Queensland – Page 46

Aboriginal Australia, Cycling, Hiking, South East Qld, xc

Waka Waka Boulders

by NeilEnnis 23 September 2012 No Comments Shortlink

Last week’s ride around Maidenwell was so fascinating that Eric and I decided to go back today and do a bit more exploration.

In 1986, Archaeologist and Paleoanthropoligist, MJ Morwood wrote a paper entitled “The Archaeolofy of Art: Excavations at Maidenwell and Gatton Shelters, Southeast Queensland”, which describes the results of a research project into social and economic complexity in Aboriginal society. One focus of the project was a rock shelter near Maidenwell which was culturally important to the Waka Waka people, and included rock-art and stone tools.

Eric and I were hoping to find the rock shelter. But more importantly we wanted to experience first-hand this magical place of impossibly placed boulders, wedge-tailed eagles and monoliths carved into amazing shapes by the hands of time.

We started our ride at Maidenwell, and headed west out of town until we found an old dirt track heading into the bush. Bain’s Road is named after Ron Bain who was mustering cattle in the area in 1972 and accidentally encountered the rock shelter. We ditched the bikes part way along this “road” and decided to go for a bit of a wander in the scrub.

The thing that immediately struck us was the way many of the huge boulders were perched in such precarious positions. It looked like some dream-time super human had picked them up and scattered them like play-things.

As we scrambled over rocks and through the lantana, we encountered this amazing Wedge-tailed Eagle’s nest, containing a solitary chick. Mr and Mrs Eagle were aparently out hunting for small dogs and stray children. The nest was perched atop a tree, over ten metres above the ground. But most impressive was the way the eagles had added to the nest each year until it was over two metres in height. I’d never seen such a huge nest before.

While we were trying to find the rock shelter, we kept encountering weird formations that looked like celestial marbles, or an Aboriginal “Stonehenge”.

This one looked uncannily like full-scale replica of a whale.

As we bashed through thick lantana, and scrambled clumsily over rock-faces in our cycling shoes, the rocks formations got stranger and it became obvious why this place is so spiritually important to the Waka Waka.

This one was stunning. How the heck do you end up with 4 boulders, each probably weighing ten tonnes, to sit on top of each other like that. Eric, the geologist, tells me it’s a result of millennia of weathering. My gut feelings suggested more supernatural origins.

Eventually the heat and lantana scratches got a bit much, so we sat in the cool shade of an overhanging boulder and had a short break and a snack.

Although the rock shelter eluded us, we both felt like we had an awe-inspiring experience wandering among these granite monoliths.

The loop we did on the bikes out of Maidenwell was only about 12km. The ride down Bain’s Road and Brooklands Peron Road is a lot of fun on a mountain bike and relatively easy. Some of the other tracks that we visited in the area are on private property, and should not be accessed without permission.

Total distance: 60.81 km
Total climbing: 620 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 05:54:26

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Aboriginal Australia, Cycling, History, South East Qld, xc

Maidenwell

by NeilEnnis 16 September 2012 4 Comments Shortlink

Maidenwell is a small town in South-East Queensland’s South Burnett district. It’s a two and a half hour journey by car north-west of Brisbane. The town is a gateway to the nearby Bunya Mountains, but is also known for its large privately owned astronomical observatory, and the spectacular Coomba Falls.

My friend, Eric, is planning a social ride in this area in a couple weeks, so I jumped at the chance to ride through it with him today and help him work out the best route.

We started at Yarraman, a beautiful timber town on the D’Aguilar highway. Yarraman is surrounded by Hoop Pine plantation forests. Plantations can sometimes be monotonous places, but not here. Majestic Hoop Pines (Araucaria Cunninghamii) are native to South East Queensland. Even when planted in regimental rows, they are still beautiful serene giants. They don’t cause a toxic monoculture like introduced plantation pines (Pinus Radiata and Pinus Elliotti). So you’re more likely to find healthy and diverse ecosystems in Hoop Pine forests – even plantation forests.

We followed a few forestry trails westward from Yarraman. The roads undulate for about ten or fifteen kilometers, slowly rising to a peak of about 660 metres above sea level. This provides some moderate climbs, with a few enjoyable fast descents down the smooth clay roads, as well as some great views.

As we progressed further, we were able to see the Bunya Mountains to the west.

After working hard to get up some of those hills, I was glad to arrive in Maidenwell around lunch time, and devoured a delicious steak sandwich. It’s a beautiful small country town with a pub, general store / cafe and small war memorial.

It’s also a very friendly place. Jean and Neil Johnston live on a farm nearby. Jean very kindly let Eric and I ride through some of the trails on her farm.

They haven’t had rain in this area for a few months, so the ground is starting to look a bit dusty. Jean says she loves this old Iron Bark tree. They grow very slowly, and this specimen is huge, so Jean thinks it’s at least several centuries old.

The Johnston’s property is home to some spectacular rocky outcrops. Jean told me this whole area is very important to the Wakka Wakka aboriginal people. There are a couple of Bora Rings nearby, and even some ancient rock art. Jean’s neighbor, Max Forsyth has visited the rock art and tells me one of the paintings is of a whale. This is amazing because the ocean is 200km away. Max says he thinks the paintings were done by Aborigines visting from the Hervey Bay area.

Once we left the Johnston property, Eric and I followed a stock route to Coomba falls…

Coomba Falls is a very special place for a number of reasons.

The falls have created deep permanent water holes which serve as refuge from drought for the local plant an animal life.

A unique hybrid variety of the Grass-Tree (Xanthorrhea) grows here. It’s not found anywhere else.

More importantly, these water holes were an important part of the life of the local Wakka Wakka people before European settlement. During extened dry periods with no or little rainfall, they could always rely on the Coomba waterholes to provide fresh water.

Tragically, the falls were the site of a massacre in the 19th century.

European settlers killed hundreds of aborigines here, including women and children. Some reports say that the bodies were thrown into the water hole, and that there are human remains at the bottom of the deep pools.

As a result, local aboriginal people never go here any more. Ironically this place of beauty and refuge is now a place of deep sorrow for them.

From Coomba Falls, Eric and I continued our trek along an old overgrown stock route. We had to scramble over a few fallen trees before eventually making our way back onto the forestry roads.

We took a few different roads through the forest back to Yarraman. In some places, with towering Hoop Pines either side of us, I felt like I was in a natural cathedral.

Eventually the forest opened up as we entered some areas where the timber had been harvested recently. It takes about sixty years to grow a Hoop Pine plantation forest. The area looks bleak after harvesting. It’s sad, but on the positive side, it seems to be reasonably sustainable. The trees are native to the area, and for most of those sixty years we get to enjoy (and ride through) a beautiful forest. I think I can live with that.

We rode 63km in just over 6 hours including breaks. All up we climbed about 1,200m and I burned about 4,000 kcal (about 7 Big Macs).

I’d rate this one 7.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Take plenty of water and snacks. It’s a long time out in the sun, so make sure you re-apply sunscreen a couple of times during the day.

Total distance: 63.47 km
Total climbing: 1284 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 06:11:05

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Cycling, Geocaching, Hiking, Pine Rivers, xc

Bath Time

by NeilEnnis 13 September 2012 6 Comments Shortlink

It’s taken two years and a couple of attempts but today Aaron and I finally made it to Dianas Bath.

Dianas Bath is a spectacular rock pool in the northern section of D’Aguilar National Park, fed by Byron Creek. It’s very difficult to get to – even if you have a 4WD (which I don’t), and it’s surrounded by steep hills, thick scrub and large boulders.

Todays ride started at the bottom of Wirth Road at Laceys Creek.

We slowly ground our way 6km to the top of the hill, then meandered through the forest until we reached Jacky Creek Road. This is a steep descent which switches back and forth down the mountain and devolves into some really fun steep single track towards the bottom.

Jacky Creek is a quiet pretty stream, but it flows in all weather, so it’s a bit of a challenge to cross. We managed to get to the other side and stay dry, which was quite an achievement.

From there we followed Dianas Bath Road to the end. This is a steep climb followed by a steep descent. In the past I found it so steep I had to push the bike in some parts. Today I just kept my head down and kept pushing the pedals around, and made it to the top. I was really pleased to tick this hill off the list. I must give credit to my riding buddy, Aaron, who spurred me on.

Eventually we had to leave the bikes behind and rock-hop along Byron Creek. This is tough because cycling shoes aren’t designed for walking in. Mine have carbon-fibre soles which hard hard and slippery. Walking on rocks in shoes like this is really difficult. In addition, the track was overgrown, we had to scramble over a few fallen trees, and the banks either side of the creek are steep and strewn with boulders. Oh, and did I mention the thorny “wait-a-while” vines that wrapped around our limbs?

After about half an hour of scrambling along the creek, we finally reached Dianas Bath. I was delighted. It was prettier (and bigger) than I imagined. My only regret was not bringing some swimmers. This place would be a lot of fun to swim in.

Aaron took his shoes off and waded in the water while I kept scrambling around on the edge of the pool looking for a Geo Cache.

My friend, Paul, created the Dianas Bath Geocache a few years ago. A Geocache is a small container containing trinkets and a log book. There are millions of them hidden all over the place. You can find out more here. I was delighted to finally log this cache after two years.

From there we headed back towards Mount Brisbane Road for the ride back to the cars, dodging lots of friendly goannas along the way.

Today we rode 52km in about five and half hours (including stops). We climbed about 1,750m of vertical ascent. I burned about 5,200kcal.

The ride included many slopes in excess of 25%, and some gradients in excess of 30%. This means you need to be fit enough to ride up the hills (or push your bike up), and confident enough to ride down them. Some of those slopes are slippery with dust or gravel.

I’m rating this one 9 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Take lots of water and plenty of snacks. Don’t do it in wet weather. Watch out for 4WD’s.

Thanks Aaron for a fun ride 🙂

Note: Dianas Bath is on private property. The owner currently allows walk-in access only. Please treat it with respect, clean up any mess you make, take all litter with you, and be courteous towards anyone else who is using the waterhole.

Total distance: 53.84 km
Total climbing: 1843 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 05:29:19

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Cycling, Friends, History, South East Qld, xc

Mount Glorious

by NeilEnnis 9 September 2012 3 Comments Shortlink

My friend David told me he and a few mates were interested in exploring D’Aguilar National Park. So I jumped at the opportunity to organize a social ride along some of my favourite tracks there today.

As with most expeditions in D’Aguilar NP, this one started with a short climb up the Goat Track which affords great views out to Moreton Bay, but you’ve got to work for it as you climb 400m in just over 3km.

Rather than follow the bitumen at the top, we elected to ride up Hammermeister Road – a steep dirt road to the west of Mount Nebo. The road is named after Lou Hammermeister who started working in the timber industry at Mount Nebo during the Second World War and continued there for almost twenty years.

According to the Mt Nebo local newspaper “Mountain News“, Lou lived at Mount Nebo for over 60 years. He blazed any of the roads and fire trails in the area using his dozer. He also used his dozer to help build an Oval and Tennis Court at the Mt Nebo School. Lou started as a timber cutter, moving to Main Roads when logging at Nebo ceased in the 1960’s. As someone who regularly rides at Mount Nebo (including Hammermeister Road), I am grateful for Lou’s legacy.

A lot of my friends enjoyed Lou’s legacy today too 🙂

From there it’s a short jump to Dundas Road behind the transfer station at Mount Nebo. This is where the long descent to England Creek begins. A few of the riders, including Jeff (pictured) took the opportunity to drop some of the pressure in their tyres to get a bit more grip on the dusty track surface. It was then I realized Jeff was riding a hybrid bike. It had a 29 inch front wheel and a 26 inch rear wheel. Bikes with 29 inch wheels are affectionately called “Twenty niners”. But when you’ve got “one of each” on your bike, the collogual term for the bike is a “Sixty-niner”. Jeff’s bike is even stranger. The front fork only has one staunchion on the left-hand side. So this is the only “Lefty Sixty-niner” that I’ve ever seen.

From Dundas Road we rode into Goodes Road and enjoyed the quick drop down the mountain. It’s difficult to enjoy the spectacular views while riding so fast, but I think we managed. One of the “surprises” on Goodes Road is a gate across a steep section of road half-way down, which can sometimes cause riders to skid as they grab the brakes to avoid hitting the gate.

Unfortunately, Jeff got a puncture during the descent. This was when I discovered another surprise about “lefty” forks. You don’t need to remove the front wheel to change the inner tube. Since there’s only one staunchion, you can remove the tube while the wheel is attached. Amazing stuff.

After fixing the puncture, we enjoyed the final sketchy descent down to England Creek and splashed through the creek crossing before having a break.

It’s worthwhile having a break at England Creek because it takes about 90 minutes to ride from there up to the top of the hill on Joyners Ridge Road. It’s not steep (as mountain bike hills go) but it is still a long climb.

The highlight of riding up Joyners Ridge Road is reaching the Rainforest at the top. It’s a lush, cool, green reminder that the climb is over. I think we all heaved a sigh of relief once we reached the top.

All up, this ride was about 35km with about 1,300m of vertical ascent. It took us 5 hours including breaks and repairs (we had a long lunch at the Mt Glorious Cafe), and I burned about 3,000kcal. Wtih todays perfect cool spring weather, I rate this one 7.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Add an extra point in summer or wet weather.

Total distance: 36.03 km
Total climbing: 1338 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 05:01:22

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Cycling, Moreton Bay, Redcliffe

Redcliffe

by NeilEnnis 8 September 2012 2 Comments Shortlink

Harrison and I went for a long slow ride by the water at Redcliffe this morning. The weather was perfect for it, and when your 12 year old son expresses interest in going for a ride with you, it’s important to do something about it 🙂

We rode to Scarborough via North-Lakes and stopped for a bit of a break to enjoy the view of the Glasshouse Mountains across Deception Bay. The weather has been perfect for over a month, so we were able to see a long way in the clear air.

At Scarborough we bumped into an old bloke named George. He’s 93 years old and tells me the secret of living a long life is “good tucker” and going for a walk every day. George grew up in Parkdale (south of Melbourne) and says he remembers as a kid in the 1920’s how deliveries were brought to his house by a cart pulled by Clydesdale horses.

Harrison and I had breakfast at “Sangers on the Beach” right across from the water at Scarborough. The food was delicious, the service was quick and the waiters were friendly. What more could two hungry cyclists ask for?

The cycleway at Redcliffe follows the beach for over 10km, so there are plenty of nice views over the water.

Finally, we stopped for one more quick break at Woody Point on the headland to cool off in the shade and check out the sail boats on the bay.

We rode 57km in about 4 hours. The pace was slow to allow Harrison to enjoy the ride. You need to watch out for the traffic on Anzac Avenue, but apart from that it’s a pretty sedate ride which rates about 5.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

Total distance: 57.14 km
Total climbing: 396 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 04:36:16

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Aboriginal Australia, Cycling, History, South East Qld, xc

Adare

by NeilEnnis 1 September 2012 1 Comment Shortlink

Adare Homestead is a specatuclar rural property which has been owned by the Pinnell family for three generations, and is several kilometres north of Gatton in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley.

The traditional owners of this area are the Kitabul Aboriginal people.

European Explorer, Allan Cunningham first encountered the Kitabul people in 1829 while on an expedition from Ipswich to survey the area. Apparently he was impressed with the strength, and intimidating physical condition of the Kitabul.

A squatter by the name of J.P.Robinson was the first European settler to move to the area, taking up a license for 150,000 acres on what was then called “Laidley’s Plain”.

The Adare Homestead was first established towards the end of the nineteenth century. The grand home was moved there from its original location near lake Clarendon. The original home included seven marble fireplaces and was situated near to the old Cobb and Co route from Ipswich to Toowoomba. In fact you can still see the circular driveway which was built to allow the horse drawn carriages to turn around outside the homestead.

These days, Adare Homestead is better known for Mountainbike Racing. John Pinnell and the folks from The Riders Club at Adare have lovingly built almost 7km of single track around the property which is a pleasure (and a challenge) to ride on.

John very kindly gave his permission for Tony and I to ride there today as part of our larger loop through Lockyer State Forest. I’ve ridden in Lockyer State Forest before, and loved it. So today I wanted to show a friend why I think it’s such a special place.

The trail through the forest up to the summit is a lot of fun with nine creek crossings (you WILL get your feet weet so bring a spare pair of socks), and a tough 5km climb which rises from about 200m above sea level to over 500m above sea level.

The blue skies and clear spring air today meant that we could enjoy some breathtaking views at the top. I think Tony and I both were a bit intimidated by the steep drop-off from this point to the valley below.

At the top of the climb, we had two choices: take the gentle 4wd trail down, or take a steep gnarly “short cut” down. We pondered over our decision for about a millisecond before deciding that “steep and gnarly” beats “gentle” every time.

It’s exhillarating to ride down steep trails. Wallers Road was very rutted in parts, so it was important to chose the right line to make sure we didn’t end up at the bottom of a ditch.

It’s a 9km descent down Wallers Road. The final descent starts out steep and rocky…

It gets steeper and rockier…

…before finally turning into something resembling a fun-park joy ride. Weeeeeee……… 🙂

The sign at the bottom said it all for me. It may look like a warning sign, but it’s actually advertising a fun trail for daredevil mountain bikers.

All up this ride was 38km long. We climbed about 900m and I burned about 2,500 kcal over two and a half hours.

With todays perfect cool weather, I’m rating this one 7 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. Stronger riders will be able to ride it all. If you’re unsure, you should walk the steeper descents.

Just a reminder: Adare Homestead is private property. That means you can’t go there unless you first contact the owners and get their permission. John Pinnell can be contacted on 0424 057 578.

Total distance: 37.54 km
Total climbing: 997 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 03:09:46

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Cycling, Friends, History, South East Qld, xc

Woodford Adventure

by NeilEnnis 26 August 2012 9 Comments Shortlink

I was stunned when 32 people turned up for our group Mountain Biking ride from Beerburrum, through the forests of the Glasshouse Mountains, to Woodford and back. This is the largest social ride that I’ve been a part of, and I was amazed how smoothly it went, despite several crashes and a few equipment failures.

This ride was a combined effort between the online Mountain Biking community at MTBDirt.com.au and the Bushrangers Mountain Biking Club from the Sunshine Coast. Because there were so many people on the ride, I took a lot of photos, and have included a lot of thumbnails in this post to make it easier for anyone who was on the ride to take copies of any photos they want.

We started from Matthew Flinders Rest Area at Beerburrum. This is the site where, in 1799, the English explorer Matthew Flinders camped for the night before climbing Mount Beerburrum. He had originally planned to climb the taller (and steeper) Mount Tibrogargan, but found the sheer cliffs on the eastern face too intimidating, so opted for the easier scramble up Mount Beerburrum instead. Every year in July the local school celebrates the event with a commemorative climb up the hill to re-enact Flinders’ efforts.

But we engaged in a dfifferent sort of “Mountain Climbing” on our ride. The track behind the Glasshouse Mountains lookout is particularly steep. Everyone attempted to ride up it, but everyone (except one) couldn’t quite make it over one nasty little hump. Matthew Flinders would have been proud 🙂

After a final steep grind, we eventually made it to the lookout where we enjoyed the panorama and a quick rest.

One of the best things about going UP a hill is the being able to go DOWN it afterwards. We had a ball riding the Hennessey Hill downhill track. It’s a purpose-built track for riding downhill really quickly. There are enough jumps, banked corners and rock gardens to keep even the gnarliest downhiller happy. More importantly, each challenging section has a “B-Line” to allow less skilled riders to go around the features that they don’t want to ride.

There’s a maze-like network of tracks in this part of the forest. We decided to try out some single-tracks instead of following the dirt roads. This meant everyone had to ride single-file, which caused a bit of a traffic-jam whenever we encountered obstacle like fallen trees.

After the fun of Hennessey Hill, we thought we’d do it all over again with another hill… A little bit of hard work to get to the top, then another exhillarating flight down a steep and bumpy track while trying to avoid the deep ruts.

When given a choice between dirt roads and single-tracks, most mountain bikers will chose single-tracks. The quiet trails make it easier to enjoy the surroundings without having to worry about Four-Wheel-Drives and motor bikes whizzing past. So where possible, our route kept to the quieter tracks through the forest.

We were all glad to arrive at Woodford for a rest and a bite to eat. Because there were so many of us, we split up and ate at different cafes to keep the queues short. Eric gave us a demonstration of hard-core relaxation 🙂

What cross-country adventure would be complete without a swamp?

The north-east track out of Woodford took us through some beautiful secluded woodland. Unfortunately, parts of the track were quite muddy, and we had to tip-toe around the edges to avoid getting wet.

At one point, we had to cart the bikes over a huge fallen log followed by a barbed wire fence. I’m really grafetul to Eric who helped keep people moving in the right direction. One of the things I love about mountain biking in a group is how everyone works together and helps each other out.

At the top of “Trig Hill” we encountered another white-knuckle descent which I like to call “The Giant Drop”. It’s steep, sandy, dusty and bumpy.

As I wached Neil (“Bangers”) ride down it, I was reminded of Banjo Patterson’s description of another rider on another hill in “The Man From Snowy River”:

But the man from Snowy River let the pony have his head,
And he swung his stockwhip round and gave a cheer,
And he raced him down the mountain like a torrent down its bed,
While the others stood and watched in very fear.

Unfortunately, Neil was more “Bangers” than “Man from Snowy River” and had a bit of a crash on the way down. Nevertheless, “It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride.” 🙂

Thankfully, everyone made it down the hill in one piece – some walked, some rode (amazingly well).

I’m definitely going back to Trig Hill and “The Giant Drop” again 🙂

From there we made our way to the picnic area below the northern face of Mount Beerwah. The largest of the Glasshouse Mountains loomed over us for most of this part of the trip.

Everyone got to the end of the ride safely – tired but happy.

One or two people had a crash. I tried my first aid skills on Terry. Unfortunately I couldn’t unroll the “Micropore” tape so resorted to taping him up with duct tape. Ah the myriad uses of duct tape – one of the reasons I always carry a roll in my pack.

Geoff broke the hanger on his bike. That’s the thing that connects the gear-changing mechanism to the frame of the bike. When it breaks, the chain can no longer go round, and you can’t change gears. Normally the solution is to break the chain, shorten it, remove the hanger, and complete the ride with no gears (not much fun). David showed us an ingenious bit of kit he brings on his rides – a temporary hanger you can screw into the skewer on your back wheel. The end result is gears that still work, and an enjoyable ride home.

Thanks to everyone who came on the ride today. I loved being able to share this adventure with so many great people.

63km, 3,500kcal, 1,200m of ascent, six and a half hours of riding including breaks. 32 people started this ride, 32 people finished. If you’re looking for a fun adventure, grab a few friends and give this one a try!

Total distance: 64.02 km
Total climbing: 1202 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 06:25:24

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Cycling, South East Qld, xc

What Goes Up…

by NeilEnnis 18 August 2012 No Comments Shortlink

Next week about a dozen of us are taking part in a group ride through the Glasshouse Mountains between Beerburrum and Woodford. I’ve been exploring this area recently, so Eric, Tony and I spent today checking the tracks in advance out to make sure everything goes as planned.

Not far from our starting point at Beerburrum we encountered our first little climb of the day up a rough and rutted track on the steep hills behind the lookout. It’s a challenging ride, but Eric and Tony made it look easy. None of us made it all the way to the top without pushing, but I hope at least one person next week can show us how it’s done 🙂

It’s not far from the Lookout to the Hennessey Hill downhill mountainbiking track. This purpose-built black-diamond track has everything for white-knuckle downhill riding – jumps, berms, rock gardens. True to form – I took it pretty slowly. I’m not really a downhill daredevil, but I do occasionally ride with some daredevils, so I’ll include a few action shots in next week’s update. Stay tuned!

The ride out to Woodford took us just over a couple of hours. After refuelling at one of the excellent cafe’s there, we made our way back into the western part of the state forest.

It’s not really an official “Lookout” but from this high vantage point west of Mount Beerwah, you can see for miles.

It’s also a long way down. In this photo, Tony is standing at the top of what felt like a sheer drop back down into the forest. We decided we’d give it a try, and survived.

The track eventually spat us out at the bottom of the hill, with smiles on our faces. When everything goes well, gravity is a wonderful thing.

We rode back under the northern face of Mount Beerwah, and stopped for a few minutes to admire “The Organ Pipes” – a spectacular rock formation near the summit of the mountain.

The final descent for the day was down the Collies Road track. It’s a bit like a roller-coaster with plenty of water bars to launch from.

We rode 63km in five and a half hours including breaks. We climbed 1,100m of vertical ascent. I burned about 3,500 kcal. With the perfect weather we had today, this ride rates 7 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. You’ll have to walk one or two bits if you’re mortal, but you’ll come home happy!

Total distance: 63.55 km
Total climbing: 1262 m
Average temperature: NAN
Total time: 05:39:19

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Musings