CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A proper escape from Melbourne with roads worth waking up for. An 870 km loop that starts and ends near Mount Martha, about 15 h 19 of riding. It goes by way of Scenic stretch near Bacchus Marsh, near Trentham and Melbourne / Victoria. Sorrento is the high point. The line favours views over speed.
Next is Mornington Peninsula Easy Scenic high point.
This is where Victoria began, briefly. In 1803 a British expedition under David Collins landed near Sorrento to found a settlement, but the site lacked water and the soil was poor, and after a few months they gave up and sailed to Tasmania. A small reserve marks the spot, with the graves of some of the settlers.
Read the complete Sorrento write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Scenic stretch near Bacchus Marsh.
Coming into Bacchus Marsh from the east, you ride through an arch of tall elms: the Avenue of Honour, planted after the First World War with a tree for each local man who enlisted. It is a moving entrance to a town that sits in a deep, fertile bowl where the Werribee and Lerderderg rivers meet, ringed by dry hills. The flats along the rivers have been orchards and market gardens since the nineteenth century, and roadside stalls still sell apples, pears and vegetables straight from the farms.
Read the complete Scenic stretch near Bacchus Marsh write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 252 km into the recorded legs you reach Scenic stretch near Bacchus Marsh. Next is Photo stop near Trentham.
Trentham is a small town on the Great Dividing Range, set high and cool among tall forest and potato paddocks between Daylesford and Woodend. Its main street has a handful of heritage buildings, a historic bakery and pub, and a quiet, unhurried charm that makes it a favourite stop for riders and weekenders alike.
Read the complete Photo stop near Trentham write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Photo stop near Trentham, about halfway. Next is Melbourne / Victoria return.
The rivers here, the Goulburn and its tributaries, the Howqua and the Jamieson, run clear and cold from the mountains, and the pools along them are good for a dip on a hot day.
Read the complete Melbourne / Victoria return write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Melbourne / Victoria return sits at 397 km, about halfway. Next is Food stop near Alexandra.
Food stop near Alexandra is where this day stops to eat. Next is Mornington Peninsula Easy Scenic checkpoint 8.
Mornington Peninsula Easy Scenic checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Back to Mornington.
Mount Martha is a bayside town on the Mornington Peninsula, a leafy cluster of beaches, coastal scrub and big houses that rises on the slopes of a low hill between Mornington and Dromana. For a ride described as easy and scenic, it is a fitting place to end: the road runs close to the water, and the sea is rarely out of view.
Read the complete Mornington write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Back to Mornington. That is the ride.
Scenic stretch near Bacchus Marsh → Photo stop near Trentham is the technical section. Hairpins, gradients and mixed traffic can stack up quickly; use low drama inputs, stay wide of centre lines and expect buses or riders appearing exactly where optimism says they will not.
This Photo stop near Trentham → Melbourne / Victoria return stretch is for rhythm and scenery. Keep your head up, let the view breathe, and resist turning every open bend into a target. Stop once properly rather than half-stopping everywhere.
Melbourne / Victoria return → Food stop near Alexandra can flow quickly, but only if you keep village limits and junction sightlines sacred. Fast connectors are where rides get untidy when fatigue creeps in.
Food stop near Alexandra → Altona is the logistics leg. Watch junctions, villages and speed changes, then let the roadbook do its job: move you out of the clutter without spending your best attention too early.