Category: xc

I didn’t realize you could ride 40km from Coolum to Tewantin on dirt tracks. Today Murray proved to me that it was indeed possible, and that the tracks were a lot of fun.

After following the tracks along Stumers Creek and behind Emu Mountain, we eventually came to Doonan Bridge Road North. Last time I was here, this “road” was just several kilometres of mud and flood waters. Today it was a quiet dirt trail with lots of shade and no traffic except for a few goannas.

At one stage our path crossed the Sunshine Motorway. But rather than going across the motorway, we went under it, via a storm water drain. The only problem was the drain was full of ankle deep mud. As most people who have ridden with me before will attest, I hate getting my feet wet, so I used a couple of garbage bags (which I always carry) to make a couple of waterproof coverings for my legs. This let me wade through the mud and get out the other side relatively dry.

After riding some single tracks through some beautiful forests, and feeling like a couple of ten year old kids mucking around, we eventually had to cross the motorway again, this time via a more user friendly tunnel that was actually intended for walkers and cyclists. Thank you Sunshine Coast council!

After about 30km of dirt tracks we arrived at Wooroi State Forest, Tewantin, which is full of beautiful flowing single tracks through lush rainforests that feel like something out of “Jurassic Park”. This forest is very popular with mountain bikers and has dozens of different tracks to suit riders of all different abilities.

The track that impressed me most was “Bloodwood” – a winding hilly trail through ferns and creek crossings, which gets its name from a couple of huge Bloodwood Tree Trunks that are laying down next o the track. I didn’t get a chance to photograph them because I was too busy grinning and yelling out.

After rolling through the ritzy avenues of Noosa, we eventually made our way back off-road on the eastern side of Lake Weyba. While there’s not much climbing here the tracks are really difficult because of all the sand. So even a relatively easy slope becomes almost impossible to ride. It’s really easy for your front tyre to slide out as you ride along, and for your back wheel to spin in the sand and soak up all your power. I found the best way to handle this was to keep my weight back as far as possible, to keep the bars as straight as I could, and to go as fast as I could.

The white sand looks nice, but it acts like a mirror, so in mid-summer it reflects the heat back into your face. This was probably the most difficult part of the ride.

I loved the views out to Lake Weyba (pronounced “Why ba”).

All up 65km with a total moving time of four and a quarter hours, with total ascent of about 500m. I burned about 3,500 kcal. It scores 8 out of 10 in the tough-o-meter. In winter I’d give it 7.

Thanks once again, Murray, for showing me around your home trails. I had a great time.

Last year I rode from Coolum to Point Glorious. Unfortunately at that time the weather was terrible, and I didn’t get to enjoy much of a view.

Today the views were spectacular. We were lucky to have blue skies and cool temperatures despite the gloomy weather predictions to the contrary.

Eric, Murray and I started at Yandina and headed up the Blackall Range towards Cooloolabin Dam. Not long out of Yandina, we found the trail head, and took off happily into Mapleton State Forest.

The only problem was we didn’t have a GPS plot, so we had to rely on old-fashioned map-reading and a bit of “dead reckoning”.

Thankfully, that strategy paid off, and I’m grateful to Murray for having the foresight to pack a map of our ride.

The forest is steep in parts. We had to work pretty hard at the start to get up the rocky paths. Thankfully that meant later on in the trip we would have some fun descents.

We eventually reached Cooloolabin Dam – a small artificial lake between Mapleton and Yandina. There are many trails around the dam – and it’s easy to get to by conventional motor vehicle which makes it an easy location to visit on day trips.

From the dam it was another gnarly climb up to the lookout. It’s always a good idea to bring plenty of snacks on rides like this to keep your energy up. During humid summer days it helps to have plenty of water too.

Unlike last time, the views today were breathtaking. You can see all the way to the coast, as well as all the lush green farmland in-between.

From the lookout, it’s a steep bone-jarring descent to Yandina. I was muttering words of gratitude and love to my bike all the way down. It smoothed out the bumps and kept a straight line all the way down. It’s during intense times like that when trees are flying by, when baby-head sized rocks popping up all over the place like land mines, and when the track drops away in places leaving your stomach in your chest, that having a strong reliable bike makes a big difference. It’s the difference between enjoying a ride, and being scared you’re going to be bumped off.

Part way down, we discovered this refreshing waterfall on Browns Creek, full of water from last nights heavy rain. It just made it even better.

After wet weather, it definitely makes sense to head for the hills to avoid muddy bogs.

We were rolling for just under 3 hours to cover about 35km. This involved about 900m of vertical ascent, with about 2,600kcal burned.

This one scores 8 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. The humid weather made it tougher. In winter it would be much easier (maybe only a 7).

Riding it with friends made the ride much more enjoyable, and easier.

Many thanks Eric and Murray for a great ride!

A few months ago I rode a loop down Joyners Ridge Road at Mt Glorious which included a tough climb up Goodes Road. Last time I had to walk up some of the steep bits, but this time I gave it all my effort, and conquered the hill 🙂 I think the weekly sessions smashing hills at Clear Mountain must be paying off!

I started at the bottom of “The Goat Track” and slowly climbed up to Westridge Outlook for a quick rest and some great views westward to Wivenhoe Dam and the Great Dividing Range.

The road then went higher up to Mount Glorious before the long descent down Joyners Ridge Road, through the rainforest, all the way down to England Creek at the bottom.

Joyners Ridge Road is wonderful to ride down. The rainforest at the top gives way to open forest with great views over the mountains.

You see quite a few of these fat goannas in D’Aguilar National Park.

England Creek marks the bottom of the 9km descent. It’s a good place to have a break because from this point, it’s a 4.5km, steep, slow climb up to Dundas Road, gaining 450m.

All up, about 35km with about 1,250m of vertical ascent and 3,300kcal burned. I’m giving it 8 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

Gillian Duncan and Mark Roberts gave an excellent description of the Noosa Trail Network in the latest edition of their book “Where to Mountain Bike in South East Queensland”. I thought I’d take a couple of friends and explore those trails today. This is the location of the Noosa Enduro – a tough 100km race held every winter along these trails. After riding them, I now have a new appreciation for the hardened competitors that take on this rugged part of the world.

We started at the Sunshine Coast Hinterland town of Pomona and headed west through Tuchekoi National Park towards Cooran. The track took us around Mount Cooroora – a 438 metre high monolith at the centre of the national park.

Near Cooran the trail passes through privately owned farmland. This means there are a multitude of gates to open and shut. I think we counted at least 20 on our ride. But the trails through the farmland are pleasant, flowing, leaf-littered shady tracks – a joy to ride on a hot day.

From Cooran we headed north into Woondum National Park along Tablelands Road. We climbed over 400m in an hour along this road to our high-point in the National Park. It’s a slow climb through lush rainforest, but considering the steepness of the down-hill on the northern side of the park, this is the only way to ride it. There’s no way you could ride up from the north. Many thanks to Paul for giving me this advice before we left!

Although it took us an hour to climb 400m, it only took us seven minutes to descend the steep, narrow track through the rainforest on the northen end of Woondum National Park. I’m so glad I had full suspension on my bike – I travelled pretty quickly down some of those rocky sections and the shock absorbers were working overtime. After the descent we had a short break in the shade at Johnstons Lookout which overlooks some of the farmland to the north-west of the small hamlet of Kin Kin.

The Noosa Trail Network has a lot of hill climbs like this one along Simpsons Road, east of Kin Kin.

The tough climb up to Cootharaba View Lookout is worth it for the panoramic views. You can see for miles in almost any direction.

The picnic shelter at the Cootharaba Lookout is a welcome rest-stop after the preceding climb.

This ride was just over 60km, but it took us almost 8 hours including breaks. That should give you an idea of the slow-going and tough climbs. I had one puncture along the way because of some of the sharp rocks, but thankfully the “Stans No-Tubes” sealant in my tyres sealed up the hole quickly, so all I had to do was pump up the tyre again and keep going. If you’re going to try this course, don’t expect to average more than 10km/h, which means you’ll need plenty of water. You can re-fill at Cooran and Kin Kin. There are a lot of rocks in places, so make sure you’re prepared for punctures. And the steep climbs mean you’re going to need plenty of high-energy snacks.

I burned up about 4,300 kcal, and all-up we climbed a total of about 1,550 vertical metres. On the tough-o-metre this one scores 9 out of 10.

Over the last couple of months I’ve been planning a cross-country ride I could bring some friends on. Today, those plans came to fruition.

Like our previous group ride, the idea was to start at a railway station, ride as far as we could, then catch the train back home.

Today we started at Caboolture Railway Station. The only problem was that the railway station has two car parks. I was so busy saying “G’day” to everyone that I forgot to check if anyone had gone to the wrong car park. As Murphy’s Law would have it, after we were ten minutes into the ride I got a call from some worried riders wondering where we were. Luckily I was able to direct them to a meeting point a couple of km up the road, and all nineteen of us continued the ride together through the pine forests.


The first section of our ride passed through the Beerburrum East State Forest. This was mostly flat, but was often sandy and muddy. Riding through sand can tire you out pretty quickly, so by the time we started climbing a few hills, we started to feel it.

Luckily our route passed through several towns so there was plenty of opportunity to “fuel up” at local shops 🙂

The second section of our ride passed through the Glasshouse Mountains. They looked great today. Even though it was overcast, there was no rain, and the visibility was perfect.

There are some tough hills in the Glasshouse Mountains. This one was so steep it stopped a 4WD. We couldn’t ride it either, but at least we were able to push our bikes up the hill.

After the steep climb to the lookout, we all had a break and enjoyed the view before some more punishing descents and climbs near Mount Beerwah.


Yes – I had a crash. Porfiri Road is steep, and my seat got stuck in my bike pants, which kept my body (and head) too far forward. I came off, and scraped my face and knee along the rocks. Thankfully I didn’t suffer any major damage. “Thank you” to Andrew and Adam who were really helpful getting me patched back up. It’s much safter riding in a bunch!

As the day wore on, I became more aware of our deadline – we had to get to Mooloolah Railway Station by 3pm to catch the train. I pushed the pace in the third leg of the ride through the state forest at Beerwah. This made the going a bit too difficult for some of the riders who bailed at Landsborough Railway Station, allowing the rest of us to finish at Mooloolah.

And so although we started out with nineteen riders (increasing to twenty, when another rider joined us at Beerburrum), by the time we got to the train, there were only seven of us.

All up 78km in just over 5 hours with about 900m of vertical ascent, and about 4,300 kcal burned. I’d give this 9.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. The same hills which are easy on shorter rides become tougher on longer rides – especially when you have to push the pace to meet a deadline.

Despite the difficulty, riding with a great bunch of friends made it a fantastic experience.

Six of us left Beerburrum this morning for a ride up to Peachester through some of the many forest trails that meander through the Glasshouse Mountains.

We tried to keep to the dirt where possible, and to narrow tracks where they existsed. It involved some steep climbs, especially leading up to the lookout, and one or two gnarly descents down some rocky, muddy, technical downhills.

Although it was overcast and rained a bit, the cooler temps made the ride a lot more comfortable, and the dozens of muddy puddles we had to swerve around just added to the fun.

Thanks to all the guys who turned up for the ride. I needed some feedback about part of the route we’re taking next week on our XC ride to Mooloolah, and I received some excellent advice: The gnarly cliff-like drop-offs that lead down to Palmer Road are not for the inexperienced, so next week end we’ll ride down Old Peachester Road instead.

All up 45km with about 940m of vertical ascent, and 3200 kcal of energy. It was harder because of the mud, so tough-o-meter score for this ride is 8 out of 10. In the dry it would more likely be 7 out of 10. It’s well worth the ride.