ROAD CYCLING, CYCLE TOURING, ALPINE CLIMBS

Mount Beauty is an ideal base for some spectacular alpine road rides. Fantastic scenery as you ride along the valleys, up along the high plains, exciting descents from the mountain tops down to the valley floor. What attracts so many cyclists is to challenge themselves with and in competition with their friends to the big mountain climbs to Falls Creek, Mt Hotham, Mt Buffalo and Tawonga Gap.

If you are challenging yourself to some mountain rides then it is definitely best to start and finish at the bottom of the mountains. Mount Beauty is well located with Falls Creek to the South, Tawonga Gap to the West, Mt Hotham to the South West and Mt Buffalo to the North West. There are attractive undulating valley floor road circuits North down the Kiewa Valley, and out towards Mountain Creek. For something in between the big mountain climbs and sticking to the valley floor there are circuits out through Happy Valley towards Myrtleford. For even more variety there are great mountain biking opportunities from Mount Beauty to mix with road cycling. See our mountain biking pages.

Queen Victoria Ride (route of the 3 Peaks Challenge & Alpine Classic Extreme 250)

From Mount Beauty this 236km circuit goes over Tawonga Gap, through Harrietville, up to Mt Hotham, on to Dinner Plain, down to Omeo, across to Anglers Rest, up to Falls Creek and a final downhill home back to Mount Beauty. The accumulated assent on the course is about 4200 metres which is a lot of climbing for one day. Officially the route is anti clockwise however many riders choose to ride the route clockwise. Using a clockwise direction you climb over Falls Creek, Mt Hotham and Tawonga gap all on the side which is less steep. See below for the shuttle option.

Map of the Queen Victoria Circuit

Queen Victoria Circuit Profile

	Train for the 3 Peaks Challenge with a 170 km triple climb to Dinner Plain via Mt Hotham and twice over Tawonga Gap.
	Use Mount Beauty as a starting and finish point to challenge your self to ride the circuit with a group of adventurous friends any day of the year when the road is open. Generally November to May.
	Use a weekend to ride the circuit over two days with an over night stop at Omeo or Anglers Rest anti clockwise and Omeo or Dinner Plain anti clockwise. An early start on Sunday morning means that riders will be back in Mount Beauty by lunch time.

There are more economical overnight accommodations in Omeo, but starting from Anglers rest anti clockwise or Dinner plain clockwise on Sunday morning should mean a comfortable schedule to arrive in Mount Beauty before mid-day on Sunday. The on route overnight accommodation options vary from twin share to six share. You will need to be carrying a waterproof jacket and thermal layer, and leg and arm warmers for unpredictable alpine weather. If you are doing the two day ride between November and March then the only extra item you might need for your overnight stay is a light top to wear while you wash out your main top if necessary. You can wear your leg and arm warmers and jacket for evening warmth if necessary. You may wish to carry a small one use tooth brush. If you are using the shuttle option below you can carry less.

This is a fabulous route with fantastic scenery and fascinating history Parks Victoria have produced a High Country Heritage Audio Discovery Tour in mp3 format. Kiewa View has prepared a copy of the audio program which has been customised for our guests convenience as a compilation starting and finishing in Mount beauty zipped into a single convenient download. Our guests can download a copy of this special version prior to arriving in Mount Beauty.

Dinner Plain shuttle option

If riding the Queen Victoria circuit the easiest way clockwise then Dinner Plain is a convenient break point for a two day ride. 145 km the first day and 90 km the second. The problem is that even in Summer economical accommodation in Dinner Plain is hard to find. Expect the cost to be three to five the times the cost of Kiewa View in Mount Beauty. An alternative is to bring one or two support partners to shuttle you back to Mount Beauty for the overnight. In Summer it should take less than one and a half hours to drive between Mount Beauty and Dinner Plain. If the riders leave Kiewa View by 6am then even a relatively slow group should be at Dinner Plain by late afternoon. The riders can phone their support in Mount Beauty on reaching Omeo to confirm their progress. From Omeo to Dinner Plain the ride is 43 km with an altitude gain of 865 metres, There will be plenty of time for your support to drive from Mount Beauty. The support can already be waiting at a cafe in Dinner Plain when the riders arrive and whisk them back to Mount Beauty by Dinner time. Early the next morning the support crew can shuttle the riders back to Dinner Plain to complete the ride. Even with the delayed start due to the shuttle, the riders should be back in Mount Beauty by lunch time.

Bring your partners

Don’t leave your non participating partners at home, bring them along for a weekend getaway. Partners can enjoy a great weekend with low level bike rides, walks in the national park and a number of local cellar door cafes for lunch. With non-participation partners not riding the circuit along for the weekend, they are presumably going to enjoy the weekend more than being left at home. On a two day ride around the circuit the partners can enjoy the wineries on Saturday, and the participants can have a winery lunch on Sunday and a sleep in the car on the way home.

Escort send-off Friends not riding all the way around the Queen Victoria circuit can ride as far as the Tawonga Gap turnoff let you climb up and over Tawonga Gap while they continue along the Kiewa Valley Hwy to Tawonga. At Tawonga they can go right into Mountain Creek Road, at Dams Road near Bogong Estate cellar door turn right again to complete a 15km loop. The ride can be extended by continuing along the Kiewa Valley Hwy and circling back to Mountain Creek Road. To go as far as Mongans Bridge via the Redbank Mongans Rd will add about 30km to the circuit. It can also be extended by continuing along Mountain Creek Road to the end of the bitumen before turning back to head down Dams Road. If your friends are really keen they can ride with you to Tawonga Gap before turning back.

Suggested weekend program for accompanying persons

Saturday Morning
A road bike ride starting from Kiewa View, 15 to 60km.
or a local walk
or a morning mountain bike ride
or a game of golf, or fishing in the Kiewa River,
or on the first Saturday of every month browse the Mount Beauty Community Market.
or drive to historic Beechworth for the morning,
or just relax with a book at Kiewa View or in the Mount Beauty Bakery coffee shop.
Saturday Lunch
Walk or ride the 5 km from Kiewa View to Annapurna Estate cellar door cafe for a late lunch. Book in advance. Cafe Phone: 03 5754 1356. If walking take the path which starts from the car park near the rear of the ambulance station and it will bring you out at the rear of the Indoor Sports Centre and Mount Beauty Country Club, from there you can cross the Kiewa River via the bridge and then turn left into Simmons Creek Road. If walking back you can take a track which goes on the North side of the Mount Beauty pondage. Turn left into Embankment Drive to find the track after you cross the bridge at the outlet to the pondage.
Saturday Evening
Eat in or have a BBQ at Kiewa View or walk down to the Mount Beauty Country Club for great economical meal.
Sunday Morning
Opportunity to do some of the activities that could not be fitted in on Saturday morning. If Saturday was a big day then maybe relax on the Kiewa View sundeck, go down for a coffee and pre pack the car.
Sunday Lunch
From Anglers Rest the ride time to Mount Beauty is normally two and a half to four hours. With much less climbing the ride time from Dinner Plain will be less. An early start should bring the riders back to Mount Beauty mid to late morning. An early start from Omeo should get the riders back to Mount Beauty before 1 pm. Our suggestion is shower, change and depart, stopping for a well earned lunch at Ceccanti Kiewa Valley Wines about 23km from Kiewa View on the way home.

Audax Alpine Classic

Kiewa View at Mount Beauty is also an ideal training base for the 200km Audax Alpine Classic. Our suggested training circuit is from Mount Beauty over Tawonga Gap to Bright, them up Mt Buffalo and then retrace your route back over Tawonga Gap to Mount Beauty. We think this is a better training circuit than Bright to Falls Creek as it takes in the two hardest climbs on the Alpine Classic route, Mt Buffalo and the Mount Beauty side of Tawonga Gap. You can of course train on the whole circuit, but our experience is if you master Mount Beauty to Mt Buffalo return, then the full Alpine Classic route will not be a problem.

		15 km Dams Road circuit	130 km Happy Valley circuit
		30 km Redbank extension
		11 km Mountain Creek extension

KIEWA VIEW cyclist friendly accommodation

	Three bedroom accommodation with three double beds, four single beds and double divan. Good layout for up to ten for cycle training, or cycle touring weekend.
	Two toilets and two showers. Great for quick get away in the morning, and to freshen up after the ride.
	Full kitchen and spacious lounge. Make your own breakfast and get away as early on Saturday as you wish.
	Garage for undercover bicycle storage and maintenance.
	Floor bicycle pump provided for convenience.
	Bike cleaning facility adjacent to garage.
	Undercover parking to load and unload bikes.
	Washing machine and dryer. Convenient for road cyclists, essential for the mountain bikers.
	Free WiFi Hot Spot. Check latest weather before you leave.
	Sun deck with view down Kiewa Valley to drown a few cold ones after the ride.
	Outdoor BBQ for own after ride party.

3pm late Sunday check out is available on request for a small additional fee during daylight saving, instead of the normal 10am checkout.

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