FAQs

To change your ride option please contact us.

To transfer your ride entry please contact us.

You will be required to select your meal preference when purchasing your ticket. If you need to update after you’ve registered, log back into your register now account using the same email you used to sign up and edit your answer under the event questions heading.

You’ll receive your registration kit when you arrive at the campsite on the first day of the ride. There will be no riding on arrival day, so arrive at any time.

A concession is defined as a person who currently holds one of the following cards that are valid:

• Health Care Card
• Pensioners Concession Card
• Victorian Public Transport Student Concession Card (or interstate equivalent)
• Victorian Seniors Card (or interstate equivalent)
• War Veterans / War Widows Concession Card
• Asylum Seekers Concession Card

Our coach services will transport you, your bike and luggage and operate out of a range of regional areas.

To make loading and unloading of bikes as easy and quick as possible, please remove the pedals from your bike and twist your handlebars in line with your bike frame. If you don’t have the tools, our team will be around to give you a hand.

We highly recommend using a bike box for transport. If you don’t have one you often can source one from your local bike shop.

If you require your box to transport your bike at the end of the ride, then you can leave it with the local Rotary Club. For a small fee, they will take it from the drop-off location to your end destination.

You can view the full transport timetable when tickets go on sale.

Please be at the coach departure point at least 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. 

Bikes can be carried on V/Line trains unless there isn’t space for them to be stowed safely. To ensure the safety and comfort of all customers, V/Line train services can only carry a small number of bikes.

We advise the use of our dedicated Great Vic coach services.

The beauty of the Great Vic is that we’ve got your back when you’re on the road, with:

• Water and toilets at all our designated rest areas
• Lunch
• Marshals and directional signage to help you along the route
• SAG wagons to pick you up if something goes wrong
• Traffic management and a dedicated marshal team to ensure safe riding conditions
• Medical & mechanical support at rest areas and on the route

The Great Vic Bike Ride is completed on sealed roads and is best suited to a hybrid or road bike. However, we love all bikes, and you are encouraged to use the type of bike that you are most comfortable and familiar with.

Ebikes are welcome on the Great Vic Bike Ride, subject to our policy.

We’ve partnered with Rent My Bike Australia to help you out. Visit Rent My Bike Australia for more information and to book your bike rental.

The Great Vic is ridden on sealed roads. However, the route is subject to change due to a number of unforeseen circumstances. Where possible, we will seek an alternate route that is sealed.

Please note, on Day 8 (Sat 2 Dec) from Port Albert to Fish Creek, there is a small 4km section of compact unsealed road which is suitable for road bikes. We’ve got your back, and will provide additional on road support for this section of the route. Don’t worry, the views are worth it!

The riding route opens at 6:30am each morning and you must have left the campsite by 8:30am at the latest.

Road closures are minimal at the Great Vic – however, there are some changed traffic conditions in place across the route. It’s important to note that normal road rules apply at all times during the event, even when riding on closed roads.

The Great Vic takes us through some beautiful regions in Victoria. When on the route please keep any rubbish with you until you find an appropriate bin. There will be bins at all rest stops along the route.

Please ensure you have appropriate ambulance cover for the ride. You may need to be treated and transported by ambulance if you have a serious injury or illness.

The Great Vic is fully supported by a first aid team, who provide medical assistance on the route and at all campsites.

If you are injured on the ride, please call Event Assistance. If you require an ambulance, please call 000 before phoning Event Assistance. For minor injuries, please see the first aid team located at all rest areas and campsites.

If you are transported to hospital as a result of your injuries or illness and are discharged on the same day, we will arrange transportation to bring you back to the campsite. However, if you’re required to stay in hospital overnight and can no longer participate in the ride, you will have to organise your own transport home.

Bicycle Network can communicate with your emergency contact on your behalf and manage your luggage and bike until it can be collected

Bicycle Network is not responsible for any costs associated with your retirement and departure from the ride. To ensure that these potential costs are covered, we recommend you consider travel insurance and/or signing up as a Bicycle Network member prior to the event.

The campsite opens at 10am on arrival day (Saturday). On all riding days, the campsite will open at 12.30pm, so feel free to explore around town if you arrive early.

There’s really no campsite like a Great Vic campsite – it’s a pop-up town with everything you need, including:

• Breakfast and dinner
• A medical clinic
• Daily live entertainment
• ‘Main Street’ full of vendors, community groups and tourist information
• Two licensed bars
• Security
• Mobile phone charging (recommended to pre-book)
• Ebike secure charging station (must pre-book)
• The Hub (Information Centre)
• Dishwashing station
• Clothes washing station (rest day)
• Free water refill stations
• Luggage trucks to move your gear each day

Campsites are typically located on recreation reserves including ovals and surrounding parkland. Campsites are regularly maintained by the local councils as they are used throughout the year by the local communities. Please respect the campsites so we can leave them as we found them.

2023 campsites

Sat 25 Nov – Lochiel Street Reserve, Orbost

Sun 26 Nov – Buchan Rec Reserve, Buchan

Mon 27 Nov – Lakes Entrance Rec Reserve, Lakes Entrance

Tue 28 Nov – AJ Freeman Reserve, Paynesville

Wed 29 Nov – Stephenson Park, Sale

Thu 30 Dec – Stephenson Park, Sale

Fri 1 Dec – Port Albert foreshore, Port Albert

Sat 2 Dec – Terril Park, Fish Creek

To give you the best Great Vic experience, we want to make sure the campsite is fully completed before you come on site, so no pre-ride camping is available. The campsite will officially open to riders on the Saturday at 10:00am.

We provide a luggage transfer service, which is included in your ticket. Each day, you’ll be required to take your luggage to our luggage trucks so it can be transported to the next site. Take note of your luggage truck number, so you can find your luggage at the next site.

Each Great Vic rider is allocated 20kg of luggage. We prefer if you can bring 2 x 10kg max bags. For the safety of all Great Vic team and attendees, baggage weight checks will be conducted on arrival to the event and penalties will apply for overweight bags.

Yes, ChargeSpot will be available at each campsite. We ask that you pre-book your unlimited charging to ensure you stay connected.

Every Great Vic campsite is fully accessible and we have a disabled toilet and shower facility. However, please be advised that due to the nature of the sites we camp on, the ground may be uneven, or in wet conditions, may be very soft.

If you require special assistance and/or access to disabled facilities please let us know when you purchase your ticket.

Absolutely. There will be a designated public pick up/drop off point for event participants at both the start and finish. Check out our guide on transport options.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided each day of the Great Vic, excl. breakfast and lunch on day 1, lunch on day 6 (rest day), and lunch on day 9 (last day).

On this year’s Great Vic, there are six meal options to choose from:

• Standard
• Vegetarian
• Vegan
• Gluten-free
• Gluten-free vegetarian
• Gluten-free vegan

Please ensure you select your meal preference when you register. 

If you currently take medication or have an existing medical condition, you must bring your own medication with you, and we strongly encourage that you check with your physician before the ride to make sure that you are well prepared.

If you have medication you wish for the first aid team to carry, please bring these to the first aid area BEFORE 8:00am each day. Medication should be in a labelled waterproof bag. Please include your name, rider number and type of medication. Our first aid team can also carry medication that requires refrigeration.

If you require a CPAP machine for sleep apnea we recommend a battery powered unit (as continuous power during the night is unable to be provided), and our first aid team will transport it and charge the battery during the day.

CPAP machines must have written instructions about how to charge them. Please note CPAP units must be picked up again before 8:30pm each day.

If you have an allergy, it is your responsibility to bring any appropriate medication. Bicycle Network has takes reasonable measures to ensure meals and foods are free of allergens, but cannot guarantee this.

Great Vic Bike Ride meals will be produced without the inclusion of peanuts and other tree nuts. However, whilst reasonable measures are taken to ensure meals don’t contain nuts, all meals are prepared in a factory containing nuts and may contain traces of nuts.

All participants are responsible for their own health and wellbeing so bring your medication if you are affected by allergens.

Whilst Great Vic campsites are monitored throughout each day and night by our security team, we are unable to provide secure bike parking for individual bikes, and as such, we encourage you to protect your bikes from being misplaced by chaining them to a fixed object within the campsite (fence post, etc.) or by locking multiple bikes together close to your tent.

If you believe you’ve lost something, you can visit our information centre, The Hub, during the ride. After the event, please call Bicycle Network on 03 8376 8888 and report your item with a detailed description.

According to our policy, all items that are unhygienic are disposed of immediately after the event. All other items are retained for three weeks. After this time, we donate or dispose of all unclaimed items.