Category: Pine Rivers

I enjoyed last week’s solo ride down Taylors Break in D’Aguilar National Park, so I wanted to share it with a few friends. About 20 of us set off from Samford, following the Pony Trails to the bottom of Mount Nebo.

The ride consisted of two big 500m climbs. The first one was up the Goat Track, then along a fire trail to the Lookout at the Summit of Mount Nebo.

From the summit we followed Hammermeister Road to the top of Taylors Break. But before starting that steep descent, a few riders took a detour into town to get some more water (it was a hot humid day), while the rest of us lazed around in the shade catching out breath.

Taylors Break is a lot of fun to ride down. The narrow track flows beautifully as it goes down the mountain. Unfortunately, towards the bottom it gets steep and slippery. Darb took a jump into the air over one of the water bars. While he was in the air, a stick went through his front spokes. As he hit the ground his front wheel slid out from under him, and he ended up on the ground. It looked painful, but Darb’s made of tough stuff, and after a few minutes he was ok and ready to keep going.

Tim approaches one of the steep sections of the track. Once you go over the edge, it’s pretty much a controlled skid to the bottom. There’s no stopping – you just have to keep your front wheel straight and try to stay on the bike.

Andrew also had a crash on the way down, and suffered a nasty bruise on his thigh (that photo is censored). He decided to strip off and wash his injuries in the creek at the bottom of the descent. Unfortunately, while he had all his gear off, Becca came round the corner. Both of them got a nasty fright, and poor Andrew had to hastily get his gear back on.

There are lots of inviting, quiet creeks like this down the bottom end of D’Aguilar National Park.

Once we reached the bottom, there was no way to go but up. Cabbage Tree Range Road was the second major climb of the ride, also rising about 500m. It takes about an hour to climb, and by the time we got to the top we were all feeling pretty tired…

…except for Tim who (amazingly) rode the whole climb in middle ring. For those who don’t ride mountain bikes, it has three cogs on the front to make riding easier: A big ring for going fast on roads, a middle ring for moderate terrain that requires a bit of effort, and a small (“granny”) ring for steep hills and narrow winding technical sections. It takes a lot of strength to nail a long steep climb like this using the middle ring.

Tim had a long wait while the rest of us mere mortals completed the climb.


The best thing about the climb up Cabbage Tree Range Road is the water tower at the top. Most of us had a delightful soak under the tap to cool off.

Adam took some great photos as well which you can view here.
Andrew also took some great photos which you can view here.

The ride was 52km with about 1,500m of vertical ascent. I burned up about 3,600 kcal. Because of the heat and humidity I rate it 9.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter.

Thanks so much to everyone who came on the ride. It’s a lot of fun being able to do rides like this in a group. Everyone had to work really hard. Some people were totally exhausted by the end. I think everyone enjoyed themselves.

A few days ago I went to the MTBDirt.com website and asked if anyone would like to come on a ride today from Ferny Grove to Mount Nebo. This morning, 14 of us set off along the Lanita Road Rail Trail on our way to Mount Nebo.

Rather than just head straight for Mount Nebo, we explored some of the many pony trails that meander around Samford Valley. They’re a bit like a blend between fire trails and country lanes, with a few rocky pinch climbs, and even one or two horses. For small distances they’re really pleasant and a lot of fun. But at the end of a long ride, or over large distances they can be quite tiring, so the trick is to use them early in the ride, and to not over-do it.

In a large group of people, it’s always a possibility that something will break (like it did today) so we made sure that there were plenty of opportunities for everyone to stop, have a break, and make sure everything on the bike was running smoothly.

We also had to slow down for obstacles like creek crossings and deceptively deep mud puddles.

Climbing the Goat Track was a challenge for a large group. Everyone has different climbing ability, and some people had to work really hard to complete the climb. We had a rest at the top of the climb to let everyone recover. The most inspiring performances aren’t from people who break world records, but from those who persevere at the boundaries of their ability…. and don’t give up.

We stopped at Boombana’s Cafe at the top for a break and a bite to eat.

We then had a quick downhill run down the Goat Track. It’s much easier to go down that to climb up 🙂

After a quick roll along the bitumen, we headed back along another part of the Rail Trail which is now used as a cow paddock.

We rode about 50km with about 1,250m of vertical ascent.

I started from home in Lawnton, so all up I rode about 85km with 1,380m vertical ascent.

No tough-o-meter today. The ride was different for each person. Some found it more difficult than others. What impressed me was that everyone was patient, and we all rode together. It was a great day with some great people.