A test of endurance

Rebecca and her classmates are gearing up for the Great Victorian Bike Ride.

By Tate Papworth

Students, parents and teachers from Catholic Regional College in North Keilor are getting into gear for the Great Victorian Bike Ride.

The cohort has been training for the arduous ride for a number of weeks and Catholic Regional College transition co-ordinator Manny Gambin said the sense of excitement was building.

“Now we’re getting close, everyone is excited,” he said.

“The students are excited, but I think it’s the parents who are even more excited. I had one parent tell me that he’s enjoyed it so much that he’s now a regular rider.”

It’s the first time the school has done the ride and Mr Gambin said it had been well supported.

Ten students, six parents and two staff members will embark on the ride, which Mr Gambin said will be a test of endurance.

“The ride is broken into three components and we’re doing the smallest one, which is 202 kilometres,” he said. “We ride from Rutherglen to Benalla.

“On top of that everyone has to camp.

“The students train as a team every Thursday and on Sunday we train as a group. We’ve encouraged the students to train on their own as well.”

Details: www.bicyclenetwork.com.au