In many ways, the 1 in 20 (Mountain Highway) is just another road into the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne. But it’s also so much more than that.
Early morning light filters through giant eucalypts that tower over the road. Mist clings to the hills and lush ferns grow close to the ribbon of tarmac that winds around a corner and out of sight. It’s cool but not cold; perfect conditions for a bike ride.
This is Mountain Highway in the Dandenong Ranges, roughly 40 km east of central Melbourne. Every cycling city has a climb like this: an ascent that has become a benchmark, a proving ground, an icon. For Boulder, that’s Super Flag. For Girona, it’s the Rocacorba. For Adelaide, it’s Norton Summit. For Melbourne it’s this particularly picturesque stretch of Mountain Highway from The Basin to Sassafras, more commonly known in cycling circles as the 1 in 20.
In many ways it’s just another stretch of asphalt through the trees; one winding road among many in the area. But to local cyclists, this is more than just a road.
It’s a scenic journey into the heart of one of the great road cycling regions. A place of beauty where rides of legend have unfolded. A road where Melbourne’s cyclists have come for generations to measure their fitness, push their limits, and add their own small chapter to the climb’s long and storied history.
Image: Daniel Christiansz PhotographyInto the hills
Riding through the township of The Basin to start the 1 in 20 feels like crossing a threshold. Behind you lies the largely flat urban sprawl of Melbourne’s outer east; ahead of you the road twists its way up and out of suburbia and into the sparsely populated hills of the Dandenongs. Ride past the last of the shops in The Basin and you’re immediately in a different world – one where nature reigns supreme.
A well-timed ride up the 1 in 20 can be a beautiful, almost meditative experience. Just the sound of your breath, wind in the trees, and birdsong for company as you work your way ever higher into the hills. You might see other riders on their own personal adventure, or riders out in groups. Some riders just enjoying the scenery, and others challenging for the best time they can, pushing themselves all the way to the top in Sassafras.
The climb begins just beyond the shops in The Basin.
The official Strava segment lists the 1 in 20 at 6.61 km*, climbing a total of 280 vertical meters along the way. It unfolds in three distinct acts: a punchy opening section of around 3.5 km that wakes the legs; a much-easier 1 km false-flat section in the middle; and a return to tougher gradients for the final 2 km to Sassafras.
An average gradient of just 4.4% means this is far from the hardest climb in the Dandenongs. In fact, it’s not even as hard as the name “1 in 20” would suggest.
But as it turns out, there’s plenty of history in that name.
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