A KEEN group of cyclists stopped off in Leongatha on Friday during their ride along the 130-kilometre length of the Great Southern Rail Trail, having set out on a four-day adventure from Nyora and finishing in Yarram.
Sentinel-Times chatted to representatives of Rail Trails Australia, Alan Abrahams (administration officer), Robert Zucker (treasurer) and Steven Kaye (vice president), members of that group accompanied on the journey by a large contingent of friends.
Those from Rail Trails Australia will be guest speakers at South Gippsland Shire Council’s Rail Trail tourism forum, scheduled for May at Foster’s Gurneys Cidery.
The forum is intended to help business operators understand how they can benefit from the rail trail.
South Gippsland Shire Council’s Penni Ellicott enjoyed catching up with the group and hearing about their largely positive experiences on the trail, along with suggestions for improvement.
“The surface has been immaculate,” Steven said, also praising most of the crossings the group had encountered on the trail, the exception being the hazardous highway crossing in Leongatha, Penni quick to chime in with the need for a VicRoads’ bypass to rectify the issue.
She explained that would turn the relevant section of highway into a local road reducing traffic and removing trucks, allowing for a crossing.
Generally, crossings on the trail were labelled appropriate, with chicanes suited to larger vehicles such as tandem and trailer bikes.
Leongatha’s new ramp and bridge was noted by the riders as a positive, offering easy access to town.
Many in the group tackle the Great Southern Rail Trail each February and have enjoyed its continued expansion.
As council’s coordinator of Arts, Culture and Visitor Economy, Penni explained people’s adventures on the trail will soon be aided by the addition of lots more signage over coming weeks.
“We’ve got 300 new signs going in along the whole trail, including directional signage and wayfinding signage,” she said, the latter showing people where to access the rail trail and how to get from the trail into town.
The 44 people on this year’s ride was the largest group yet on the annual adventure that began years ago with only about 10 people.
Everything now requires more organisation, with advance notification needed to ensure breakfast and lunch stops go smoothly for such a large group, meals being pre-booked and paid for in advance.
Participants are keen to see the addition of more bike-friendly infrastructure such as bike stands in the towns along the Great Southern Rail Trail.
Further support for bike riders at accommodation venues is another aim, with such support including adequate clothes washing facilities, bike storage and charging opportunities for ebikes.
While many ebikes are now seen along the Great Southern Rail Trail, about three quarters of Friday’s group were still tackling the journey entirely under their own steam.
