YOU want to find a way to make it rain?

Assemble 5000 bike riders and their tents, and you are sure to see the heavens open.

That was the case for the first three days of this year's Great Victorian Bike Ride.

From a soaked Portland via a sodden Macarthur, riders finally emerged into some sun at Port Fairy on Monday.

Organisers said this had been the wettest start to the world's biggest cycling holiday since at least 1996, ironically on the same Great Ocean Road route and the year the current drought started.

Bicycle Victoria event director Nikki Tyler said the rain had been a discomfort but spirits were high.

"It has really been great despite the rain," Nikki said. "I didn't think it has dampened anyone's spirits and we haven't had any incidents."

Riders such as John Williams, from Melbourne, who is tackling the ride with his two sons, said the rain was just a minor discomfort in a great week of riding.

"It's no worries, it's been great actually," he said.

The ride is a logistical marvel, with 50 semi-trailers and 200 vehicles moving the camp daily.

More than 3500 tents are pitched each day.

About 50 schools are on the ride, including Kerang Technical High School, Deniliquin High and Rutherglen Secondary College.

The ride today tackles Lavers Hill in a 97km stage before a rest day at Apollo Bay.

The 550km ride finishes in Geelong on Sunday.