Border Ranges Bikepacking Part 1

Getting myself out the door for this ride was proving to be a bit of a challenge. I was still up at 10pm the night  before, going over my route maps and cue sheets. I had known how important it was to have my planning squared away before my last trip, yet I still headed out on that one under prepared  I had paid the price with some sub-optimal navigation that lead to a reroute. Not that it particularly worried me at the time but this time around I wanted to stick closer to the plan and feel more confident of the route.

This left me still packing my rig on the morning of departure. This is a job that you don't want to rush as you are bound to leave something vital behind. Now, not that I rushed it at all...but I left my arm warmers, towel and tail light at home! The beauty of the first 30km or so being through suburbia was that my lovely wife just met me along the route to rectify these oversights. I would be glad of the tail light especially over the next two nights.

The first part of the ride was along various sections of the Logan cycle network. Connected isn't a word I would use to describe this network. Nor would I use informative to describe the Logan City Council's webmap of the network. One small scale map with some lines that are about 1km thick going by the scale make it less than easy to follow. Still, I managed to find my way out to Teviot Road at Greenbank and onto my first dirt road in a fairly efficient manner.

What is wrong with this picture?

Soon I was pedalling along quiet dirt roads with only the occasional watchful magpie as company. This is what it is all about.

I soon came to my first creek crossing which was unexpected. The crossing on Undulla Rd had obviously been washed away in the floods, cutting the road with a fairly permanent looking "road closed" sign blocking my path. No problem on a mountain bike though. I just picked my bike up and walked across the creek.

Just the other side of this crossing was my first section of "questionable" route planning. Brennan's Dip rd/Nixon Rd was a road in name only, being a gazetted line on a map and nothing else. I was pleased to see that the farm gate did not have a private property sign hanging from it. I let myself in and followed a dirt track which more or less followed the gazetted line on the GPS. 

Nixon's Rd goes where?

I soon came to a point where the official road diverged at 90 degrees from the track I was following. It was time to don my Moxie Gear gaiters and "head bush". 

From here on I was on snake watch big time. I was glad that the cattle had kept the grass short in this paddock but I still made a point of keeping to the clearer areas. This isn't to say that every second stick and branch lying on the ground didn't give me a fright as I mistook it for a snake! 

Coming to a creek line I was a bit stumped for 5 minutes or so as I searched for a point to cross that was not a 20 ft drop to the dry creek bed. I eventually found a cattle track that led me into and out of the creek.

 This proved to be the only difficulty on Brennan's Dip rd/Nixon rd and I soon found myself looking down through the trees onto the dam wall at Wyaralong Dam. Having studied the maps so much in planning this ride I found I didn't need to consult a physical map at all. I knew the terrain so well that I could recall features from memory to navigate my way. Good stuff!

Wyaralong Dam

I then began my way along the shoreline track. I had not ridden this track before so was interested to explore it. It proved to be quite sandy with a lot of short steep pinch climbs and sharp descents which made keeping a good average pace tough work on a loaded bike.

After a while I came to the old homestead where I took the opportunity to top up my water from the water tank. This would be the first test of the Steripen to sterilise some water. And it was an epic fail! I had put fully  charged  Nickle-metal-hydride batteries in it and now the little blinky light on the pen was telling me it needed new batteries! Another mental note: test your equipment before you leave home...... 

It wasn't the end of the world though. I still had plenty of water but part of my game plan for this ride was to top my water up at every opportunity as resupply points would be hit and miss on this ride.

The Shoreline Track proved to be quite long and the sun was getting low in the sky by the time I reached it's western end. As I rode along I had been weighing up my camping options. While I had originally planned to just camp where ever I ran out of steam, I now had a desire to camp at Darlington Park campground, some 27km south of Beaudesert. I was currently about 25km to the west of Beaudesert. So that equated to something like another 50km. No probs. I would wing it and see how I felt.

Rolling into Beaudesert having survived the traffic on the main road I headed straight for the local Woolworths where I purchased 4 lithium batteries for the Steripen plus some water and more food. 

While inhaling a bottle of flavoured milk I noticed that I was sitting next to a cafe'. Very soon a good old fashioned burger was following that milk and I felt like a million bucks again....well like twenty bucks anyway.

Yeah, I know. Gaiters are on wrong legs....but it works.

I decided to push on toward Darlington Park so switched my blinky tail light and Ay-Ups on before pedaling into the darkness. The next 27km went by fairly quickly and I was surprised how good my legs felt. No cramps or soreness. I felt nothing at all and could have quite easily kept pedaling. But I wanted to see what Darlington Park looked like and as it was dark when I arrived I would have to camp to see it in the morning.

Riding up to the owners house, he came out to see what I wanted. When I asked if it was okay to camp and if he wanted me anywhere in particular he asked "where are you"? "Here" I replied. "No, where are you parked" he asked. "Here" I replied again. "I'm on a push bike". "Oh, I thought I saw vehicle lights" he said. "No, they were my Ay-Ups" was my reply. As I set up camp I chuckled to myself about how good Ay-Up lights are. Most non riders have no idea how good lighting systems are these days.

It was about 9pm by the time I climbed into the hammock. With 152km(95mi) and 2130m(7000ft) climbing I was a bit tired and was looking forward to a good nights rest. 

The route so far with everything going to plan...

Then it would be up early and into Day 2 and some interesting terrain........

Blurring The Line

The first day to dawn bright and clear here in Brisbane for a few weeks was pounced upon by four trail hungry mountain bikers.

We made the drive out to My Joyce as the local trails will be too wet to ride for weeks yet. We were not to be disappointed as the Mt Joyce trails were at that perfect level of moisture content and 'hero dirt" was in evidence throughout the network!

The reason for the ride, apart from curing singletrack withdrawl, was to celebrate Derek's birthday. Happy Birthday Derek!! I think he is like 120 or something but that didn't matter as he has a new bike and we all know you are only as old as the bike you are riding... ;-)

As you can see from the above photo, the Trek Remedy almost pedals itself up the hill, such is it's pedalling efficiancy. You can tell because Derek is smiling and he doesn't smile going up hills. :(

Black Rock was a great place to open the bikes up a bit and have some fun. Troy and Derek were hating every minute of it.

I almost cleaned up a walaby while trying to catch up to the others. I actually got hit by the dirt flicked up by it's feet, thats how close it was.

Some of the thumb tacks thrown in France must have landed on Mt Joyce. Either that or Derek decided on a "rest stop" part way down Black Rock. He is getting on a bit you know...

I am so not going to get invited along in future! He he.....

After rolling along the Gully Trail we hooked back up the hill again. This was done four times in total today and after the first pass of this "blackboy" I just had to stop and get a photo the next time. It is by far the biggest one I have ever seen.

 This being my first MTB ride since the end of June I was starting to feel the climbs. As we were about to roll down Bovine Groove for the last time a guy rolled up on a strange looking bike. It had a downhill look about it but the triangle on the frame was built in. He came up to us and we chatted for a few minutes. It turned out to be an electric mountain bike....or an electric dirt bike with pedals depending on how you wanted to see it.

Weighing 34kg and capable of 60km/h(35mph) I could see the appeal when climbing these hills. But then again, is it just a dirt bike...with an electric motor?

It could be a potential trail shredder in the wrong hands....something else for land managers to lose sleep over and for us MTBers to look like villians again? Time will tell as I think that Stealth are going to sell a shiteload of these things. Blurring the line between bicycle and motor cycle?

Thanks to the guys for a great day out on the bike again. Good company, mountain bikes and perfect weather. It sure beats working for a living.

Cheers guys.

Why Take A Knife To A Gun Fight?

I have been really enjoying this Easter break. I am well rested and healed up from weeks of non-stop hustle, the weather has been perfect and I have managed to get in some relaxing, mind clearing rides.

In fact, yesterday I was up before the sun and at first light hit a couple more laps of Wallum Froglet and Resurrection here in Cornubia. Only 10 kilometres (6 miles) of riding but with nearly 400m of climbing, I was buzzing.

That was until later on in the day when I took the kids for a ride and the rear shock on the Trek decided to blow up. Bugger. I was going to take that bike to Mt Joyce today! Did I say Bugger?!

In all truth, I have had a sneaking suspicion that all was not well with my rear end for a while and the Flyboy maintenance policy (ride it till it breaks!) reaped the seeds that were sown months ago. On the upside, it didn't blow 5 kilometres into the Mt Joyce ride.

What does this all mean? Well, the hardtail 29er had to be the weapon of (reduced) choice for today. Visions of me going over the bars because of the tall seatpost flitted through my mind. The down hills were going to be a bit more sedate as a result.

We had a very sensible meeting time of 7:30 and if the fog remnants were anything to go by, an earlier start would not have yielded much visibility.

It was a pleasantly cool morning, but that didn't last long as you are straight into a climb at Mt Joyce no matter which direction you go. We decided to hit the single track for the climb, rather than the fire road. Something about warming up first?

Up the hill, then back down Bovine Groove. I was missing the rear suspension and also the visibility. The trail is a bit over grown with looong grass and there is a narrow 8-12 inch clear trail to ride on. Definitely got my attention down there, as well as JR who took a jump a bit too quick, botched the landing and had lots of red stuff on his knees and elbows. He said it was to match his red Merida....but I am not so sure.....

We then headed over to some gentler trails that I cannot recall the name of. (All of the trail maps, officially provided, just have trail numbers, not names) but they were trail 9 and 10 on the map. Some great flow on these trails with small climbs and fun descents.

It was then up the fire road and across the ridge to Blackrock, a black diamond trail.

 As most of us were on hardtails, there wasn't exactly a rush to be first down the trail. Once underway though I found that there was a defined line to ride. Last time I was here, just after Mt Joyce opened, the trails were new and it wasn't very obvious which line to take on the more technical features. Once I realised this, I eased up on the brakes and let the XTC have it's head. I think everyone really enjoyed this trail.

Another loop around trail 10 and it was time to head for the cars via the shore line track. This trail was cut in places as the level of the lake is still very high, but it isn't an issue as you can just jump back onto the fire road for these bits.

So, it was great to catch up with some familiar faces and to put some names and faces to online aliases. I can't wait to get the Trek fixed and head out to Mt Joyce soon, with the weather cooling nicely now.

I found that I didn't need my gun at all. My knife may not have taken down a Black R(hino)ock, but it certainly carved up the rest of the trails very nicely thanks.

I'm Back Baby!!!

Well, where has this year gone? Every time I look another month has flown by. This past month has felt like a total loss as far as my cycling pusuits go with much flying, numerous finishing touches being put on the house renovations and lots of "Dad, can you do this?/get me that?/he did this!" to be dealt with. It becomes a bit overwhelming at times and without my "chill time" I am sure I don't cope as well as I know I can.

July wasn't a total loss riding wise, but it was a total loss training wise. Bugger all training/chilling rides but I did manage to enter the Avanti 6 Hour race at Canungra as a solo. Thanks to Dean0 for making me commit to something this year! Despite my visions of total pain and failure I approached this race with an attitude of "I just want to ride and have fun". I actually finished the 6 hours (well 5h:50m) and had a ball on the track! I did the first two laps non stop, then stopped at our trackside shelter each lap for a new bottle and calorie top-up. This strategy worked well for me and my legs were good for the entire race. My arms, however, let me down with my triceps cramping badly on the last lap while hitting the rocky descents. Some core strength work is obviously required on my middle aged squidgy centre bit! If I had done one more lap I would have been in....er 9th place still. Eight was far enough in front even if I did another lap, so I don't feel so bad about bailing out at 5 hours 50 minutes. Still, I will take the top ten placing with no training! Woo Hoo!!

Railing!

But mainly chillin' and enjoying! (thanks to Micheal Phipps for the photos)

 All up, a top day out with some good company, lots of laughs (like Dean0's test ride of his single speed where he snapped the chain after 5 metres! So much for the back up bike!!)

Fast forward to.....

Today being wednesday would have seen us heading out to Daisy Hill at 6am for the regular morning ride on any normal day. Not today however! With me being on holidays, Graeme being self employed and Jody.....er well Jody doing something dodgy we hatched a cunning plan to head out to Mt Joyce MTB park instead.

Both Graeme and Jody have been twice before but this didn't stop some pre ride planning in the car park.

As you can see from the water in the background, it was a typical perfect winter's day here in south east Queensland. We decided to head straight up the hill via the "Tunnel Vision" trail. Now apparently there is a bit of climbing here at Mt Joyce and the choice is between the main fire road or the kinder, more scenic single track. Well, I can do fire road any day, so the single track it was!

We worked our way up to the top of the hill with a few stops to take in the view(and to let my post illness legs recover).

 A short stop at the top to look at the trail maps and we lowered our seats and headed down "Bovine Groove".

 I proved not to be "in the Groove" on "Bovine Groove" though. No skin lost or unplanned bush trips but I did feel decidedly uncoordinated after bugger all riding lately. We curtailed the downhill at "Caught Short" and climbed up Tunnel Vision again. This time at the top we headed across a fun link to "Black Rock", a single black diamond trail on the southern ridge of the park. Straight off, it was looking like an interesting trail, with Graeme getting some air in the first few metres of trail. So much in fact, I missed his mellon!

So, take two.....

Apparently when he picked up his new Giant Reign he asked the bike shop guy "What can I do on it?" to which the reply was "Anything!" So Graeme does. ;) Nice.

Black Rock proved to be a fun, techy trail that I look forward to hitting up more over the years. It was then on to the "Secret Valley Loop" and a bit of a lunch break in an open park area near the lake. Was this too much time off the bike for Jody? You be the judge....

Can you blame him though? We were quickly back on the bikes and climbing back up the hill for some more downhill goodness though.

I think we hit "Sergeant's" black diamond downhill for this last run, but I missed the sign as my eyes were glued to the drops! Rocky,sandy,loose off camber corners....and lots of 'em!! Crikey, please sir, may I have some more?!? I rolled out the bottom onto the park near the lake sweating profusely from the downhill! There was only one big "OMG, I am cactus" moment though and I had basically survived my first Mt Joyce visit. We trundled out via the Shoreline Track towards the car, dusty, but satisfied with our efforts.

Mt Joyce shows huge potential as a MTB destination here in south east Queensland. Some more trails, some rain to wash away all the dust and loose topsoil, or some grippy tyres is all that is needed to make this area into a regular ride destination.

Oh, and some climbing legs. Yes, pack your climbing legs if you want to "Escape".