolt through town back to the campsite – mud flicking up over our clothes…

And it kept raining… We sat in our tent while I administered First Aid to my blister – now red raw. Fortunately, I had packed 40,000 bandaids ready for the good old ankle whack that I’m such an expert at when kickbiking! I think the scar tissue is large enough to warrant it’s own ID!

Dinner came… and we did another bolt through our campsite across a road to the other campsite where dinner was set up… past all of those clever people who packed their umbrellas…

Dinner which we scoffed down, standing under a huge marquee, squeezed between tables and chairs filled with diners… was delicious. It was some sort of vegetable pattie thingy with mushroom sauce and potato salad. Linda also scored a Chocolate Mousse which she ate slowly with relish, waving her spoon in ecstasy. The Great Vic Ride organisers certainly know how to put on a good spread.

We raced back to camp, covered in mud, and cleaned off as best as we could. We huddled in our sleeping bags, deciding not to bother with showers tonight as the rain poured down – we’d be covered in mud again by the time we made it back to our tent.

An Elvis Presley entertainer kept the masses cheering until 10pm that night – and as it was near impossible to hear each other over the din, Linda and I slowly drifted off to sleep…

Arrived in Melbourne last night, Kickbike safely by my side with plans to complete the Great Victorian Bike Ride with my sister-in-law, Linda, who is riding a standard hybrid bicycle.

The ride is an annual event covering varying terrain throughout Victoria, Australia, and this year’s ride covers 550km in 8 days of riding from Portland to Geelong – part of that being the Great Ocean Road. Since it’s beginning in 1984 there have been riders on standard road bikes, mountain bikes, fixed wheel bikes, tandems, recumbents, tandem recumbents and a few brave unicyclists! But no one has taken part on a scooter… yet!

Coming from Brisbane’s typically predictable humid, hot summer I was hit with Melbourne’s typically unpredictable not-summer weather! It’s cold with pouring rain and an expected hail storm. Hail! Great! Just what we need on a bike ride! I phoned hubby back in Qld to report on the weather forecast. Being his usual positive up-beat self he assured me that hail was perfect for a bike ride – I atleast had a helmet to combat the sky’s icy rock balls!

Knowing that we had 9 nights of camping on the ride… and being a not-so-gifted camper, Linda and I practised putting the tent up – in the living room of her house. Ok…

“What’s that loop thing for?”

“What the – ???”

“How the hell are you supposed to get that in the clip?!”

“Geeze – we’ll have to be careful not to skewer anyone on the ride with the tent poles!”

“What are the ropes for?”

“You peg them to the ground.”

“Do you know how to do that?”

“Nope.”

“Isn’t that pole supposed to thread through that loop thing on top?”

“How the hell am I supposed to hold the pole up, loop that thing and thread the other thingy through at the same time?!”

“Dunno – ???”

“Who’s idea was this anyway???”

A while later our home for the next week and a half towered above us in all it’s tent-like glory. Job well done! Now if I could manage to get my sleeping bag into it’s storage bag as easily and with less cursing I would be a happy woman!

Thank goodness assembling my kickbike is a much easier affair! Riding an old Millenium I only needed to attach the front and back wheels and then pump up the tyres (having deflated them for the plane trip). I’ve pimped the bike up with a Mavic Helium wheel on the front with a Michelin Krylion tyre, and the good old Kickbike wheel on the back with a Comet Primo tyre. While the Michelin Krylion (116psi) isn’t as fast as the Michelin Pro 3 (also 116psi) that I usually take on a public ride, it is dependable in the wet and is more puncture resistant. Using high pressure tyres my only hope is that I don’t get a flat out on the road and need to spend the next hour pumping up a new tube using one of those mini hand pumps!

After an intense debate over whether or not to sleep in the tent that night to get used to it – we opted for our beds. Afterall, why subject ourselves to sore butts and hips any longer than is necessary?

Off to Portland tomorrow – a five and a half hour drive to get to the start. Fortunately, Linda’s hubby is all prepared to drive us – packets of Snakes for snacks, thermos ready for coffee, Iphone filled with 70’s, 80’s and 90’s rock music… and now for a good night’s sleep.

Brisbane’s South Bank was a sea of moving billboards as brightly lycra-ed cyclists shuffled too and fro… scooting along just like footbikers…

The sport of Footbiking was represented by Alan Stewart, Bruce Cook, Lyn Armstrong, Alex ‘Jack Rabbit’ Heta and Deb Stewart in the 100km route, and Karen Toll aka ‘Tingles’ decided to go it alone by completing the 60km ride from Beenleigh to the Gold Coast.

Despite headwinds and rain, the temperature and humidity was pleasant. The course was fast coming out from the city as the bike route weaved through underground bus terminals to eventually meet up with bike paths and finally the road. With no road closures and close to 10,000 riders it was nice to see human powered vehicles dominate the road.

Even though this wasn’t a race, Alan Stewart broke another Australian record for the 100km at a time of 4hrs 15mins. Excellent work Alan! Wish the rest of us could finish with such decorum and look as fresh during the following television interview at the end of the race.

Bruce Cook flew along averaging over 21km/hr, passing many cyclists along the way. Thank you Bruce, you’re a great advocate for the sport.

Despite a bout of food poisoning in the morning – sending her to the toilet rather than the starting line! – Deb Stewart still managed to average 19.9km/hr over the 100km route. Deb has also discovered a new technique for fitting her Kickbike in the toilet cubicle with her… no one else was going to deny her the opportunity to ride that Kickbike to the Gold Coast!

Lyn Armstrong and the Jack Rabbit managed to finish the 100km course in a respectable time even though work committments and other sporting activities kept them from training and preparing for the longer ride. Sheer guts and determination kept them going and allowed Lyn to set the official record of the first Australian Female Veteran to kick more than 100km straight. Congratulations Lyn!!!

Karen Toll, who only started footbiking a few months ago completed her longest ride ever – 60km. Great work, Tingles! Looks like those hill rides are working for you! Good to hear you’ve entered into the Mt Tamborine ride coming up shortly.

There were many cheers of encouragement to the footbikers from cyclists and bystanders, and the quote of the day from one cyclist to another:

“I’m drafting behind her so that I can stare at her butt”. Fellow cyclist replied, “And that’s the reason God made scooters!”

Cheers to all – and we’ll see you again next year!

Bruce Glover, contact for the Ipswich 100 has contacted us about the 2010 ride, inviting all Footbikers and Kickbikers along.

So please mark the date in your diaries and join the other scooter-happy folks.

As hinted after this year’s ride, there will be the Ipswich 100 as well as the Ipswich Imperial, a 100 mile (160km) challenge.

Details at a glance:

When: 28th March 2010

Start/Finish: UQ Ipswich Campus (and are through the rolling hills of beautiful South East Queensland, through Rosewood, Warrill View, Peak Crossing, returning to Ipswich).

Ride distances:

• 10km
• 50km
• 100km
• 160km

Organised and run by the Moggill Mt Crosby Lions Club with all proceeds donated to charity.

All rides are fully supported with marshals, refreshment stops and support vehicles.

The Ipswich 100 website is currently being updated with information – details will be available soon.

The fog was so thick at Victoria Point that the ride was delayed by 17 minutes.

After a message from the organisers and a short welcoming speech from the Mayor of The Redlands, the 75km ride began. And 10 minues later the 45km riders took off.

The 75km and 45km courses featured more up hill than down hill terrain, with a few heart breakers through the Alexander Hills section… which we’ve decided to rename Alexander Mountains. 

With cut off times on the course, Footbiking was represented by Lyn Armstrong on the 45km route, and Bruce Cook, Alan Stewart and Deb Stewart on the 75km course.

The Footbikers went out at a more than respectable pace, covering the first 10kms in 23 mins. Unfortunately, the course was determined not to allow them to continue this pace with its constant barrage of challenging ascents, wind, open roads with traffic, no road closures and a fair share of traffic lights.

Despite the course’s challenges, the footbikers were content with their times.

Alan Stewart came through with 3hrs 9mins, Bruce Cook around 3hrs 20mins and Deb Stewart in 3hrs 33mins for the 75km course.

The SES who worked as marshalls on the day were a complete delight, cheering and clapping the riders on. The event was a success, raising monies for the Leukemia Foundation and the Matthew Stanley Foundation to stop violence.

The Redlands Classic Ride is the only official bike ride of The Redlands and attracted riders from as far away as Western Australia. This was the second year of the ride and the participating numbers doubled from last year. There would have been more riders but the event clashed with the Brisbane Marathon which was also held on the same day.

Thank you to the Rotary Club for organising the event, and all of the volunteers who made the day possible.

The Sydney to the Gong Bike Ride to raise money for MS is huuuuuuuuuge! This year the organisers are capping the numbers at 10,000 riders and hope to raise 2.5 million dollars for MS research.

There are two distances to choose from – both covering a scenic course:

58km
90km

When: 1st November

Where: Various starting points

There are two major descents on the rides – one at the waterfall when the route enters the Royal National Park, and another on Lawrence Hargrave Drive (from Bald Hill to Stanwell Park). To ensure safety, riders at the top of each descent will be formed into manageable groups and motorcycle marshals and Police will escort each group down the descent.

The course is via public roads, and there will be good Police presence and Marshals along the route. There are also stops for fruit, muffins, water etc. to help get you through the ride.

The sponsors for this epic bike challenge include: the RTA, Sydney Morning Herald, Subaru, Brita, Avanti Bikes, Netti, AustCycle, Kennards Hire, 96.5 Wave FM, The Bike Hub, Bicycle NSW, Gatorade, NSW Volunteer Rescue Assoc, Sydney Markets, Southern Cross Ten, Bicycling Australia and St John Ambulance.

Hats off to the organisers and volunteers who make this day happen… why not join them and have the time of your life on this brilliant ride while raising money for a good cause. Please visit the Sydney to Gong website for more details.

The Great Bike Ride is Perth’s largest mass cycling event. There are three distances, each showcasing the Perth Swan River:

10km – starts 8.30am and is a leisurely out and back course following the river.
53km – starts 7.30am and is one lap of the route. This is a timed course with a timing band.
106km – starts 6.00am and is two laps of the route. Also a timed course with a timing band.

When: Sunday 22nd November

Start and Finish: Langley Park, Perth.

The routes for the rides have been cleverly planned, minimising traffic intersections, and keeping at river bank level as much as possible. The rides are supported with Road Marshalls, three aid stations along the way, posted signage, a lead vehicle, and a SAG wagon.

Hosted by the Rotary Club of Perth, the aim of the ride is to raise funds for the St John of God Foundation Horizon House Project, Hope for Children and the Heart Foundation.

The organisers have set up an interesting fee format: If you raise the scheduled amount of dollars in your fundraising kit (different amount for each of the rides) then you get to ride for free. Also, children under 6 years of age can ride the 10km route for free.

Sponsors include: City of Perth, KPMG Australia, Woodside, National Australia Bank, Cyclo Sportif, Scody, The Waterboys, Intertec Consulting, Brain Cells, Cycle Instead, and Budget Car and Truck Rental.

So come on WA-ers, get involved in a spectacular ride for a great cause.

Bicycle Victoria and The Smith Family are running the incredibly popular Around the Bay in a Day Ride for the 17th year in a row.

Riding around Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, you can choose from 5 different distances with alternative routes, with some entries including a ferry ticket (on longer rides):

250km – SOLD OUT
210km – (with ferry) via Queenscliff – SOLD OUT
210km – (with ferry) via Sorrento
210km – (no ferry) to either Queenscliff or Sorrento
100km
80km
50km

For more details on each ride please visit Bicycle Victoria Around the Bay in a Day.

When: Sunday 18th October

Start and Finish: Alexandra Gardens

At the finish join your fellow riders to enjoy music, live entertainment, food and drink stalls, as well as some great giveaways.

As places on the 210km Queenscliff rides were sold out the day they were made available, BV have created a forum where riders can buy and sell places for the 250km and 210km ride. So if you missed out and are still eager to ride, here’s your chance: simply visit the Bicycle Victoria Forum Pages for details. 

The rides are fully supported by Victoria Police, and there will be Route Marshalls, Riding Marshalls (on the 50km and 100km rides), event signage, First Aid as well as SAG wagons. There are rest areas approximately every 25kms.

Sponsors for the event include: City of Melbourne, Scody, Bean Ground and Drunk, Mizone, Skoda Auto, Honan Insurance Brokers, Rapido Cycles, Trek, Elmore Oil, Hobsons Bay City Council, Nestle, and Hocking Stuart.

So why not join in the fun and help to raise funds for The Smith Family.