Victoria (Australia)

Cycling in the Australian state of Victoria (including its capital Melbourne) is a popular pastime, sport and way of getting around since at least 1896, as indicated by the Banjo Paterson poem Mulga Bill's Bicycle. Cycling in Victoria has been encouraged by the development of bicycle networks in town and cities throughout the state, and many regional rail trails. The sports popularity has been encouraged by the success of racing clubs such as the St Kilda Cycling Club and Victorian racing riders such as Cadel Evans, Simon Gerrans and Matthew Lloyd. Organised rides held annually including the Great Victorian Bike Ride, and races held in Victoria include the Herald Sun Tour.

Cycling in Geelong, Victoria is common for recreation and competition, but less so for utility and commuting.

Geelong has a discontinuous network of off-road trails and on-road bicycle lanes.

Geelong's major shared riding and walking trails are the Bellarine Rail Trail, Barwon river, Bay, Ted Wilson and Waurn Ponds creek trails.

A series of rider fatalities and the safety of bike riding in and around the Geelong has received media and political attention.

A 2016 announcement of plans for a two-way separated bike lane in central Geelong was welcomed by bike groups.

Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of 227,444 km² (87,817 sq mi); the second-most-populous state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; and the most densely populated state in Australia (30.6 per km²). Victoria's economy is the second-largest among Australian states and is highly diversified, with service sectors predominating.

Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north and South Australia to the west and is bounded by the Bass Strait to the south (with the exception of a small land border with Tasmania located along Boundary Islet), the Southern Ocean to the southwest, and the Tasman Sea (a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean) to the southeast. The state encompasses a range of climates and geographical features from its temperate coastal and central regions to the Victorian Alps in the northeast and the semi-arid northwest.