Surf Coast students to take on Great Vic Bike Ride

SURF Coast Secondary students will undertake the ride of their lives when they leave Koroit on November 26 to complete an eight-day camping and cycling course.

Thousands of students, helpers, volunteers, and avid cyclists will average 75 kilometres a day to cycle the 522km trek from Koroit to Buninyong as part of the Great Victorian Bike Ride, but many of them will do it for the first time.

Surf Coast Secondary College teacher and school leader on the ride, Megan Wyatt, said the school will have more than a dozen students representatives taking on the event.

“We have 16 students riding ranging from Year 8 to Year 10,” she said.

“While none of these students have participated in the ride previously, there are many students whose siblings, and in one case both of their brothers, their mum and their pa, have participated in the ride previously.”

Ms Wyatt said Surf Coast Secondary College students had been completing a significant amount of training in the lead-up to the event, often conducting rides from Torquay to Queenscliff and back.

“The students began their training once a fortnight during terms 2 and 3 and now train weekly in Term 4.

“The focus of the training is to build their sense of a team, as well as their confidence riding on the road.

“The Great Vic Bike Ride is an important part of our school culture as it brings together students from across age groups to develop their sense of connectedness and well as building their individual resilience, independent and leadership skills.”

The Great Victorian Bike Ride’s return this month will mark the event’s first run in three years.

Participants will have the option of three different trails in this year’s event: a three-day 212km course that explores the GOR and the Golden Plains Shire, a five-day 310km ride which takes riders along the Volcanic lakes and through the Otway rainforests, or a full nine-day experience that explores all the beautiful parts of Victoria across 522km of bush and coastline.