Between 21^st February and 2^nd March we will be graced by the presence of some of our fellow riders from Queensland.

They are coming south to ride a number of our rail trails, including:

• Beechworth to Bright (71k)
• Mansfield to Alexandra (74k)
• Alexandra to Tallarook (74k)
• Phillip Island to Wonthaggi (43k)
• Leongatha to Port Welshpool (74k)
• Traralgon to Stratford (63k)
• Bairnsdale to Nowa Nowa (58k)
• Nowa Nowa to Marlo (55k)

Before the Wonthaggi ride on Sunday 25 February, the banana benders will have a morning visit to the National Vietnam Veterans Museum at Phillip Island. The visit to the Museum is where we cabbage patchers can welcome our fellow riders from the deep North and you are invited to be there for morning tea at 11 am ($7 per head). If you would also like the opportunity to have a look at the Museum they have generously offered to discount the entry fee by 50% to $5. See further details here: https://www.vietnamvetsmuseum.org/

Please contact us if you would like to join us at the Museum and if you intend doing any of the rides.

Whilst we will not be providing transport or accommodation, we will have the highly rated coffee cart and our sag wagon / bike trailer available.

Peter Liefman

VetRide Chair

Electrolyte Replacement Supplements

By now you’re training for this event has begun, your bike is in good working order and preparation of your on and off the bike equipment is well underway.

The list of items that we recommended you bring included powdered form Gatorade or similar, however you may like to know why it was included.

Perspiration (women !) or sweat (men !) causes the loss of water, but also other necessary substances called electrolytes. Dissolved in your body, they enable electric conduction, that in simple terms is important for nerve and muscle function.

You will see that there is some debate about the relative benefits of the various products on the market and although drinks like Powerade and Gatorade are used a lot, their sugar (carb) content does not appeal to everyone. Lower levels of carbohydrate are also sometimes preferred and there are dis-solvable tablets made by companies such as GU, Nunn and High5Zero that are popular.

You can also go to a pharmacy and buy products like hydralyte or gastrolyte that are normally sold to those who have electrolytic imbalance caused by dehydration and illnesses like gastroenteritis, some forms of cancer and renal disease.

For more detailed information about this subject please refer to the Australian Sports Commission and the AIS website: https://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/about or view document here: AIS_Electrolyte_Fact Sheet_October 2017

For further information and networking with other VetRiders please join us at our Facebook page (like/share and follow us!):  VetRide Facebook Page

The VetRide theme for the Great Victorian Bike Ride is World War 1 and the Western Front.

Whilst the events of 1917 are beyond living memory for anyone much younger than 90, they still have significance, one hundred years after the horrors of that time brought about the loss and shattering of so many lives.

For further information see eg, ‘The Third Battle of Ypres (31 July – 10 November 1917), which has come to symbolise the horrors associated with the war on the Western Front. It is frequently known by the name of the village where it culminated – Passchendaele.’

The VetRide GVBR 2017 Event Jersey

The Flanders Fields Remembrance Day Poppy – flowering in the spring of 1915 on the battlefields of Belgium, France and Gallipoli this vivid red flower has become synonymous with great loss of life in war.

The armbands – two of the colour patches for the ‘1st Anzac Cyclist Battalion AIF’. The cyclist battalions were organised like infantry, with four companies of four platoons. When II ANZAC became XXII Corps in 1917, the Australian cyclists of the 2nd Cyclist Battalion returned to the Australian Corps as reinforcements.  – ‘A century afterwards, they ride again …on you ! ’

The ride starts from scenic Tidal River, where you will soak up the natural and unspoiled beauty of Ninety Mile Beach, before cycling through South Gippsland to the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. The itinerary is:

• Sat 25 Nov    | Day 1: Wilsons Prom.
• Sun 26 Nov  | Day 2: Wilsons Prom – Foster (60km)
• Mon 27 Nov | Day 3: Foster – Yarram (69km)
• Tues 28 Nov| Day 4: Yarram – Seaspray (90km)
• Wed 29 Nov | Day 5: Seaspray – Bairnsdale (109km)
• Thu 30 Nov  | Day 6: Bairnsdale (rest day)
• Fri 1 Dec        | Day 7: Bairnsdale – Maffra (84km)
• Sat 2 Dec       | Day 8: Maffra – Glengarry (77km)
• Sun 3 Dec     | Day 9: Glengarry – Trafalgar (50km).

A number of the members of our Planning Group will be participating in this ride, so as to provide support and ongoing advice you may need during the event.

There are about 4000 riders of varying experience on the road each day and for reasons of safety and a more enjoyable ride, it is important that we act as a team. One of the members of our Planning Group will act as a leader each day and the expectation is that you will look after your team mates and share the responsibility for everyone’s wellbeing.

Further information can be found here:

VetRide GVBR 2017 Entry and Declaration

VetRide GVBR – Letter to Riders

Or on our page: https://vetride.org/great-victorian-bike-ride-nov-2017/

Look forward to seeing you!

Exciting news for our service and ex-service personnel of the Australian Defence Forces!

As our second event for 2017 (following the extremely successful VetRide Kilcunda 2017 – Bass Coast Beach and Bike in March 2017), VetRide is sponsoring a team for this year’s Great Victorian Bike Ride (GVBR).

Beginning on Saturday 25 November, this year’s RACV event will be a fun filled, friendly and challenging camping holiday. Explore some beautiful Victorian countryside whilst riding with lots of other enthusiastic bike riders; and being part of our team will also help bring awareness to others, about what it is to be a veteran.

The ride starts from scenic Tidal River, where you will soak up the natural and unspoiled beauty of Ninety Mile Beach, before cycling through South Gippsland to the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. The itinerary is:

• Sat 25 Nov | Day 1: Wilsons Prom.
• Sun 26 Nov | Day 2: Wilsons Prom – Foster (60km)
• Mon 27 Nov | Day 3: Foster – Yarram (69km)
• Tues 28 Nov | Day 4: Yarram – Seaspray (90km)
• Wed 29 Nov | Day 5: Seaspray – Bairnsdale (109km)
• Thu 30 Nov | Day 6: Bairnsdale (rest day)
• Fri 1 Dec | Day 7: Bairnsdale – Maffra (84km)
• Sat 2 Dec | Day 8: Maffra – Glengarry (77km)
• Sun 3 Dec | Day 9: Glengarry – Trafalgar (50km).

Bicycle Network have generously offered to support those riders who enter as part of our group and special arrangements will be made to better accommodate our needs. As entry to the event includes all meals, as well as on and off-road support, VetRide will not duplicate these services, however we will be able to assist with transport and we will organise for our service trailer to be in attendance at the start and end of the event.

Further information about the event itself may be found on the Bicycle Victoria website and enquiries should be directed to members of our planning committee, some of whom have participated in the past, including David our Secretary, Steve our Ride Director and myself.  Further details can be found here: VetRide – Bicycle Network – GVBR

Or contact VetRide or Bicycle Network directly:

VetRide
Group Chair: Peter Liefman
Email: liefman1948@gmail.com
Mobile: 0418 992 525
Secretary: David Price
Email: drctprice@optusnet.com.au
Mobile: 0413 885 000

Bicycle Network
http://www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/racv-great-victorian-bike-ride/
Phone:  (03) 8376 8888
Freecall: 1800 639 634
PO Box 24013, Melbourne VIC 3001

Look forward to seeing you there!!

VetRide is an organization dedicated through cycling to the welfare of all service and ex-service personnel of the Australian Defence Forces. At the same time it provides something meaningful older veterans can do for their younger compatriots, consistent with closely held values, given rise to in uniform.

Our endeavours are supported widely by government agencies and by many organizations and people from all walks of life and we operate under the auspices of the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia (Victorian Branch).

We conduct an annual ride event –  VetRide Kilcunda ‘Beach and Bike’ recreational cycling event is being planned for 2017. In its 6^th year our beachside cycling adventure offers a mix of road and rail trail riding in the picturesque Bass Coast area, South Gippsland.

Preference will be given to service and ex-service personnel, however the event is open to any rider who would like to support our worthwhile cause.

Further details can be located by following Click here for VetRide Kilcunda 2017 Route Details for Route Details and Sign Up or below:

Route Details: VetRide Kilcunda 2017 Flyer and Application form can be found here: VetRide Entry Form 2017

Please come and join us and one of our event jerseys will be yours.

Peter Liefman
VetRide Group Chair

Bulletin – September 2016

Thanks to the financial support of the Victorian Government, some Sub-Branches of the RSL and private donors, we were able to conduct our second distance ride in 2016, following on from our inaugural Echuca to Melbourne event in 2012.

In this 50^th anniversary year of the Battle of Long Tan, we decided to mark the occasion by undertaking a 650km journey, starting from the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk at Seymour and ending at the Old Parliament House, Canberra.

This year we also welcomed (at Yass) another group of veterans, who rode from Queensland and then (in Canberra) by some ADFA cadets. We were granted permission to take our 100 strong peloton to Anzac Parade, where a short ceremony was conducted at the National Vietnam Memorial.   

As always the welfare of the riders was our focus and this year our new VetRide service trailer was put to good use. Our café racers were able to start each day with a freshly brewed Beraldo coffee, thanks to our onboard commercial coffee machine, complete with Barista ! 

It was a gutsy effort and all of our riders made the distance without mishap. Feedback has been positive and on behalf of the planning group, I thank all of those who participated, including our tireless volunteer support crew.  

We have now turned our attention to upcoming matters, the next being Open Day at the National Vietnam Veterans Museum Phillip Island, on Saturday 5 November 2016. On that day riders are invited to participate in a ceremonial ‘ride in’ under our arch and then followed by the comradeship and enjoyment of the planned events by the Museum, that I understand will include some live music by Russell Morris (‘I am the real thing ….’).

You are also welcome to have a ride on the Island beforehand and in due course our Ride Director will be sending out some information about suitable cycling routes. Details about timing etc. will be made available between now and November, so please come along and enjoy a reunion with your fellow riders and meet many others from our veteran community.   

In the next bulletin we will be providing details of our proposed ride event in March 2017, which is likely to be a static return to base event, covering both road and trail riding.

Peter Liefman

VetRide Chair