A view of the lake while I was out riding some quiet tracks this afternoon.
Category: South East Qld
Riding with Dad
My ten year old son, Harrison, and I rode some of our favourite tracks this glorious Sunday morning.
We went out via some old stock routes and came back along the shoreline of one of the local lakes.
He kept up pretty well. I’m aware that sometime in the next ten years our roles will probably be reversed and I’ll be keeping up with him pretty well.
For now I’m content to show my boy some of the fantastic tracks around our area that you never see when you speed by in a car.
We have to slow down to enjoy beauty.
Spectators
I had the distinct feeling I was being watched by dozens of pairs of eyes as I cycled through the wetlands at Deepwater Bend this morning.
This beautiful reserve at the mouth of the Pine River has many hectares of swampy pastureland inhabited by a large number of kangaroos and wallabys.
It also has some picturesque fire-trails that are perfect for riding around early in the morning!
Photographing these guys while riding a bike is almost impossible. In fact at the first opportunity I found for a photo, I forgot to un-clip from my pedals, and fell off. I could almost hear the Kangaroo snickering (or maybe saying "Tut tut tut" as he bounded off.
In full flight they’re magnificent to watch – muscular, streamlined and effortless.
Lost in the Hills
I wanted to climb the Toowoomba range via single track and fire trails, so I found a quiet back road out the back of Withcott, followed it to the end, jumped a few gates, and ended up in the middle of nowhere.
After climbing a few monster hills that ended (sadly) in dead-ends, I finally found a fire break and followed it.
But what was supposed to be a 60 minute adventure ended up taking three hours.
I eventually found my way home, up a couple more amazingly steep hills, but (alas) I only managed to get one photo. Light was fading quickly in the late autumn afternoon, and I didn’t want to stop too long.
The total ascent was about 720m, total descent, about 380m.
The next day, Paul and I rode along some of the fire trails along the escarpment below Picnic Point. These are mostly steep rocky walking tracks, so attacking them with a mountain bike was a bit “adventurous”. Still not being totally comfortable with my clip-in pedals I fell off a few times, luckily with no damage. The view out to Tabletop Mountain is spectacular.
We also had a quick look out to the North towards Prince Henry Heights at some of the hills where I managed to get a bit lost the day before:
King of the Hill
I finally managed to cycle to the top of Old School Road – a very steep dirt road in Cashmere with gradients in excess of 27%.
This hill has beaten me a few times. At times I’ve fallen off trying to climb it, or just given up. But today I kept my head down, kept up a good rhythm, and powered to the top.
Although exhausted at the top, I still felt like doing a "Who da man" dance, punched the air, and let out a loud "Whoop!!!".
Samsonvale Sunset
Harrison and I took a quick ride by Lake Samsonvale this afternoon. As the sun was setting over the D’Aguilar Ranges, I was fortunate to get this quick picture. I’m so happy to be living in such a beautiful place and to be able to explore it with my son.
He’s doing pretty well on the hills too!
More Fun at Mount Glorious
We did an epic ride around Mt Glorious again today – this time with some amazing mountain bikers from MTBDirt.com.au.
This involved some tough climbs to Mount Glorious, and then a bone jarring steep downhill ride down the Lepidozamia Track. This track has to be seen to be believed with some incredibly steep sections, strewn with rocks, sticks and logs. It was doubly difficult for me this time as it was my first serious bash on dirt using my new clip-in pedals which still occasionally refuse to free my feet when I need them, which results in some humiliating “gumby stacks” where I come to a stop and just fall sideways for no apparent reason.
I was impressed with the skill of the other riders – powerful hill climbers and amazingly nimble over some of the more rocky sections. Despite this, they were patient with me, waiting for me when I dropped behind, and never complaining about it.
The view at the top was breathtaking.
Some of the spiders on this track are huge. Here’s one that hitched a ride part-way down:
Deepwater Bend
Deepwater bend is a quiet reserve at the mouth of the Pine River and forms part of the 380 hectare Tinchi Tamba wetlands.
It has some beautiful boardwalks and tracks among mangroves, she-oak swamps and grasslands, and best of all, it’s pretty close to where we live.
I decided to take a quite ride down there today on the bike, and was amazed at the cloud formations.