The return of the Cohuna Murray to Moyne cycling team after a seven-year break was a positive and successful one, with 15 riders completing the 510km course over two days.

From flat open roads to winding hills, from calm and sunny weather to wind and coastal rains, the Cohuna District Hospital’s Murray to Moyne cycle relay team had it all – and according to team spokesman, Mark Kingma, they will be back for more of the same next year.

The team, along with six volunteer support staff, left Echuca on the morning of Saturday, April 6 for Stawell, then continued with a night ride to Hamilton, a total of 420km on day one, completing another 90km on day two.

Split into three ability groups, each group rode 20-30km legs at a time.

“It starts out long and flat between Echuca and Boort,” said Mark, “but as you start to come towards St Arnaud and Stawell, you start to hit some hills. There are definitely some nasty ones along the way, but there were some nice downhills as well.”

Traditions of the former Cohuna team shone through, with the team opting for Chinese cuisine at Stawell before hitting the road in the optional night ride from Stawell to Hamilton.

“Not a lot of teams do the night ride,” said Mark.

“We went from Stawell into Hamilton, got in at about 11.30 at night. It’s something our team has always done. It’s a bit of fun doing a couple of legs in the dark.” 

The second day of the relay began at 7am with 95km ahead of them before the finish line at Port Fairy. Another Cohuna tradition saw all team members riding the last 16km to the finish line together – but not before a massive downpour drenched them.

“Just as we started that last 30km (before the final 16), it just bucketed down. It was so heavy, real coastal rain and wind, and we all got saturated. It didn’t last for too long, by the time we got to the 17km mark out, it was a nice ride in together.”

The team reached the finish line by 11.30am, and with each rider completing between 190km and 250km over the two days, it was time for some well-earned relaxation and reflection before returning home on Monday.

“It was a huge success,” Mark said.

“The feeling amongst everyone was they absolutely loved it and are really keen to do it again next year. It was really positive. Everyone got through and did as many kilometres as they could.”

Mark thanks the volunteers and riders for doing such a great job, the hospital for catering, and Cohuna Car Sales for donating two buses.

The Murray to Moyne cycle relay event aims to raise funds for hospitals, and this year’s Cohuna team will donate $15,000 to the Cohuna District Hospital from funds raised through its raffle and funds rolled over from the previous Murray to Moyne team. 

If you missed it this year, the team plans to enter in 2025 and welcomes all ages, genders and abilities.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 18 April 2024.