How to: Ride for the Great Forest

It’s easy. There are only three steps! But first, a few reasons why this is such a great idea!

  1. Exercise is good for you
  2. Riding a bike is fun
  3. We all need the Great Forest National Park
  4. What have you got to lose?

Of course, if you weren’t bike inclined you could always swap all of the bike references for hiking or climbing or cross-country skiing. There’s so many different activities possible in the Great Forest National Park.

Step one: Wheels and Maps

Is your bike ready to roll? Have you got maps of where you’re going?

Don’t worry! I’ve got you covered. I’ve written an article on how to plan your first overnight ride and I’ve also amassed a pile of routes for you to browse, many of which are single day loop tracks you can drive to. Make sure you’ve got paper maps or a reliable offline topographic map if you are going to be in the bush for a while, it will help you improvise and empower you to control your own adventure. Be respectful of nature and click here to read some tips on how to leave no trace.

The crux of this is your own experience. Cherish it and have an open mind, you never know what might happen and you don’t have to share anything if you don’t want to.

Step two: #sharetogoviral

Let your friends know you are going on an adventure into the Great Forest National Park by posting on your social media. I use instagram and facebook, but use whichever platforms you are most comfortable with – or consider adding new ones. Let me know if you have a platform I should try. The idea is to increase the number of people interested in the GFNP, I am still surprised how many people haven’t heard of it! (Although thankfully, Google has.) Instagram can post straight to facebook, twitter and other platforms so that you only need to make one post and it will be distributed across multiple platforms – a massive time saver when you’re track side. If you are interested, we can have a chat about making you a member of the facebook page so that you can share your adventure in real time with the existing community!

Use the hashtag #GFNP to connect with the growing number of enthusiastic Great Forest supporters. I have also recently taken to using #GreatForestRider, and if you use this hashtag I will definitely see your posts. From there use your imagination and social media influence license, are you #camping, #weekendwarriors and or #melbournesbest? The more tags you add the greater the audience to your post but try not to use more than 20.

You may not have reliable data connection in the forest depending on your location and service provider. In case of emergency 000 and 112 are still going to work, but if you need to post on your instagram, you will need to climb the nearest hill or ride on.

Step three: Inspire others!

A few days after your adventure, when your legs have stopped shaking and you can look at a bike without wanting to throw up send me your adventure tale! I’d love to add it to the website with some of your photos/videos and share it around to help inspire the next rider. Get in touch via the contact page.

You could also write a story for your local newspaper, community group or a magazine. In fact, I really hope you do!