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Tour Of Bright. The rides the Town and the scenery

25 Oct 2022

PCC Tour to Bright, October 2022

A big thank you to Andrew Cooper for the story and images.

The club’s tour to Bright earlier this month was a great success. A good-sized crew of 15 enjoyed a
sensational week of rides, food, sightseeing, and just hanging out together in this beautiful town and
the surrounding Victorian Alps.

All were more than a little reluctant to leave when it was over.

For those who’ve not been there yet, Bright is in northern Victoria, nestled at the base of several
properly alpine climbs, and is also the hub of some impressively long, sealed bike paths. With our
group made up of both those who were riders eager to hit the climbs and ride distances of 80km,
plus some partners who preferred the valleys, we made use of all the options.

The rides

The challenging, hillier routes took us up the long and taxing, though never crazy-steep climbs that
dot the area - Tawonga Gap, Mt Buffalo (for brilliant views over to the snow-capped mounts of
Bogong, Feathertop and Hotham, and of course the 18km descent ��), and finally to Falls Creek.
Now there’s a place you might imagine that you are in the Pyrenees.
In the valleys, we took the rail trail 30km to Myrtleford, the quiet road up the Buckland Valley, and in
what quickly became a firm favourite, rode the new 25km sealed path to Harrietville, with its lovely
views over the Ovens River to a snow-capped Mt Hotham.
Perhaps the overall highlight was an all-group ride to Beechworth (infamous for Ned Kelly and
famous for the Bakery!), where we converged from 2 directions and distances – half up the rail trail,
and half from the Stanley climb and via the orchards. We all returned together down the rail trail
(another 20km descent if you please) through the eucalypt forest surrounded by the trees and
wildlife.

In town
Back in Bright, the spring flowers were in magnificent bloom, even as the trees were just coming into
leaf. Eight of us were staying in one house (“the big house”), which became the location for group
dinners when we weren’t out at the pubs, restaurants, or brewery. Whew! As Ross said to the group
at the outset, “Bright will become one of your happy places”.  There wouldn’t be any disagreement
with that sentiment.
Keep an eye out for another PCC trip next year – we might try for somewhere a little closer to home.
But then again, we didn’t get to try all of our ride options, nor do much of our sightseeing, so you
never know…