GoodnessGravel Glen Innes 2025

I have been trying to regain some fitness and hopefully shed some of these damn Covid kilograms that I have been lugging around for the last ~ 5 years. (5 years?!!🤯)

 

To this end I have been trying to get some consistent cycling action happening as observed by our recent Derby mtbing trip.  Of course,  another side of the equation is the "fueling" that occurs.... and Derby was definitely a case of "over fuelling" - well, in my defense it was a holiday too. 😉

But I digress. Partly inspired by my brother's training regime where he is cycling and swimming regularly (and has lost 10+ kilograms! Go Bro!) I have declared Alcohol Free April which should subtract a sizeable calorific intake from where it has been of late.  Apart from the loss of calories,  it has the obvious added benefits of not only leaving those beer credits in my wallet but I feel heaps better for it. 

Win WIN!

I also decided that I need to get back to the old (stupid) me.  The stupid me would work all week then drive somewhere far away to ride my bicycle a stupidly long distance - for no other reason than to see if I could do it. 

I did actually derive some sort of joy out of doing so.  

Not just the mind over matter stuff but the "being out there in the environment" fed my soul - the soul that Covid and my government's over reaction to it had killed. 

It has been raining a LOT in Brisbane this year which is making mtbing a dirty pastime, not to mention the damage to the trails.  Getting away from Brisbane makes sense so when I stumbled across a gravel riding series called GoodnessGravel I thought I had better investigate further. These guys started the series because they couldn't travel overseas during Covid, so turned to riding their bikes in long loops out of quiet country towns in NSW instead. Over the last few years they have built quite a following with the added benefit that all of these riders bring to the small towns that host the rides.

I saw that the next ride was coming up in a few weeks up on the Range at Glen Innes.  I managed a couple of longer rides into the city in the weeks prior to see if I was indeed capable of riding any sort of distance any more and was pleased to see that I could ride at least 50km and still function.

I had a four day work trip immediately prior to the ride so I loaded my bike and all of my gear into the car. That way if I decided that the weather looked good and I didn’t feel too flogged from work I would head straight from work on the Friday afternoon to Glen Innes. By the Wednesday I decided that it was a goer so paid my money and committed to the ride. Unfortunately there was no accomodation left in Glen Innes (see, these things are good for the local economy) but I managed to book a cheap motel in Tenterfield. I would just have to get up early to drive the remaining 100 kilometres to Glen Innes on the Saturday morning.

Up at 5am, I was into the car and knocked out the drive easily to arrive a bit after 6am. I found the showgrounds where the event was being held and quickly set my bike up. 

I had given the bike a bit of a birthday in the weeks prior with a damn good clean and a full brake bleed. It turns out that after owning the bike since 2018 and having pedalled just over 10 000km on it, I had never bled the brakes. Check the below photo for the new Dot 4 versus the colour of the apple juice that came out!

People were arriving and before long it was time to go. 

The riders doing the 125km course were first to start.

Then us 75km riders lined up and pedalled off five minutes later. There was also a 35km riders ride that departed at 0830. 

I sat at the back of the group and pedalled off slowly. I wasn’t sure how I would handle my lack of fitness with the added bonus of being at 3500ft (1100m) above sea level. Yes, slowly to warm up was a good idea.

My idea of slow and others idea of slow must be different because I passed a stack of riders in the first two or three kilometres as we left town. Heading east, we were riding into a pretty stiff headwind which made progress relatively slow but I soon slipped into a steady pace that I felt comfortable that I could hold.

We had quite a bit of sealed road initially which, given the headwind, I was fine with. I was still slowly reeling in riders but only every ten minutes or so now. The pack had thinned right out. 

Once we hit the gravel roads I instantly felt more relaxed. Less chance of traffic encounters and just much more interesting/challenging riding to take the mind off things. I realised I find (sealed) road riding so boring along here.

The event had a photographer who popped up here and there. His first appearance was along the gravel section just after a long steady climb. I was feeling good and gave the “ok” sign but he must have hit the shutter release a few milliseconds before I got it straightened out. 🙄😆

I had been riding solo for quite a while and had climbed up to around the high point on our course at 4000ft (1200m). 

I sped along a sealed section, with that wind now as a tailwind, into the little hamlet of Red Range. The organisers had set up a rest stop here at the 32km point which was peopled by some local ladies. 

The food selection was huge. There were Cliff bars, energy gels, bananas, donuts, energy drinks and of course water.

 

I already had my own banana in my jersey pocket as I like to be self sufficient but I did top my water bottle up and took them up on the offer of a donut.

As I pedalled off a couple had done the same not ten metres in front of me. I pedalled easily with the tailwind thinking they would pull away from me as they both looked pretty fit. I was a bit surprised that I was sticking with them and after a kilometre or so I shouted out that I hoped they didn’t mind me tagging on. (Tacking on and slipstreaming from other riders without asking is bad form in the cycling world. This is because you are basically getting a free ride as the leader breaks the wind and has to work much harder than the following riders) They said “yeah, no problem” so I sat on their tail.

We were making good time when we turned off onto gravel road again and we began riding side by side. Chatting, I found they were a couple from Armidale who were doing their first gravel ride on bikes they had borrowed from friends. Being avid roadies and mtbers they were loving it (and their Specialized bikes). 

The lovely couple from Armidale. 

We ended up riding the last 42km or so to the finish together. The second half of the ride just flew by as we chatted and I mentioned the Tour Divide Race to them, explaining what it was and suggesting they watch Ride The Divide to see what it looked like. (Knowing full well that that movie is responsible for getting so many people hooked into The Divide Race😏) The husband (sorry guys, I’m terrible with names) said he definitely would check it out as it sounded like something he would be keen on.

Anyway, we soon rolled back into town as the last ~10km was downhill with a tailwind.

I peeled off towards my car as we entered the Showgrounds gates and the other two went left, still rolling fast. I assumed that they were parked or camped down there. What I didn’t realise was that we were supposed to ride back around to the entrance to the parade ring inside the central oval. Here we would be given a completion pin, a ticket for a free sausage sandwich and a choice of a free alcohol-free beer.

I had packed my bike back into the car, got changed, stretched a bit, bought a steak sandwich from the bbq tent and went to sit on the grass near the start line. I was thinking “I wonder if I should let someone know I finished and I’m back” when I noticed people finishing on the parade ring and being handed all the things I just mentioned above!

I wandered over to the ladies manning the finish line and asked if I was supposed to ride through here. They said yes, if I wanted the finishers schwag. Seeing as I was standing there they loaded me up with it all. The pin and the free sausage sandwich I could take or leave but what was this Heaps Normal beer? I had actually seen it in a supermarket during the week (we can’t buy alcohol in supermarkets here in Australia) so knew it was alcohol free but they were asking full beer prices for it so I didn’t buy any. Here, I had the chance to try it for free!

And try it I did! Plonking myself on the grass, I washed down the steak sandwich with it. I was very pleasantly surprised to note that it tasted exactly like an IPA!

Nice!

So, while not a huge ride I had completed the 75 kilometres in a smidge over three hours. Considering that I’m not particularly fit and the route was all between 3000 and 4000ft above sea level I was happy with that. I was just starting to get some small niggles in the legs on the climbs toward the end but I was riding pretty hard to keep up with the couple from Armidale. I noticed some sustained 162 bpm on my Garmin which is too high for me at the moment so I backed of a bit to bring my heart rate down into the mid 150s which felt more do-able. And in hindsight sight the couple didn’t get away from me so they must have backed off as well….

I didn’t hang around much longer as I had an almost five hour drive to get home but I was glad I came to check out this GravelGoodness thing. I am seriously contemplating doing their next event. It is even further away so I had better sign up for the big distance next time. 😉

Cheers.

*All of the watermarked photos are by Outer Image photography.  Thanks in advance for providing us with quality images of the day!

Test Pilot - Funnelweb Desert X Air Filter Trial

Late last year I was given a pre- production Funnelweb air filter to test in the Deserrt X. I had already purchased a Unifilter for it…..which had sat on the bench for at least six months. My reluctance to fit it was 100% because of the difficulty in accessing the air box on the Desert X…..and this reluctance didn’t change when the Funnelweb arrived. The following video is probably the most succinct version of the Desert X tank removal.

So, armed with this example, I decided to launch into fitting the Funnelweb. It went pretty well until I got to the controversial vent tubes. One came off easily. The other…..not so much. Twenty minutes of pulling on it by hand, then pliers, then by hand and pliers again - this time while cursing profusely - then resting while considering using a Stanley knife 😡……and then one last huge yank on the tank saw it finally come free! The Italians had glued the bloody thing on! 

WTF?

Offending vent tube is the lower one. Grrrr….Top tube is the one that kinks and implodes the tank 🫤

The top of the airbox is held on with six self tapping screws. Classy move there Ducati! Of course, two of them are inaccessible unless you are willing to strip the frame 🫣 so I had to make do with just the four rear screws to access the genuine filter.

Looking forward on the bike with the Ducati paper filter still in place.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how clean it was after 13 000km of use. I had been in discussions with another Funnelweb test pilot who claimed to ride in clean air (I always ride alone on the dirt) and whose filter looked like it had had a handful of dirt dumped on it!

The Funnelweb does look the business and comes pre-oiled. 

Very well pre-oiled too.

It also comes with a nitrile glove……which I clearly didn’t find until later…..🙄

There is talk that the standard Ducati filter is a bit of a loose fit in the airbox edge recess but I found mine hard to pluck out of the recess, so it was well sealed/fitted. The Funnelweb goes one better, not only fitting into the recess but also having a wider top edge that gets squeezed between the airbox and it’s cover giving a fantastic seal.

Putting the whole shebang back together wasn’t too bad. I had fitted the internal spring to the top vent tube as per the Ducati recall. This next video is by the other Funnelweb test pilot, Darren, who does a great job of describing some double checks so one doesn’t implode their fuel tank due to vacuum.

Tank about to go back on.

The tank went on easily in the end. Like most jobs, once you know how to attack it, it becomes much easier. I reckon I can have the tank off in about ten minutes next time. Now to get the bike out for some testing……but first a mountain biking trip to Tassie needs my attention.

Does anyone want to buy an unused Desert X Unifilter……?

EDIT 23rd March 2024 - Darren, the other rider testing the filter for Funnelweb has logged 3000km of dusty riding on his test filter.  He runs an adv touring company so gets the kilometres up fast,  following a bunch of bikes to deliberately expose the filter to dust. From the photo of the disected filter,  it looks to be doing it's job well. 

Turning Pedals Instead Of Twisting Throttles For A Change

 

Things haven't been all about motorcycles here this year. I have been keeping up a slightly irregular cycling program - nowhere near as intense as last year's effort - but still reasonably consistent. Well, maybe not that consistent as I felt the need to test out the legs on a couple of longer rides recently.

These were an Audax ride called the Dirty Marburg and the Brisbane To The Bay charity ride.

What is an Audax ride I hear you ask? Well, follow that link and it will explain all but essentially it is a long distance, non competitive ride with a pre defined time limit. This particular ride, being on gravel roads and in the Lockyer Valley appealed to me as it is pretty country AND it is pretty flat. My fitness (and weight) isn't what it used to be so this 100km gravel ride would be a nice test of the legs.

An early start was required to make the ride start time in the little hamlet of Marburg, west of Brisbane. I arrived with plenty of time to spare and found myself ready early so was able to watch all the other riders roll in. Most seemed to know each other and I didn't speak to anyone apart from the ride organiser, Peter Watson. Coming from a mountain biking background where most people are friendly and chatty, I find this a bit strange with road riders. If you aren't in their "group" then they tend not to even say g'day. 🧐

After a few words from Peter we were off.

It was a fine, clear, cool morning and the group quickly spread out. We were soon on gravel roads and I was near the front but after a couple of steepish climbs I was getting dropped like a stone by some of the lighter riders. 

The road soon crested though and there were some steeeep, fast gravel descents. I like going stupidly fast on gravel descents. (Most road riding types don't.) Well, stupidly fast on 38mm wide tyres that is. I did clean up all of those who had passed me on the climb here and I was pretty sure there were only two riders out in front now.

 Of course, I didn't stop on the fast downhills but I did get this shot looking south west over the Lockyer Valley before another steep sealed descent.

The next couple of hours consisted of gravel roads that alternated between silky smooth and "patchy", with some sealed stuff thrown in. It was pretty lonely going here as I was alone for about 40km.

The southern end of the route turned left here at the Mt Mort rural fire brigade shed. This was almost the 50km mark and the first time I stepped off the bike for the morning.

There were a few small hills as I headed east. I was joined briefly by another rider for a few kilometres. We got to the half way point of the ride and signed each other's time cards. I don't think this was strictly necessary but he seemed to know the protocol for these types of rides and who was I to argue?

He stopped for a break and being what I thought was a stronger rider said " I'll see you when you catch me again". This was the last time I saw him for the morning.

I soon turned left again at this intersection and was heading north, back towards the start. This section went up and down some pinchy climbs that had me grovelling, then hollering down the back side.

The ride became a bit tedious, especially as it got back onto some relatively busy sealed sections. I was glad I had my bright orange Masaka cycling jersey on. It is almost fluro orange, so stands out quite well.

The ride organiser had mentioned some muddy track near the end and I would have to say this was the most fun section for me. I like a challenge and this hilly, narrow, slippery section helped the time to fly by. Of course, I didn't stop for photos here. I just wanted to finish and get home by this stage.

Which I did! Not that this was a race but I am pretty sure I was 3rd rider back in 4 hours 35 minutes total time for the 101km.

Not bad for a fat, unfit middle-aged bloke who hasn't ridden much this year!

Here is the Strava proof.

They even give the finishers a cool little badge.

The next challenge was to fill in for a mates wife......no, not like that! 😳 ...... in the Brisbane To The Bay ride. She hadn't done any riding at all this year so 100km on no training is a big ask. Naturally, I was to be the stunt double.

A couple of other mates were roped in at the last minute as well (it helps when you know the ride organiser) so there were four of us to share the suffering.

A cool, early start from Southbank in Brisbane was the order of the day and it was busy!! About 7500 riders were registered for this thing and honestly, the riders didn't ever really thin out around the 100km course!

It was all Dan's fault so here he is possibly indicating the temperature at the start.

And me being his "wife" for the day. 

We were soon off and enjoying the softer ride that the fat tyres of our cyclocross bikes gave us.

 Us and a few mates....

Shane and Will.

A quick comfort stop at the ~30km mark had us then turn south and parallel the coast. This IS winter in Brisbane. Glorious!!

I became detached from the group somewhere around the 80km mark and decided to phone the others at about the 90km mark. They had suffered a flat on Will's bike and were quite a way back. I decided to keep going to the finish, then circle back and meet them for the last five or six kilometres to the finish. 

This made for 116 kilometres for the day for me and I actually didn't feel too bad. I am finding I am not so much into these mass participation events these days but it was fun doing the ride with a couple of mates, ignoring the odd dickhead who cropped up along the way. 🤭

Strava stats for the day are below.

Cheers.