Whether you're a first time Border Runner like Lens man Ollie or a seasoned Overlander, this route has plenty to get you excited about!

The first thing I noticed was just how quickly it feels like you're out of the city. Leaving the hecticness of the GPO behind, you're only on roads for a couple of kms before joining the bike path and following the river. With the Melbourne skyline lit up behind you, it feels like you've got a big day ahead of you.

Greeted by a mob of sleepy 'roos, you definitely have to be a bit careful through here, they are pretty wild and they definitely didn't like our front lights!

After Woodlands, we were on the road for a fair chunk, gradually climbing up with a couple of pinches. But soon enough we hit the dirt again! Oskar pointed out one section that can be slightly rutted, but even after some overnight rain it was easily passable and not slippery at all.

Shortly after that, we got to the only real feature of the day, the river crossing! A steep descent dropped us down and with no desire to get our feet wet we dismounted and walked across the concrete bridge. The next few kms felt quite grippy, but the thought of the bakery in Lancefield was getting us through!

On a slightly colder morning than we were expecting, the idea of a hot coffee and vanilla slice from the bakery was the moral we needed! The obvious thought was I hope it's not any colder in a few weeks time, but even in my very short experience, Melbourne weather is definitely unpredictable. As we huddled around the table in the bakery, trying to not think about how far we had to go, but we knew one thing. Almost all the climbing was behind us now, so the roads were only going to get faster!

Rolling out of Lancefield, it's 15km to the top of the Great Dividing Range and with most of the elevation in one climb on the road, we were onto the faster sections in no time. The flowing gravel descents were unreal! And the morale boost that the bump in average speed brought was definitely welcomed. Before we knew it we were at resupply number two in Heathcote.

We'd hit bakery rush hour! Mid Saturday morning and three tired eyed cyclists stumble into the queue carrying water, gatorades and oogling the choice of pies. Lucky for us, a quick rain shower rolled in while we were hiding inside, much to our approval. But after some quick maths, we realised we might have been enjoying the coziness of the bakery a little bit too much.

The train back from Echuca left at 4:05pm. It was currently 12:45pm and we had just over 100km to cover and touch the border sign and make the train. It's safe to say it went a bit quiet for the next 80km.

In our favour, the roads just kept getting faster! The gravel smoothed out, the road was pointing down, and we were CRUISING! The gentle rollers eased until we were barrelling alongside the trainline at 50kmh with a glorious tailwind. I remember thinking it was a perfect course if you really want to get stuck into it, a few left rights gave glimpses of crosswinds, but mostly we just kept on flying.

Seeing the last transition to tarmac was quite a relief. Maybe 240km is not considered a 'big ride' in Curve land, but for me 240km in nine and a half hours on the bike is a pretty serious! As we jumped onto the tarmac and rolled into Echuca, we all had the same feeling of achievement you can only get on a ride like this. We made it. Melbourne to the NSW border. Even better we made the train with just enough time to pose with the sign. You can't ask for a much better day than that!