xc – Page 33 – Musings

BNT, Cycling, Scenic Rim, South East Qld, xc

The Head

by NeilEnnis 3 March 2013 6 Comments Shortlink

“Eighty percent of success is just showing up” – Woody Allen

In the midst of the Queensland wet-season, it would be tempting to get up at 5am, look out the window at the rain, and decide to go back to bed for another couple of hours. But instead, I recalled Woody Allen’s famous words, and decided to “turn up” and hope for the best.

The aim of todays adventure was to ride from Moogerah Dam up to the headwaters of the Condamine River at “The Head” via Koreelah National Park. I also wanted to fill in another missing link on my map. Eric and Becca kindly agreed to indulge yet another hare-brained whim, and so we set off full of hope from Lake Moogerah in the drizzle.

On long cross-country rides like this, I prefer to use non-paved roads as much as possible, so we headed south towards the NSW border along Croftby Road.

The views of the Great Dividing Range to the west were stunning, but also served as a gentle reminder that we had a lot of climbing ahead of us. The Condamine River flows westwards into the Murray-Darling basin, so to get to its headwaters, we had to get over the Great Divide. And that meant a lot of hills.

We also wanted to check out the “Bicentennial National Trail” which runs through this region. It’s a mammoth 5,000km trail that runs from Cape York in Far North Queensland to Healsville in Victoria. It covers some of the toughest terrain in Australia, and we were lucky enough to be riding some of it today. The crossing at Reynolds Creek was flooded, but we were able to be able to avoid the flooded crossing by passing a couple of kilometres to the east.

A few kilometres of flattish terrain lulled us into thinking this was going to be an easy ride, until we hit Carney’s Creek Road. Instead of the 1.8km climb that the cruel sign would have you believe, the climb here is actually about 11km and ascends about 600 metres into the cloudy rainforest of Koreelah National Park.

After what seemed like hours of climbing, we finally reached the NSW border. A rabbit-proof fence stretches for most of the length of the 1,300km border between NSW and Qld – part of a vain attempt to keep the voracious animals out. The fence winds its way over mountain ranges, through thick rainforests, and across wide plains. It’s also a tangible sign of the work done by surveyors Roberts and Rowland in the 1860’s as they marked out the imaginary line between the two states. These and other early surveyors like Oxley, Dixon, Stapylton, Warner, Delisser and Lavelle were the true explorers of the Austrailan wilderness – blazing trails that we are still able to follow more than a century later.

As we rode, the rain continued to increase in intensity. By the time we got to Koreelah Creek the crossing was flooded and we had to wade through. We took it carefully, making sure no-one slipped in the fast flowing water. Just to be on the safe side, Eric carefullly waded into the water first, to check that it was ok to cross.

After yet another long climb, we made it to the top of Head Gate Road, to the border crossing known as “Head Gate”. The old shed was a perfect spot to get out of the rain, dry off, and have a bit of lunch.

Normally, this spot would have been the most scenic of the ride, with views to the west of Condamine Gorge with craggy cliffs rising on either side, and Mount Superbus towering in the distance. Today it was rainy and foggy, and we could see nothing, so we started the long descent down Head Road…

Head Road was closed to traffic. It was strewn with fallen trees, boulders and land-slips. Thankfully we were able to navigate around these obstacles with our bikes. It would have been impossible in a larger vehicle. As mountain bikers, we coined a new phrase for this sort of damage. It had been “Goat Tracked” – a reference to how damage to the Goat Track between Highvale and Mount Nebo had rendered it impassable to most vehicles except mountain bikes – not necessarily a bad thing 🙂

At the bottom of Head Road we had to contend with the swollen Teviott Brook. It crosses the road several times, and we had to carefully make our way across several flooded causeways.

I think it’s important to point out that wherever possible I don’t cross flooded creeks. It’s dangerous. It’s not something that we set out intentionally to do. There was no other realistic option for us, and we only crossed when we were certain it was safe to do so.

All up we rode about 90km in 7.5 hours including breaks. We ascended just under 1,800m and I burned 4,200 kcal. Taking the weather into account, the obstacles, and the tough terrain, this one deserves a rating on the tough-o-meter of 10 out of 10. Not for the faint-hearted. In cooler dryer weather it would be slightly easier and would probably rate 9 out of 10.

Total distance: 89.34 km
Total climbing: 1832 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 07:26:58

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Aboriginal Australia, BNT, Cycling, Scenic Rim, South East Qld, xc

Spicers Gap

by NeilEnnis 24 February 2013 No Comments Shortlink

The aim of today’s ride was a reasonably long cross-country ride from the Southern Queensland town of Boonah, to Spicers Gap on the top of the Great Dividing Range and back again. It was challenging but had the benefit of being enjoyable despite recent wet weather.

We left Boonah and made our way towards Lake Moogerah via some quiet back-roads. Most of the country around Lake Moogerah is hilly, so we had to work reasobly hard. But it’s worth the effort. The views are amazing!

The Ugarapul Aboriginal people called this area “Moojirah” meaning “Place of thunderstorms”. When Reynolds Creek was dammed in 1962, the local authorities named the new dam “Moogerah” after the local aboriginal place name. When I saw the clouds brooding over Mount Greville in the distance, I agreed with the Ugarapul. It’s a perfect name 🙂

Our track took us around the back of the lake and up towards Spicers Gap Road. We took it easy on the undulating tarmac and gravel roads, aware of the impending long climb up the Great Dividing Range.

Spicers Gap road has been used for thousands of years by Aboriginal people as a (relatively easy) way of getting over the Great Dividing Range. In the 1840’s, stockman Henry Alphen discovered it was a much easier route for moving bullock drays than nearby Cunninghams Gap. So in 1847, with the help of convict labor, the government built the road along the ancient Aboriginal pathway. It’s steep – rising 600 metres in about 8km. That makes it a perfect mountain biking route 🙂

On the way up, there are some historical sites that provide a welcome break from the long climb, including a small cemetery containing the graves of several 19th century pioneers, and a curious freshwater spring, known as “Moss’s Well”.

The “highlight” for me was the wonderful view at the top of the long climb.

The views to the east are stunning. It was a perfect place to stop for a bite to eat, take in the panorama, and cool off.

And the up-side of any long climb on a bike is that you get to enjoy a long fast descent back down the hill. Riding down the steep, winding, muddy road with flecks of clay flying up into my face, hitting speeds of 65 km/h was a lot of fun.

Thoroughly exhausted, we made our way back to Boonah via the small town of Mount Alford. The local pub beckoned to us with its proud boast that it has longer opening hours than neighboring Boonah. We couldn’t resist. Hard work on a bike makes a drink at a pub taste so much better.

I’m grateful to Becca, Eric and Tony for agreeing to ride with me on yet another whimsical day of adventure and exploration on the bike. And especially grateful to Eric who let me “slipstream” behind him for some of the ride when I was feeling tired. We call it “getting a tow” because sitting behind a stronger rider makes so much difference when you’re tired.

We rode almost 80km in 6.5 hours including breaks. During that time we climbed about 1,300m, and I burned about 3,700 kcal. This is a tough ride. You have to first ride 40km, and then do a long 600m ascent up a dirt track, made more difficult by the soft wet surface. I’m rating this one 9 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. On a hot mid-summer day it would be even harder. In dry winter weather I’d probably rate it 8 to 8.5.

Total distance: 79.28 km
Total climbing: 1382 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 06:26:57

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Update

While at the State Library reading random old copies of the Moreton Bay Courier from the 1840’s I stumbled on this article about Spicers Gap Road. Click on the image for a larger more easy to read version.

Aboriginal Australia, Cycling, South East Qld, xc

Hardings Paddock

by NeilEnnis 16 February 2013 No Comments Shortlink

The purpose of today’s ride was to fill in a “missing link” on my map between Walloon and Hardings Paddock. I’ve done some fun rides with friends at both places in the past. Today’s wet weather provided an ideal opportunity to complete the 27 km gap between the two places and enjoy some scenic country out the back of Ipswich in South-East Queensland.

In typical mtb style I headed south out of Walloon looking for a dirt track I could follow. It wasn’t long before I found Mount Elliot Mine Road – a road casement which runs along sone one of the many mines around Ipswich.

The track was a bit muddy in parts, but was very rideable despite the wet weather. It eventually led me to the small town of Willowbank near the RAAF base at Amberley.

After battling some busy traffic along the Cunningham Highway for a couple of hundred metres, I turned south and followed another dirt track past some beautiful properties with some gorgeous horses galloping around. They were pretty curious and galloped up to me as I rode past. A bunch of horses galloping towards you is a wonderful sight.

This small cemetery is a couple of kilometres from Hardings Paddock. It’s unusual in that it’s a reserve dedicated specifically to Aborigines. I had a bit of a look around and was gobsmacked by what I found….

Harold Blair
Passed away 21 May 1976
Go our beloved
Be free in the land
From whence you came
Dorothy, Nerida
& Warren

Harold Blair was a a world-famous Aboriginal Singer and activist. He was born in Cherbourg Aboriginal Reserve and grew up in Purga, south of Ipswich. The Australian federal electorate of Blair is named in his honor.

A little further down the road and I eventually reached Hardings Paddock. Feeling pretty pleased with my self, I stopped for a quick lunch before heading back to Walloon.

Hardings Paddock borders on a military firing range. As I rode past I saw these kangaroos huddled by the fence. They looked like they wanted to get out. Who knows? Perhaps they had decided that the military life wasn’t for them? Who can blame them?

I rolled back into Walloon after riding about three and a half hours including breaks. The total ride was just under 50km, with almost 400m of ascent, and about 1,800 kcal.

This was a pretty easy ride – flatter than what I’m used to, and with a large amount of quiet bitumen roads. It was ideal for a wet day, but I imagine it might get a bit hot on a fine summer day. The short stint on the Cunningham Highway was unpleasant, but the rest of the ride was quite enjoyable. I’ll rate this one 6.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

Best of all, my map has one less missing gap 🙂

Total distance: 48.54 km
Total climbing: 425 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 03:29:55

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Brisbane, Cycling, Friends, xc

Daisy Hill

by NeilEnnis 10 February 2013 6 Comments Shortlink

I felt like doing a big ride today, so my friend Dean agreed to accompany me on a long cross-town ride from my place to Daisy Hill. The plan was to try to stick to Bikeways as we rode the 75km across town, then do a few off-road tracks at Daisy Hill Conservation Park, then I’d finish the ride by heading west across town to visit my parents at Forest Lake.

It was also a chance to fill in some of the “missing links” on my global ride map.

Dean surprised me when he turned up on a fully laden Salsa Fargo touring bike, complete with panniers and bottle holders on the forks. It weighed a ton – which is saying something because a lot of my mates tell my I should send my bike to weight watchers.

As if on cue, as we started the ride, the rain started falling, so our first few kilometres along the bike paths were in cool humid dampness – which was actually more comfortable than riding in the blazing sun.

Before long we were winding through the swampy She-oak and Paperbark forests of the Boondall Wetlands. I love this part of the Moreton Bay Cycleway. Being so peaceful makes it hard to imagine that this track is so close to the busy Gateway Arterial Road.

And since I was in a lazy mood, I just stuck behind Dean all of the way, in his slipstream. He’s a strong rider and we were able to maintain some really fast speeds as we powered along the cycleway in our mini peloton of two mountain bikers.

A combination of high tides and recent rain meant that the track was slightly flooded in one or two places.

Eventually we reached the Gateway Bridge and made our way over the slow hump of the bridge and down the other side.

From there we rode through the Minnippi Parklands towards the Critereon track at Murrarie. Since I was still tailgating Dean and riding in his slipstream, he passed the Finish Line on the track just a split second before I did 🙂

We continued to head south, towards Daisy Hill along the Bulimba Creek bikeway.

When we eventually reached Daisy Hill, Dean led me up “Second Coming” track near the Buddhist Temple on Underwood Road. It was amazing to watch him push this heavy bike with no suspension along some winding steep single track. The bike rattled a bit on the bumps, by Dean handled it really well.

We rode down “Stringybark” trail and did a loop of the Quarry Lake in Neville Lawrie Reserve. By this time the sun was high in the sky, the day was starting to get hot, and I was sorely tempted to ditch my gear and jump in the water. I think Dean was relieved when I decided not to 🙂

Next time I’m there, I’ll definitely jump in. The water looked great on a hot day.

From there we headed up to the “Top Carpark” to top up on water, before riding down “Possum Box”.

And I got a lesson from Dean in how to ride a heavy no-suspension touring bike on some twisty single tracks.

Including the last leg of my ride to Forest Lake, I rode a total of 117km in just over 6 hours (excluding breaks). I burned 5,100 kcal and climbed a total of 1,150 metres. Riding this with Dean made it much easier – especially being able to slipstream him, and to benefit from his knowledge of where to go in a part of town that I don’t normally ride. I’ll rate this 8.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. But if I did it solo, I’d probably rate it 9.5 out of 10.

Total distance: 116.91 km
Total climbing: 1279 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 08:51:20

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Cycling, South East Qld, xc

Mapleton National Park

by NeilEnnis 2 February 2013 3 Comments Shortlink

Most of the National Parks and State Forests around Brisbane were closed this week because of recent heavy rain. Luckily, Mapleton National Park (about 100km North of Brisbane) was open, so a few of us decided to go for a ride up there this morning.

We started in Mapleton, and rode northwards along the main vehicle track through some beautiful open Eucalyptus forest towards Cooloolabin Dam.

At the dam, we decided to take our chances and took the less-travelled fire trail to the west. The track was covered in fallen branches, bark, and a couple of fallen trees. But it was rideable. We only had to climb over one large fallen tree.

The climb up to the lookout is hard work, but it’s worth it for the great views.

From the lookout it’s a quick fast descent back down the hill to Cooloolabin Dam.

On the way back up to Mapleton from the Dam, we stopped at the waterfalls on East Cedar Creek to enjoy yet another spectacular view.

The steep ride back up the hill to Mapleton was tough, but the Eucalyptus trees looked stunning after all the rain.

Many thanks to Becca, Jason, Simon, and Ron; and also to local riders Dave and Ross. I really enjoyed being able to share such a perfect day with a great bunch of people.
This was a lot tougher ride than I anticipated. It’s only 22km from Mapleton to Point Glorious, so it’s a 44km out-and-back ride. But there are some long climbs between Mapleton and Cooloolabin. The hot and humid summer weather and the muddy branch-strewn path west of Cooloolabin added to the challenge.

Today we climbed 1,100m in 44km in just over four and a half hours including breaks. I burned 3,000 kcal.

Based on today’s conditions I think this ride deserves 8.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. In cooler months when the tracks are drier and there’s less debris laying around, I’d rate it 7.5.

Total distance: 44.95 km
Total climbing: 1152 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 04:46:48

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Cycling, History, xc

Underwater History

by NeilEnnis 19 January 2013 1 Comment Shortlink

Lake Samsonvale is a large body of water west of Strathpine with a fascinating history. Today I explored the far side of the lake, near Kobble Creek with my friends Russel, Jason and Paul.

We started at the western end of Whiteside Road, and just kept heading east towards the shoreline. This road used to be the main route between Petrie and Dayboro before the North Pine Dam was built. But the resulting artificial lake permanently flooded the road, which split Whiteside Road in two. This meant that a new road (Dayboro Road) had to be built further north. The eastern section at Whiteside is still an important road for local residents, but the western half has been transformed into a very quiet road which devolves into a disused gravel road before disappearing under the waters of the dam.

Whiteside Road crossed the North Pine River at a place called Quinns Crossing. Although the crossing is submerged we were able to ride within a couple of hundred metres of it. I’ve been told by local recreational sailers that in times of drought it’s possible to see the remains of the old bridge just under the water.

Some of the grass in the area is pretty long. I thought it was nice that the guys agreed to follow me through the grass even though they couldn’t see the ground in front of them.

This creek was too deep to ride across, or even push the bikes across, so we had to carry them, while taking care not to slipp on the muddy bottom and get soaked.

We eventually found a spot by the edge of the dam where we could enjoy a cool swim and take refuge from the 35 degree heat.

We swam quite close to the submerged spot where Isabella Joyner built Samsonvale House in the 1860’s.

Even though Samsonvale House is gone, we were able to sample some mangoes from an old tree that was planted not far from the house in the 19th century. Paul thought they were delicious!

All up we rode about 30km in about three and a quarter hours, including stops and breaks. For most of the ride we kept an easy pace in the heat, and just pushed the pace a bit on the way back the steep bitumen climb on Postman’s Track. Considering the high temperatures I’ll rate this one 8 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. In cooler weather it would probably rate 7 out of 10.

Total distance: 28.41 km
Total climbing: 483 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 03:18:40

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Cycling, South East Qld, xc

Fat Bike!

by NeilEnnis 26 December 2012 5 Comments Shortlink

A Fat Bike is a mountain bike with really fat tyres that allows you to comfortably ride on loose surfaces like sand and mud. My friend Murray let me ride his spare fat bike (a 9:Zero:7) yesterday while we did a bit of exploring on the trails between Coolum and Noosa.

We started our ride heading north on the beach at Coolum. As soon as we hit the sand, I had a manic grin on my face – riding on a long wide beach was so much fun! With the wind at our backs, it was effortless to zoom along the damp sand. People we passed looked at us with a mixture of amazement and envy. Riding a bike along the beach is not something you usually see.

Once we arrived at Peregian Beach, we left the sand, and headed west through the Weyba section of Noosa National Park.

The thing that impressed me was how well the fat bikes performed on normal forest trails. They just soaked up the bumps over tree-roots and rocks. I rode as fast as I normally would on my dual suspension 29er. The ride was smooth, and I had heaps of grip from the big tyres. But the rolling resistance was low too. I didn’t feel like I had to fight against any sluggishness from the big tyres….

… but when we DID hit spots of sand, I just floated over the top instead of getting bogged down.

Eventually we made it to Wooroi Forest at Tewantin. Wooroi is a beautiful place. It’s hilly in spots with many of the tracks winding through the rainforest.

Murray took me around some of his favourite tracks, and we finished by zipping down a fun new downhill track called “Milk Maid”. The fat tyres on the bike soaked up the bumps while giving me lots of grip on the track. I didn’t miss my rear suspension at all.

After a bite to eat at Tewantin, we followed a few bike tracks back through the outskirts of Noosa before hitting the sand dunes in the Lake Weyba section of Noosa National Park.

It was quite challenging riding on the loose sand, and took a lot of effort getting to the top of the hills. We both found it difficult to control the bikes in some sections until Murray let a bit more air out of the tyres.

We left the national park at Marcus Beach, where we got back onto the beach and rode south back to Coolum.

All up, this ride was 61km and took a leisurely six and a half hours including breaks. We climbed a total of 588m, and I burned about 3,000 kcal. I’ll rate this one 7.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

Total distance: 61.36 km
Total climbing: 674 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 06:37:23

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Cycling, Friends, South East Qld, xc

Coolum Epic

by NeilEnnis 23 December 2012 7 Comments Shortlink

Rather than drive the car to our usual summer holiday spot at Coolum, I thought I’d ride the bike up from Lawnton. The route was just under 120km in length and included a fair bit of riding off-road through state forests and national parks. My friends Tony and Wayne rode with me for most of the way.

The first leg of the trip took us up to Caboolture on quiet roads, and then to Beerburrum East State Forest at the end of Pumicestone Road. It took us just over an hour, which was a lot quicker than I anticipated…

…which was just as well because Wayne got a flat tyre after running over a thumb-tack. Unfortunately it was in his non-tubeless tyre, so it went flat and stayed flat. But two spare tubes and 3 CO2 canisters later, we were on our way again – still ahead of schedule. We made good time even when equipment failure struck again and cleat fell off Darb’s shoe. Luckily, he didn’t lose any screws and was able to screw it back in quite easily.

I like this forest because of the variety of different tracks. Plus it’s relatively flat which means you can easily cover long distances without much effort. We picked a few narrow tracks and rode off between the pine trees.

We met up with a friendly forest ranger along the way who just happened to be a mountain biker. He told us how much he liked 29er mountain bikes and tubeless tyres…. but he was preaching to the converted 🙂

Our first major stop was at the Wildhorse Mountain service station where we topped up on “bike fuel” and water.

To maximize the amount of off road riding, we kept riding northwards through the forest until were able to pass under the freeway at Mellum Creek. From there we entered the Beerwah section of the forest and headed North-west towards Landsborough.

Dullarcha National Park lies just north of Landsborough. The main trail follows the railway line north through the rainforest.

Part of the trail is actually on an old disused railway track, which passes through a tunnel. The fun thing about the tunnel is that it bends enough so you can’t see one end from the other. This means when you’re riding through it, it’s pitch black. If you don’t have lights you need to be careful 🙂

After a tough climb between Mooloolah and Eudlo, Darb and Wayne left me to continue the final part of the trip at Palmwoods, near Nambour. They’d ridden to my place before the start, and had already covered about 100km. They caught the train back and I continued eastwards over Kiels Mountain. I’ve often seen the overpass while driving up the freeway to Coolum, but this was the first time I’d ridden over it.

At this stage of the ride, it was hard work grinding up the steep road over Kiels Mountain. Halfway through the roll down the other side, I caught sight of Mount Coolum in the distance which marked the end-point of the ride.

In keeping with the “off-road” nature of the ride, I chose a dirt track which skirted around the western side of Mount Coolum via another national park. Unfortunately rain had made the large rocks on the track slippery, and the gradient was a bit much at this stage of the ride, so I took the “safe” option and pushed the bike up the last hill.

All up, this ride was 115km. It took just under 8 hours including stops. Moving time was just under 6 hours. I burned about 5,200 kcal.

It was easier than I anticipated – mostly flat except for the Eudlo and Kiels Mountain sections. I’d definitely do this ride again, especially with great riding buddies like Darb and Wayne. Thanks guys 🙂

I’ll give this one 8 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

Total distance: 116.27 km
Total climbing: 1207 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 07:50:06

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