I was experiencing the very 'first world problem' off having too much annual leave at work, so I thought I would have a crack at a ride that's been on my bucket list a long time, and one of the ultimate road cycling routes to do in Australia...the Alpine Crossing!
There has been a road of some kind over the Victorian Alps for a long time now, but it only became sealed in the late 90s, and currently it is the highest sealed road in Australia. But long before Europeans arrival, the Victorian Alps were a meeting place for First Nations people who would travel huge distances in difficult terrain to meet on high points for trade and ceremonies. Evidence of this goes back as far as a staggering 21,000 years ago, at a rock shelter near Birrigai in the area.
I really want to do this bikepacking style so I am carrying a tent, cooking and sleeping gear, some food, and enough warm kit to handle mountain weather. My plan is to get the train to Wangaratta and spend 3 days getting to Bairnsdale where I can return to Melbourne on another train.
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| A very clean Casper at the start of this ride |
Day one started super early with an 04:45 alarm and I was out the door 20 mins later peddling into the city. I really like the idea of riding out the house without using a car, and anyway my wife needed ours for work, so I rode the 30 something km into southern cross station and boarded the vline train to Wangaratta. There were half a dozen other cyclists kitted out the same as me and probably doing a similar route so it was nice to know there might be other nutters on the route for some occasional company.
All the bike spots on the train were quickly full and you can't book bicyckes, so advice to others planning this is to pick a quiet day, or get there early. The train ride was nice, passing through a bit of back country Victoria I hadn't seen before. For entertainment I was watching a big thunderstorm roll through the state on rain radar, but it never was directly overhead (yet, as it turned out).
When I got off I realised I'd left a small bag on the train. There were no valuables in there but it had some food and my phone charger. I'm not really on a tight schedule so decided to wait 3 hours for the train to come back as a staff member kindly contacted the train for me and they'd located it. I would arrive late at my camp tonight but that is no issue beyond the inconvenience.
A kind lady heard me talking to staff to locate the bag and approached me offering money! I did not need it of course but blown away by the gesture.
In the meantime, what to do but have more coffee while I wait! There was a nice place accross the street from Wangaratta Station, the sun was out and the coffee delicious.
I randomly got talking to a nice couple on their way to Sydney. The fella had cycled up Mt Hotham and had useful tips about the route and suggested a couple of nice places to stop, as well as a camping spot. Had I not left my bag on the train I would never have had these interesting interactions with locals, so I considered my stupidity to be a good win in the end.
I did finally get going, with the missing bag, and initially took the road before switching to the rail trail after about 20km. The sky got darker rapidly and it looked like there was no way to dodge it. Sure enough giant fat drops of rain started coming down and there was fork lighting not far away. It's quite intimidating when on a little bike with nowhere to shelter.
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| The Rail Trail |
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I got a proper soaking but it did pass quickly enough at least, the sun dried me off but the path was pretty messy as was I. It's s a great route, I can see why some folks would spend days doing what took me hours, and stop at the many food and wine options.
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| Approaching Harrietville |
After getting the tent up and a feast of freeze dried pasta cooked, I had a chat to some other campers by their fire before crashing for an early night.
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| Campsite and dinner cooking |
Tomorrow, it's the crux of the trip with a 30km ascent of Hotham, where the real fun begins.
Day 1 Stats:
- Distance:120.79 + 34.88 = 155.67km
- Elevation Gain : 526m
- Calories: 5994
- Here is the GPX (note I doubled back briefly)
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