Bucolic Beechworth 7/10/25

We drove to Beechworth this morning and immediately set off on a short (45km) ride, including champagne gravel. I didn't know what that meant but it sounded good.

Ray neglected to tell me that we were riding to a lookout, which is rather ominous as lookouts are always on the top of something called a mountain. Anyway my trusty steed made it up the sometimes 15% gradient no worries. It proved too steep even for Ray, who had to dismount at one point. But the view was worth it. 

Tomorrow will be the last ride of the trip. I'm sure Ray is planning something special. But first, we are going to have a tour of Beechworth Gaol, where Ned Kelly began his journey to Melbourne and his death. Sounds like fun.

Are we going up there?

This is the attractive flowering tree shot.

Bucolic...

Apparently this is the mini Uluru. There seems to be a lot of granite in Australia.

There are a lot of those trees down here.

Shawn the sheep

Not often you get a chair and table on the road. All ready for a delicious lunch of Vita Wheat biscuits with one slice of presliced real cheese folded in two, to be followed by a manderin or apple, depending on your preference. Mmmmmmm...

That was quite a steep hill. At least I was able to ride the whole way up. I made it up two of these but the third was was a bridge too far. Not enough strength, not enough gears, not enough traction.

Glad we made it up those three steep hills. Before you is the Ovens Valley.

Two old farts we met on the trail

Gratuitous big tree

This is where we will be enjoying a a very delicious meal. Possibly more than one.

Bonus flower pic.

Ride Notes

 We found this ride on the Victorian High Country website. Because the map displayed was not on Ride With GPS I found one that matched. Or thought I did....

It was to be a ride without any really steep climbs, but because I did not look closely enough, it had a detour to a lookout which was about 150 mts higher and up htree really steep hills

• The map below is not our map but we used this one, but without the figure 8 loop from Stanley
• If you don't want to go up the steep hills and miss out on the lookout, simply stay on Six Mile Road. Don't take the right turn up a track to Lady Newton Rd
• The gravel surface was generally really good.
• If you are going to go via the lookout, you'll need some low gears and some grippy tyres.
• Overall a short but really nice ride of around 35 klms without the extra loop from Stanley
• Stanley is a township but we didn't see one open shop, so you'll need to take all your own supplies, although the pub may be open on some days