Category: South East Qld

Cycling, South East Qld

Ewen Maddock Dam

by NeilEnnis 17 April 2010 1 Comment Shortlink

A Giant's View of the DamNeil's new bikeDown the trail
Today we did a short loop around Ewen Maddock Dam on the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane.

It was the first chance I had to give my new Giant XTC 29er a try out on the trail, and it (she?) passed with flying colours! The 29er has larger tyres than the usual 26 inch ones found on a mountain bike. This gives a smoother ride, less rolling resistance and more fun.

We rode through quite a bit of mud and sand in the rainy weather, and the bikes held up really well.

Ewen Maddock Dam is a beautiful reserve bounded by ferns, tee-tree swamps, eucalyptus and sub-tropical forest. The tracks are well developed, clearly marked, and low gradient – so anyone could walk them, ride a bike, or a horse.

For the last bit of the ride we got onto the bitumen and burned up the Steve Irwin Way. On the flat my speed maxed at about 50km and Simon went even faster – he’s been working out and was keen to see whether it made a difference (it does, Simon!).

Cycling, Pine Rivers

King Adrian

by NeilEnnis 14 April 2010 No Comments Shortlink

Meet Adrian

He turned 12 a couple of weeks ago, and today he rode past me on my attempt to climb Old School Road.

I conked out with about 50 metres to go where the gradient was about 26%. But Adrian kept going, and made it to the top on his Giant Alias Mountain Bike.

I watched in awe and cheered him on. Then when he made it I shook his hand, asked if I could take his photo, and (if I would have though of it) would have asked for his autograph.

Imagine what this kid could do in 10 years time?

Good on ya, Adrian, the new king of Old School Road.

Cycling, Pine Rivers

Cashmere State Forest

by NeilEnnis 11 April 2010 No Comments Shortlink

Cashmere State ForestCashmere State ForestCashmere State Forest
Thanks Glen, Steve and Harrison for a great ride around Cashmere State Forest this morning. Everyone put in a great effort.

Q. “What do you call the bottom of a hill with 35% gradient”

A. “A hole”.

Some of those hills were pretty steep. The camera seems to flatten them out – they’re much more acute than they look in the picture.

Cycling, Pine Rivers

Old School Road – Again

by NeilEnnis 10 April 2010 1 Comment Shortlink

Foiled Again!
I had another try at climbing Old School Road today. I did better than last time, but still haven’t beat the hill. My poor bike is a geared a bit too high, but I hope I’ll eventually conquer it if I don’t surrender!

From there it was a brisk ride down the other side of the mountain maxing out at 70km/h, and another beautiful ride along Bunya Road to the single tracks in Bunyaville State Forest.
Samford Valley
I’ve lived in South East Queensland for over 45 years, and I think I’ve taken it for granted for most of my life. This place is paradise. I love it.

Cycling, Pine Rivers

Old School Road -vs- Neil

by NeilEnnis 8 April 2010 No Comments Shortlink

Clear Mountain is about a 15km ride from my front door. All of the roads up it are pretty steep, but today I thought I’d try giving one of the more difficult dirt roads a try. It was pretty good going most of the way until I was about 100m from the top. Then the gradient increased quite markedly. I was determined not to give up, and kept pushing, but the wheels stopped turning. As you can see from the video, when your wheels stop turning, you end up kissing dirt 🙂

I’ll be trying this one regularly over the next few weeks until I beat it.

My mate Steve has ridden up it a few times. And there’s no way I’m going to let him own that hill by himself!

Cycling, Family, Redcliffe

Redcliffe Easter Ride

by NeilEnnis 5 April 2010 No Comments Shortlink

Ken and I rode out to Redcliffe to meet everyone else for a picnic. It was a perfect day for it.

For someone who hasn’t ridden more than 10-15km at a time, Ken handled this 60km ride really well.

I think all the nice food at the picnic might have helped too!
Redcliffe Easter RideRedcliffe Easter RideRedcliffe Easter Ride

Cycling, Friends, Pine Rivers

Quick and Dirty

by NeilEnnis 28 March 2010 No Comments Shortlink

Where do you take a friend who hasn’t been on a bike for a long time?

I wanted to have a fun ride this morning, but didn’t want to do anything too hardcore because I like my friends, and don’t want to scare them off. After some poring over Google Maps (I do that a lot), I came up with a compromise that was mostly off-road, had a couple of good hills, and got us back home within two hours.

And we all survived to ride again!
"There's a catfish in there!"
I’m amazed at Glen’s quick eyes. We’d only just got off the bikes at this river crossing and he spotted a 30cm (1 foot) catfish swimming around in the mirky water.

It had a few skin marks which Glen reckons might have been from being swept over the dam wall in recent flooding.

Well spotted!
A bit of a drop
This causeway had a nasty 50cm drop at one end, which is ok for hardcore riders, but not much for everyone else.

We found a few stray rocks and put them near the drop to make it easier to traverse.

I think Harrison was a bit skeptical at my handiwork. Although you can’t see it, he did finally manage to ride over it.

All up 22km in 1 hour 45 minutes, 300m total climbing, 1500 calories.