The heat and humidity in Brisbane has been intense over the last few days, so I thought I’d escape the intensity by heading up into the mountains to my favourite place – D’Aguilar National Park. Today I wanted to try something a bit different, so I decided to have a go riding down Taylors Break.
Taylors break is a narrow winding track that heads down the other side of the Mountain Range starting at Forestry Road and ending at Branch Creek.
It starts pleasantly, covered with thick forest, opening up into great views. But as you get further along the track it gets steeper and rockier. Some places are really difficult to even walk down without sliding. Since I was travelling alone, I decided not to take risks, and walked the bike down a couple of the really steep rocky bits.
Once I arrived at the bottom I faced a tough climb up Cabbage Tree Range Road, which ascends almost 500m in just under 7km to Dundas Road. Today it only took me 57 minutes, which is my best effort. As a reward, I shed my jersey, stuck my head under the tap on the water tank and let the water cool me down. I then stood in the breeze like a maniac and enjoyed its delicious coolness. Thankfully no one was watching 🙂
It was only 25km, but I climbed just under 1,000m on a day with a maximum temperature of 37C. It was hard work, plus the descent was quite tricky. I’ll give it 9 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Deduct 1 if you’re doing it in the cooler months.
The cool shower under the Dundas Road water tower ranks as one of those things you must do to appreciate how wonderful it feels.
Total climbing: 1014 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 02:57:59
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Excellent words and pictures Neil, as usual! Just don’t drink the water, ha ha!
Thanks Andrew,
I’ve warned a few people about your experience 🙂 It makes me wonder if you can’t drink it, why is it there, but I suppose campers could boil it.
Looking forward to doing a ride with you sometime soon.
Neil