One of my favourite mountain bike challenges is climbing some hills in Clear Mountain State Forest.
It’s a beautiful spot with a few creeks winding through it, tinkling Bellbird calls, and lots of different Eucalypts. But the hills are steep, and often muddy. It’s a test of strength and technical ability to climb them, which is why I keep coming back. There’s always another hill to try and beat.
This afternoon I took Liz’s camera, put it on the ground at strategic spots, and filmed myself riding by. But this time I passed some women hiking through the forest. I didn’t want them to think I was doing anything creepy with the camera in the forest, so I explained what I was trying to do. They kindly offered to help me film the hill climbs, and this video is the result.
I didn’t realize till I got home that while my back was turned they added some funny extra footage of their own.
Thank you, strange ladies of the forest. It was fun having spectators watch me have a go at these hills – even if I did conk out on the last hill!
Total distance: 32.34 km Total climbing: 579 m Average temperature: Total time: 02:43:49
Last year I tried to ride to Dianas Bath. Today I thought I’d give it another go.
Diana’s Bath is a beautiful rock pool on Byron Creek in the D’Aguilar Ranges. It’s secluded, hard to get to, and picturesque. You can drive there in a 2wd car from the west via Esk. You can get there via 4wd and a bit of a hike over the mountains from the East. So I thought I’d (again) try to get there from the east via Dayboro.
I drove to the foot of the mountains, and rode from there, rather that riding from home – saving me about 60km. The ride starts with a 200m ascent in less than 2km. It’s a tough climb but if you sit back and work hard, it’s do-able. The views at the top of the hill are worth the climb:
Then there’s some fun downhill, and bouncing along the creek beds. Byron Creek is really pretty. The water actually looks a light cloudy blue colour. I don’t know whether it’s sediment, or something in the water, but it’s amazing to see. The banks of the creek are fringed with palm trees and rainforest vegetation, and there’s a continuous sound of Bellbirds and Whipbirds ringing in the air.
Eventually you have to do another 200m ascent, but this time it’s in about 1.5km along Diana’s Bath Road. I think they should rename this road “Heart Break Hill” because you need to be totally committed to be able to ride to the top.
When I got to the top, I saw a sign which said “A Break” – so I thought – why not? š
I followed the road as far as I could and eventually it disappeared into lantana and weeds. So I decided to play it safe and turn around. I wasn’t going to get to Diana’s Bath today.
It was only when I got home and checked out the track log that I realized I had gotten to within 100 metres of Diana’s Bath, but didn’t realize it at the time. So I think it’ll be a case of “Third Time Lucky”. Perhaps I’ll take a long-suffering friend with me next time for my final assault on this elusive part of the world!
All up, about 1,000m of ascent in 25km, and about 3,000cal. Very hard work. Some of the ride was flat, but when you consider that I came and went on the same track, and if you subtract a few km for the flat bits, that works out to 10km of 10% climbs, 10km of 10% downhills, and 5km of bumpy creek beds.
Total distance: 25.98 km Total climbing: 1010 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 03:51:01
If you want to be happy, it helps to know what you want.
A few days ago I thought to myself that I’d really like to explore some new trails by Lake Samsonvale, and today I did just that! And now I’m pretty happy š
This time of year in Southeast Queensland is beautiful. The westerly winds clear the skies to a deep blue, and the temperature drops. Perfect weather for exploring this part of the world.
There are some beautiful trails by the shoreline of the lake – and many of them barely see a human once per week.
This is the remnants of Gordon’s Crossing Road looking towards the north west. Today, Gordon’s Crossing Road West stops near the shore of the lake. But 50 years ago it continued pretty much in a north-westerly direction, across the North Pine River to where this photo was taken.
Today the only company I had on the bike was an elusive fox whom I managed to quickly photograph before she slunk away into the lantana.
A view of Mount Samson from the shore of Lake Samsonvale at Harrisons Pocket.
A view of Clear Mountain from the other side of Lake Samsonvale. Most of the time my experience of Clear Mountain is straining on the pedals trying to get up the steep hills, so it was a pleasant change to see it from this angle.
So – I’m happy because a few days ago I took a few minutes to make a mental note of something I’d like to try. And today I took a couple of hours to give it a go. I honestly don’t want to win the lottery – I’d just like a few more afternoons like this. And unlike the lottery, I think I’m almost certain to get this wish!
Total distance: 28.86 km Total climbing: 465 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 02:14:54
A couple of bright plants caught my eye while I was riding by the lake this morning, so I thought I’d share them here.
There are many striking yellow banksia growing along the shoreline of Lake Samsonvale. There are so many variations of this plant that I can’t accurately name this species, but if I had to guess I’d say a Coastal Banksia (Banksia Cuninghamii), named after the prolific Alan Cunningham – an impressive botanist and explorer of this area in the early 19th century.
If you want to be pedantic, this fungus isn’t a plant, and I really shouldn’t be including it in an article entitled “Samsonvale Flora” because it’s not Flora. Fungus is in a separate kingdom from plants and animals. If you’re interested, you might like to read this article. But they’re bright, and they grow on trees all over the place round here. I wouldn’t have a clue what species it is.
Today’s ride was pretty short, but I was delighted to see Powerlink has repaired some storm-damaged fire trails, and I was able to smash a couple of challenging hills during the ride.
Total distance: 25.68 km Total climbing: 389 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 01:54:27
Riding BuddiesI’ve been thinking about this ride for weeks. Basically I wanted an enjoyable dirt ride which would let me get from Mount Glorious, up in the D’Aguilar Ranges down to Dayboro, and back home. A friend of mine (Russel) suggested a route, so I fed it into the GPS, talked Simon into coming with me, and set out on another hare-brained adventure.
The first part of our trip was from home to Samford, up the Goat Track, then to Mount Glorious, and Wivenhoe Outlook. That first stage was just over 50km.
The view from Westridge Outlook on the first part of the ride.
Then we hit the dirt and headed down the hill towards Lacey’s Creek and Dayboro. The track undulates for 5 or 6 km and has some amazing views..
Then the track suddenly drops 500m in elevation over 5km. That’s the exciting bit š The only problem was that by the time I’d got to the bottom, my brakes were so hot they were smoking.
Simon demonstrates the number one rule about climbing hills. It doesn’t matter how steep or tough they are – don’t give up!
I’d really like to do this again sometime. All up we rode 102km. Total ascent for the ride was 2,100m, and I burned 6,300kcal which is the equivalent of 13 Big Macs.
Total distance: 104.3 km Total climbing: 2253 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 09:50:56
I thought I’d explore some quiet roads out the back of Dayboro this afternoon. It was a good excuse to get a few miles on the bike before I go for a huge ride with Simon tomorrow (weather permitting).
Rush Creek is one of those districts that figured large in the history of the Pine Rivers area. It was logged in the mid 19th century. William Henry Day (after whom Dayboro is named) planted one of the first sugar cane farms in South East Queensland using Kanak labour.
Today, much of what was the Rush Creek district has been flooded by the North Pine Dam…
Rush Creek Road was closed off in the 1970’s when the North Pine Dam was built, and local farmland was flooded.
It used to be the main road between Petrie and Dayboro, and crossed Rush Creek at Whiteside / Quinns Crossing. That crossing disappeared under the man-made lake 40 years ago, and the road hasn’t been used since.
It’s funny how you can still make out the double white line down the middle, under all the grass which is slowly reclaiming the land.
One of the other unusual roads in the area is Raen Road…
I followed a dirt road over a cattle grid. It eventually turned into a vehicle track, and before I knew it I was in front of an old farm house.
Will, the farmer, was really friendly and explained that the road reserve ran through his property and disappeared in the grass after a few hundred meters. He very kindly let me ride around and take some photos. I really liked these old Hoop (A.Cunninghamii) and Bunya (A. Bidwilli) pines along the banks of the upper reaches Rush Creek.
The final road I explored was Strongs Road. The sign says it’s a “No Through Road” but it actually turns into a muddy vehicle track, and eventually comes out on Mount Samson Road – a much nicer ride than battling 100km/h traffic on Dayboro Road!
Wild bees have built a hive in the trunk of an old Eucalypt along Strong Road at Dayboro.
All up, 55km, 2,500kcal (= 6 Big Macs), and 800m of ascent.
A fantastic way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
Total distance: 55.94 km Total climbing: 854 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 03:59:43
Our kids had a visit from a couple of their friends this morning.
Rather than let them sit around playing computer games, we bundled them into the van and took them on a couple of hikes. (After checking that it was ok to kidnap a couple of extra kids. Thanks Renea!)
The first hike was around Camp Mountain – a beautiful forest to the south of Samford. I’ve done this on the mountain bike before, and really wanted to show everyone how picturesque it is.
It’s a big road for a small person. Lilly kept going all day. (Picture by Liz)
It’s a good climb to the Summit of Camp Mountain, with great views of the city.
Some of the wildlife at the top (Picture by Liz)
The second hike was up the Goat Track – a washed out dirt road west of Samford. I love this road because of the views and the fascinating Rock Art that has sprung up along the way.
I’ve been observing the rock structures over the last couple of months and they’re getting quite realistic!
The view from The Goat Track looking east past the Water Tower at Albany Creek, with Moreton Bay in the background.
All up we hiked 8.8km with a total ascent of 520m. I was really impressed with how well the kids coped with it – no complaints and everyone kept up a great pace (average of about 4.5km/h).
Well done team!
Total distance: 5.99 km Total climbing: 397 m Average temperature: NAN Total time: 01:42:20
