Adventure to the mountains on the Lilydale to Warburton rail trail

Yearning for the mountains? I know I always am. So join Connor and I on a bikepacking trip to the idyllic mountain town of Warburton on the Lilydale to Warbuton rail trail! This is one of Victoria's most popular rail trails, and rightly so - you get tall forests, wide open plains, and mountain views all just an hour away from Melbourne.

If you're completely new to bikepacking, this is the perfect trip for you!

Surface: The trail is mostly made up of fine gravel, with some short paved sections. Tyres of at least 20mm are suitable.

Itinerary:

Saturday 22nd March (41km, 274m elevation gain):

• Meet at the clubrooms at 8am
• Ride down to Melbourne Central station and catch the 8:33 Lilydale service
• Arrive in Lilydale at 9:33am, and start the rail trail
• Arrive in Warburton by 3pm (stop for lunch along the way)
• Relax! (This can include but is not limited to: reading books, swimming in rivers, exploring Warburton, playing cards)
• Cook some dinner/get some fish and chips/go to a pub!
• Sleep

Sunday 23rd March (41km, 212m elevation gain):

• Wake up at 8am
• Start riding at 9am
• Arrive in Lilydale by 2pm (stop for lunch along the way)
• Take the 2:19pm train to the city
• Arrive back at the clubrooms by 3:30pm

Route

Participant requirements

• Have a roadworthy bike (it's possible to hire one from a shop if you don’t have one)
• Be a competent bike rider
• Be able to pack all your overnight gear onto your bike (you can hire some MUMC bikepacking gear to help you)
• Know how to replace a punctured tube (can learn how to do this from a Youtube video)

If you’re new to bikepacking and you want to learn more about it and how to get started, come along to our Into to Bikepacking session on Wednesday 5th of March!

If anyone is interested in becoming a bikepacking leader and would like to shadow this trip as a part of their training, please reach out to me or Connor.