Ferry-tale to French Island

Do you like Islands? Do you like bikes? [Optional] Do you like the French? Well join us this weekend for an action-packed ferry-tale on French Island, home to Australia's chlamydia free koala population, AND no cars :)

This tropical weekend getaway can be yours exclusively for less than an hour and a half train ride from Flinders.

Not only this is a human powered trip, but all trains in Victoria will be FREE on weekends in December!

Surface:

This trip will be a mix of fine gravel trails and sandy trails on French Island. Bikes with tyres of 33mm or more are welcome, the bigger the better!

Itinerary:

Saturday 6th December (48km / 215m up OR more for motivated people!):

• 7:57AM: Departure from Flinders St. Station to Frankston station
• 9:04AM: Arrival at Frankston - ride to Stony Point: mostly bike trail and coast trail with a short section on the road. People joining this trip must feel confident riding on a road with traffic.
• 12:00 PM-12:20PM : Ferry to French Island
• Option for lunch at French Island general store. Then ride to the campsite
• After 48km of riding from Frankston to Fairhaven campground, we can enjoy a well deserved chill afternoon at the beach!
• OR for those who feel like it, we can start to explore the surroundings and find a cool spot to watch the sunset (probably Mount Wellington) before heading back to camp to enjoy a nice dinner and evening all together!

Sunday 7th December (55km / 360m up):

This day will be dedicated to French Island National Park exploration and should take us around nice sandy trails around the Island. The route could also be adjusted based on how good we feel in the morning.

• Wake up with a nice breakfast on the beach
• Ride to the National Park and explore.
• Catch the ferry at 4:25 or 6:00PM
• The trip will officially end at Stony Point train station. From there, you can catch a train to Frankston or continue riding if you feel like it.

Route:

Day 1:

Day 2:

Participants 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)

What to bring:

• A road worthy bike: Gravel bike or MTB with tires of at least 33mm
• A helmet
• Overnight gear (can be hired from MUMC)
• Sunscreen
• Wet weather gear
• Charged bike lights
• At the very least 1 dinner, 1 breakfast and 1 lunch (+ a second lunch if we don't eat at the restaurant on Saturday)
• Snacks: cereal bars, nuts, lollies... Anything sweet to fuel your ride.
• 2L of water + purification method (filter or tablets)
• Toolset and spares that fit your bike (a tubeless fixing kit and CO2 if you are riding tubeless)
• A swimsuit and a towel!