Lockyer National Park

Today’s ride took us through the shady creek gullies and steep foothills of the Great Dividing Range west of Brisbane.

We left Gatton and headed north towards the quiet rural locality of Adare.

It took about fifteen minutes to reach the end of the paved road.

I love that first “crunch” as the tyres bite the gravel, and mountain bikes do what they’re built to do – ride on dirt.

Our friend John Pinnell kindly gave us permission to ride through his property at Adare.

We followed shady farm tracks past the homestead.

On the far side of the property the track was a bit overgrown.

“Sorry about this,” I said sheepishly.

“Are you kidding?” Kaye said.  “This is why we like riding with you!”

Thanks Kaye 🙂

Darb led the way through the trees, following the pleasant shady track towards the national park.

The track grew wider at the national park boundary.

We turned left, and pointed our bikes up the hill.

The course undulated over several hills, past numerous boulders and sandy cliff faces next to Redbank Creek.

“What a beautiful forest,” John said as we rolled under towering trees.

I nodded mischievously.

“Just wait till we get to the hill.  You’ll love that.”

This puddle looked like a map of Australia.

Darb stood in “Port Moresby”, looked down the eastern coastline and complained that they’d forgotten to include Tasmania.

I resisted the temptation to dig a small triangular hole for him south of “Victoria”.

I’m guessing if we come back in a week, it will probably evaporate into a Tassie-shaped puddle anyway.

Nature is strange.

Eventually we reached the major climb of the day…

My three friends have amazing engines and powered upwards.

I hopped off and walked a while.

Eventually the gradient became more reasonable, and I started pedaling once more.

The valley formed by Redbank Creek dropped below us to our right.

At the top of the hill, verdant cattle pastures covered the plateau.

We sat on the grass and rested for a while.

From there we enjoyed a pleasant downhill run.

It was great to relax and let gravity do all the work while we chatted.

The descent grew sharper.

I stood on the pedals, leaned back, and skidded downward.

The trees parted just before the final descent, giving us a great view of the D’Aguilar Range to the east.

I skidded some more, and bounced over the rocks, grateful we were going downhill, and not up.

To our right we could see Gatton in the trees, a few kilometres away, with more mountains on the distant southern horizon.

We rolled under the highway, and followed the railway line back into town…

…passing under an old iron railway bridge…

…before crossing Lockyer Creek and coasting back into town.

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We rode about forty-four kilometers in just under four hours.

During that time we climbed about a thousand metres in elevation, and I burned about 2,200 kcal.

This is a pleasant ride except for the grueling climb up the range – made more challenging by the hot weather.  (Gatton can get quite hot).

I’ll rate this one 8.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.  It would be easier in the cooler months.

Thanks Darb, Kaye and John for a great day out.

And thanks John Pinnell for allowing us to ride through your beautiful property.

NOTE: Please don’t follow our course through Adare unless you first get permission to cross private property.