Eureka! Bikepacking the Goldfields Track

The Goldfields Track has been on my bikepacking hit-list for too long - and now I've finally got a rig with some beefy tyre clearance, I've decided now is the time to do a section.

The Goldfields Track is an off-road cycling track from Ballarat to Bendigo, traversing a variety of landscapes, including dry eucalypt forest, farming land, pine plantations and pockets of rainforest, and passing through historic towns. A lot of the route is quite technical, with significant singletrack and 4WD track sections. Check out this link for more info: https://www.adventurecyclingvictoria.com/rides/goldfields-track

The plan is to do a section of the track between Ballarat and Castlemaine over two days. The itinerary will look something like this:

Friday 1st May:

• Take the 11:56 train from Southern Cross out to Ballarat
• Ride approx 45km (790m elevation) to a campsite
• Have dinner, camp overnight

Saturday 2nd May:

• Ride approx 80km (1120m elevation) to Castelmaine, get there in the afternoon/evening
• Take a train home (last train is at 9:34pm, but definitely aiming to not get there as late as that)

See the above link to Adventure Cycling Victoria for the route.

Don't underestimate the relatively short distances/elevations. I've set the difficulty of this ride as advanced as there are a lot of technical sections on this trail, which will mean quite slow going/hard riding. I wouldn't be surprised if we average approx 10km/h. Because of the technical sections, you will need to have a tyre clearance of at least 50mm/2 inches, and suspension is highly recommended. The perfect bike for this trip is a hardtail mountain bike, but a beefy rigid bike will probably do the trick. For reference, I will be riding this on Surly Ogre with 2.6'' tyres.

I've set this trip for EOI for now, to gauge interest, and I will open signups a couple of weekends beforehand.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions, my email should be listed on the trip. Otherwise feel free to ask your question in a comment on this page.