Cycling in Geelong,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

is common for recreation and competition, but less so for utility and commuting. Geelong has a discontinuous network of off-road trails and on-road bicycle lanes. Geelong's major shared riding and walking trails are the

Bellarine Rail Trail The Bellarine Rail Trail is a 32 km walking and cycling track on the Bellarine Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia, that follows the route of the former South Geelong, Victoria, South Geelong to Queenscliff, Victoria, Queenscliff branch line. ...

, Barwon river, Bay, Ted Wilson and Waurn Ponds creek trails. A series of rider fatalities and the safety of bike riding in and around the Geelong has received media and political attention. A 2016 announcement of plans for a two-way separated bike lane in central Geelong was welcomed by bike groups.

History

The Geelong Cycling Club (formerly the Geelong West Cycling Club) started in 1911. In 1977 efforts were made to improve cycling in Geelong with Australia's first bike plan launched by

Hubert Opperman Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, Order of the British Empire, OBE (29 May 1904 – 18 April 1996), referred to as Oppy by Australian and French crowds, was an Australian cyclist and politician, whose endurance cycling feats in the 1920s and 1930s ...

. The plan's credo was that "''every street is a cycling street''". The plan was also widely recognised at the time as a model for bicycle planning. As a result of the plan, a recreational cycling group called the Geelong Bicycle Riders' Association was formed in 1979 and is now known as the Geelong Touring Cyclists. Later, the 1996 Barwon Bicycle Plan set out targets of achieving 8% of all journeys in the region by bicycle in the year 2000 and 15% by the year 2005, but this along with the Geelong Cycling Strategy 2008–2013 have failed to stop the reduction in ridership in a vehicle dominated era. Bicycle Users Geelong was formed in 1995 by the Barwon Regional Bicycle Council. A Geelong

Critical Mass (cycling) Critical Mass is a form of direct action in which people travel as a group on bicycles at a set location and time. The idea is for people to group together to make it safe for each other to ride bicycles through their streets, based on the old ad ...

ride was started in 2010 and is no longer active. In 2014, A Priority Bicycle Network (PBN) was adopted by the Geelong Council. Its aims being to "elevate the importance of routes within the overall bicycle network and to prioritise works to be undertaken to improve conditions for cyclists".

Competitive cycling

The annual

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race also known as Great Ocean Road Race or Cadel Road Race is an annual professional one-day road bicycle racing for both men and women starting and finishing in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and routed along t ...

is held in Geelong. The

2010 UCI Road World Championships The 2010 UCI Road World Championships took place in Geelong and Melbourne, Australia, over 5 days from 29 September to 3 October 2010. It was the 83rd UCI Road World Championships and the first time that Australia had held the event. Coincidenta ...

race was held in Geelong. Russell Mockridge and

Leigh Howard Leigh Howard (born 18 October 1989) is an Australian professional racing cyclist. He qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in both the Men's Madison and Men's Team Pursuit. Howard was part of the Men's team pursuit together with Kelland O'Br ...

are some of Geelong's best known racing cyclists.

Tour De France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

winner

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with ...

has lived in

Barwon Heads, Victoria Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders) is a town on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, and is bounded to the west by fa ...

- a township on the outskirts of the

City of Greater Geelong The City of Greater Geelong is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and, had a population of 271,057 as of the 2021 Australian census. I ...

municipality.

Bicycle organisations and groups

Bicycle Users GeelongBikesafe
(Geelong and Surfcoast)
Cycling GeelongGeelong Cycling ClubGeelong Touring Cyclists

References

{{Reflist, 30em

Government sites

Bike riding information
at

Cycling in Victoria (state) Transport in Geelong Sport in Geelong

History

Competitive cycling

Bicycle organisations and groups

See also

References

Government sites