April 21/22 - Saturday & Sunday - Victoria Australia (Wangaratta/Beechworth)

Rowan and I did a cycling tour this weekend.

Friday, we packed up our panniers with everything we thought we might need for an extended cycling tour. We're a bit out of practice packing for a tour ... so it was a good exercise.

Saturday morning, we drove to Wangaratta, a couple hours away, set up the bicycles with the panniers etc., and set off.

We decided to ride a paved/sealed rail trail to Beechworth, about 50 km away. We don't normally like rail trails and MUPs, but this one wasn't too bad ... for one thing, the sealed surface really helped. So many of them around here are gravel.

For another thing, the trail is quite scenic, and it was nice not having to deal with motorised traffic.

The trail was generally a climb most of the way, and especially the last 16 km, but it went quite well, even with the panniers and all.

We arrived at Beechworth just before 5 pm, set up camp, and then walked into town to have dinner. Pizza!

It started to rain in the middle of the night and finally quit just before 9 am, so that's when we emerged and started to pack up.

We stopped for brunch in town at a tasty little bakery, and then began the descent. That went a lot quicker than going up!

There were quite a few other cyclists on the trail, but not as many as I expected there might be for a beautiful autumn weekend.


It was a really good practice tour, and we talked about some changes we'd like to make on future tours. We're both considering different panniers. We're also talking about our off-the-bicycle clothing choices.





(Click photos for more)