Cycling in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n state of

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 ...

(including its capital

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

) is a popular pastime, sport and way of getting around since at least 1896, as indicated by the

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author, widely considered one of the greatest writers of Australia's colonial period. Born in rural New South Wales, Paterson worke ...

poem

Mulga Bill's Bicycle "Mulga Bill's Bicycle" is a poem written in 1896 by Banjo Paterson. It was originally published on the 25 July 1896 edition of the '' Sydney Mail'', and later appeared in the poet's second poetry collection '' Rio Grande's Last Race and Other Ver ...

. Cycling in Victoria has been encouraged by the development of bicycle networks in town and cities throughout the state, and many regional

rail trails A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corridor with active railways, lig ...

. The sports popularity has been encouraged by the success of racing clubs such as the

St Kilda Cycling Club The St Kilda Cycling Club, commonly referred to as SKCC, is an Australian cycling club based in inner and south-east Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club is part of the international cycling union, the sport's peak body. The cycling club wa ...

and Victorian racing riders such as

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 ...

Simon Gerrans Simon Gerrans (born 16 May 1980) is an Australian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018, for the , , , , and squads. Post-retirement he initially worked as an athlete intern at Goldman Sachs in L ...

and

Matthew Lloyd Matthew James Lloyd (born 16 April 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A highly decorated full-forward, Lloyd's AFL's honours include ...

. Organised rides held annually including the Great Victorian Bike Ride, and races held in Victoria include the

Herald Sun Tour The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annuall ...

Regional rail trails

Victoria also has many developed

suitable for cycling including: * Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail,

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

Bass Coast Rail Trail The Bass Coast Rail Trail is a rail trail located in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The trail has been constructed along a section of the former Wonthaggi line. The trail starts at the former Anderson station and fini ...

, South

Gippsland Gippsland () is a rural region in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains south of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It covers an elongated area of east of th ...

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. ...

Bellarine Peninsula The Bellarine Peninsula (Wadawurrung language, Wadawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together wi ...

* Crater to Coast Rail Trail, Camperdown *

East Gippsland Rail Trail The East Gippsland Rail Trail is a rail trail located in East Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. The trail is a popular cycling route, beginning in Bairnsdale and extending to Orbost, following the route of the former Gippsland railway line. The ...

East Gippsland East Gippsland is the eastern region of Gippsland, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia covering (14%) of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It has a population of 80,114. Australian Bureau of Statistics2006 Census Community Profile Series: Ea ...

Great Southern Rail Trail The Great Southern Rail Trail is a 131-kilometre rail trail from Yarram, Victoria, Yarram to Nyora, Victoria, Nyora in South Gippsland, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Sections of the trail are flat or gently undulating trail through ...

, South Gippsland *

High Country Rail Trail The High Country Rail Trail is an 80 kilometer, part-gravel part-sealed rail trail on the northern border of Victoria, Australia. It runs along the former Cudgewa railway line from Wodonga, along the edge of Lake Hume, to Shelley railway station i ...

Lake Hume Hume Dam, formerly the Hume Weir, is a major dam across the Murray River downstream of its junction with the Mitta River in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation, ...

* Moe-Yallourn Rail Trail *

Murray to the Mountains Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American bicycle manufacturer * Murray Motor Car Company, an American car manufacturer * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust ...

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had a population of 29,808 per the 2021 Australian Census. The city is located at the confluence, junction of the Ovens River, ...

O'Keefe Rail Trail The O'Keefe Rail Trail is a rail trail connecting Bendigo with Heathcote, Victoria, Heathcote. The sandy gravel trail runs along a former branch line on the Melbourne-Sydney rail line. It previously ran from Bendigo to Axedale but works complet ...

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

* Old Beechy Rail Trail, Colac * Tyers Valley Tramway, Gippsland * Warburton Trail, Warburton * Drouin to Warragul Trail,

Drouin Drouin is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * André Drouin (c. 1947 – 2017), Canadian politician * Claude Drouin (born 1956), Canadian politician * Derek Drouin (born 1990), Canadian high jumper * Francis Drouin (born 1983), Ca ...

Warragul Warragul () is a town in Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the , the town had a population of ...

, Gippsland * Linear Park Arts Discovery Trail, Warragul, Gippsland * Rokeby to Neerim Trail, Gippsland

Safety

According to

VicRoads VicRoads is a government joint venture in the state of Victoria, Australia. In the state, it is responsible for driver licensing and vehicle registration. It is owned and operated through a joint venture between the Victorian government an ...

, hazards that cause cycling fatalities and injuries include "side impact at intersections", "manoeuvring", and "lane change," as well as collisions between car doors and cyclists in the

door zone Dooring is the act of opening a motor vehicle door into the path of another road user. Dooring can happen when a driver has parked or stopped to exit their vehicle, or when passengers egress from cars, taxis and rideshares into the path of a cy ...

, commonly referred to as "car dooring" in Australia. In Victoria it is illegal to "cause a hazard to any person or vehicle by opening a door of a vehicle, leaving a door of a vehicle open, or getting off, or out of, a vehicle" and it is also illegal to flee the scene of such an accident. While there were 1112 collisions caused by opening doors in the Australian state of Victoria between 2000 and 2010, the first fatality occurred in March 2010, when a car door opening caused university student James Cross to be propelled under the wheels of a passing truck. Eight percent of serious injuries to cyclists between 2006 and 2010 were caused by car doorings. In July 2012 Victoria increased the on-the-spot penalty for car dooring from $141 to $352, also increasing the maximum court imposed penalty from $432 to $1408. In March 2015, stickers were placed in taxis in the state, advising passengers to look for bicycles before leaving the vehicle; at the time 13% of car dooring incidents in the state involved taxis.

References

{{Rail_Trails_of_Victoria Cycling in Victoria (state)

Regional rail trails

Safety

See also

References