2020 Night Ride cancelled, we look ahead to 2021

In the light of the Victorian Government restrictions on public gatherings, the 2020 O’Keefe Challenge Night Ride has been cancelled.

We – the Committee behind the event – believe this is the most appropriate decision based on the Victorian Government’s Regional Roadmap that currently indicates that a maximum gathering of ten people for the planned date of our event (23 Oct).

Our purpose for the night ride is to gather a group of people together to experience the magnificent O’Keefe Rail Trail at night and then get together at Palling Bros. Brewery in Heathcote for a chat, refreshments and some fun prizes. As a Committee, we feel that we would not be able to create the desired fun and safe experience for our participants under the current guidelines given we were aiming for around 150 riders to join us.

Whilst this decision was not taken lightly, the O’Keefe Challenge team hope that our participants, sponsors and stakeholders understand the reasons behind this cancellation. As always, the health and wellbeing of our O’Keefe Challenge participants, volunteers, family, friends and members of the Bendigo and Heathcote communities remains our highest priority. We thank RUC Mining for their continued sponsorship of this night ride.

The next O’Keefe Challenge event is scheduled for Friday 30 April and Sunday 2 May 2021.

Registered participants now have the option to rollover their entry to our 2021 event, receive a partial refund, or donate their refund to the Heathcote Dementia Village Project.

OPTION 1: Rollover their entries at no cost 2021 O’Keefe Challenge event. (No action required, participant remains registered).
OPTION 2: Receive an 80% refund of their entry fee.
OPTION 3: Donate 80% of their entry fee to the Heathcote Dementia Village Project.

Participants are invited to complete an online form to advise of their preference:
Complete this form here >

The O’Keefe Rail Trail is still open to small groups

Yes, that’s right! You can still hit the O’Keefe Rail Trail at any time with your friends (subject to COVID-Safe guidelines) and we encourage you to make the most of the fine spring weather. Please do send us your photos of you and your friends enjoying the trail via Facebook or Instagram.

Looking ahead to 2021

For 2021, we are certainly planning to hold our O’Keefe Challenge cycling and running events over the weekend of Friday, April 30 (ride) and Sunday May 2 (running events).
If this is not possible due to COVID, then we would first seek to postpone once again until late 2021. But as with so many things at present, we will have to prepare as best we can and then keep track of the COVID situation as it develops.

We would again like to thank you – our participants, volunteers, sponsors and stakeholders – for your dedication to this event. Please remember to take care of yourselves and each other.