By Ethan Benedicto
PRECEDE: Harkaway’s Craig Bates was diagnosed with a form of lymphoma cancer in late 2023, with his radiation therapy only finishing recently. Never one to let anything stop him from doing what he loves, he has returned on the bike and is gearing up to participate in the Great Vic Bike Ride later this year. Gazette journalist ETHAN BENEDICTO spoke to the rider about how he was preparing for the big event.
BREAKOUT QUOTE: “If you’re travelling in a car, once you’re in there, you tend to just want to get where you’re supposed to be and keep going. On a bike, you get a close, intimate view of wherever it is you’re going through.“
From the border of New South Wales, down to the hills of the Yarra Ranges, the Great Vic Bike Ride will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this November and December, as hundreds of cyclists ready themselves to embark on a nature-filled journey through Victoria.
Harkaway resident and a more recent participant of the event, Craig Bates is settling into a slow yet steady routine, all in preparation for the upcoming challenge.
While having taken part in the previous two events, and beginning roughly six years ago, the upcoming trip holds a different value for Craig, one that serves as another notch of cycling achievements, but also a reminder of his strength and fortitude, both mentally and physically.
“I haven’t really done any major riding since last year because I’m being treated for cancer,” Craig said.
“I haven’t been doing much exercise, I’m just beginning to build up my fitness again, to get ready for this event.”
Having been diagnosed with a form of lymphoma cancer in late 2023, Craig’s radiation therapy only recently finished, with his exercise routine slowly on the roll.
Craig’s cycling journey began early; during secondary school he would ride the bike every day, reminiscing about his school’s large bike shed that filled to the brim on a daily basis, it was then that his interest in the activity began to brew.
Initially seeing it as nothing more than a means of transport, it wasn’t unusual to see many students doing the same in his hometown of Traralgon; however, the university was where Craig saw what cycling had to offer him.
“I really got, sort of interested more for recreational purposes – sightseeing, stuff like that – in my university years,” he said.
“I did quite a bit of riding around with friends [and] we would sometimes go on bike rides around Melbourne; I remember doing a 100-kilometre ride out here near the Dandenong Ranges.”
At that point, while the interest sparked, the fire wasn’t stoked, it only engulfed Craig’s mind, body and soul when his children became involved in a cycling squad in Berwick, as part of their school’s extracurricular activities.
“Quite a lot of parents, including myself, would join and go along with the children, and we’d ride with them,” Craig said.
“It was then, I guess, that I really started riding regularly a couple of times a week, it became part of the routine, and you know, encouraging the children to build up their fitness.
“The children took some inspiration from having the older folks ride around with them, to encourage them, and we did that for seven to eight years I suppose, until the children finished school.”
It was during that time that Craig began putting some thought into the Great Vic Bike Ride, and while he was aware of the event for some time, and through friends who took part, he wasn’t too sure as to why it took him so long to join.
The upcoming event, which Craig will embark on for five days, will begin at the event’s origin – Wodonga; on 23 November with the first stop at Myrtleford, some 85 kilometres south from the starting point.
Following an overnight stop at Myrtleford, the next stop will be Wangaratta, where cyclists have two nights with a loop ride, both on the 25 and the 26; from there it will be Mansfield, also with two nights and a rest day on the 27 and the 28.
The trip will finish on 1 December after 501 kilometres in Healesville, with a rare opportunity to ride the picturesque Black Spur car-free.
Looking back at his first Great Vic Bike Ride, Craig recalled his experience with Halls Gap, where they “went down through the Grampians, down to the Victorian coast”.
“I didn’t even know when we hit the coast, but we rode east to Geelong; I was very excited, it was all sorts of new experiences.
“And I was particularly grateful for that chance because I’ve got a very soft spot for the Grampians area, so it was a great thing to go riding up there.”
Craig’s interest was piqued far beyond the physicality of the journey, but also the logistics of the entire event; from how they organised it, how they catered to hundreds of cyclists at different venues and so on.
Leading up to this upcoming event, Craig’s excitement, despite his diagnosis and treatment, has not waned.
“I booked into this in the early months of my cancer treatment because I wanted to have something to look forward to,” he said.
“I wanted to think positively that I’m going to be good enough, that I’m going to be well enough to do this.
“I booked this, as well as a walk I’m doing in the Grampians next month, which was also part of my plan.
“I want to have some exciting, enjoyable activities that will require me to be healthy and look forward to, so I’m going to do those.”
To Craig, it wasn’t necessarily just a show of strength and determination – though it is that as much as anything – but it was also about doing things that he has always done, and not letting cancer take that away from him.
“These are the things that I’ve been doing for a long time, so they’re part of my normal living experience,” Craig said.
“I wanted to stay positive, I’m going to continue doing these things for as long as I can.
“I don’t want my medical condition to take those things that I enjoy doing away.”
On a lighter note, Craig has been eager to prep for the upcoming adventure and is especially keen on not repeating one of his earlier rookie mistakes of getting a sore bum from riding for much too long.
“People have different problems, you can be tired or you can have a sore bum – which I’ve had on one my early rides – and someone said, oh, why don’t you put two pairs of riding pants on? Well, it didn’t fix things but it made it better.
“But in the end, there was a break day and I think I got a relative to bring a bike seat from my other bike and swap it, so it made it comfier.
“That’s a specific instance of something that I had to do to make my journey better, but obviously preparation is good; if you spend plenty of time on the bike, you’re likely to have either discovered those sorts of problems for you already and found solutions for them,” Craig said.
From training one’s endurance and stamina to knowing the trails and your bike, Craig, at 65 years of age, sees the event, and the activity of cycling in general, as one of the best ways to explore the nature that Victoria and Australia have to offer.
“When you think about how long the ride is, you don’t have to ride fast to complete the event, and you go there and you see that there are plenty of people older than me doing it,” he said.
“As long as your daily fitness and physical well-being are holding together, then it’s a great way to enjoy the countryside; you see it for longer and you see it closer.
“Then you can get out and stop, have a look around – you don’t have to keep going just because everyone’s going, you’ve got all day to get there.
“If you’re travelling in a car, once you’re in there you tend to just want to get where you’re supposed to be and keep going, drivers can’t look out the window for too long because you might crash.
“On a bike, you get a close, intimate view of wherever it is you’re going through.”
Sometimes, things may not necessarily be in your favour, with Craig dwelling on that one Great Vic Bike Ride he took part of where it poured for days on end; but at that point he had been training regularly, riding with friends from his hometown twice a day for hours.
Recently, due to his diagnosis and treatment, Craig has had little chance to do the same throughout 2024, but when his treatment was coming to a close, he too, began to hit the pedals.
“I’ve started going out and getting some more bike riding, my daughter wanted to set up a gym at the end of the house – we put a stationary bike in there so I’m doing a few sessions on that,” he said.
“Then I’m starting to go out once or twice a week, I’ll grab my bike and put it in the car and take it down to Lysterfield [Park] and I’ll go ride some of the trails to start building up that fitness again.”
