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Monday, January 26, 2015

Caloundra Epic

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Stormwater Drain 800


My friend Wayne had been planning an overnight ride from Brisbane to Caloundra and back for a couple of months. After heavy rain during the days preceding the ride, he decided to cancel it. But we decided to “turn up” anyway and see what happened…



Ted Smout Bridge

Early on a rainy Saturday morning, we set out along some local bike paths. We weren’t sure what the weather was going to do, or if creek crossings would be impassable as we rode north, but we agreed to be flexible and tailor our course to suit the conditions. The simplest approach in weather like this would be to stick to bike paths for an hour or two until the weather cleared.


Deception Bay

The tide was abnormally high as we passed through Deception Bay: the water levels in some creeks might be higher than normal, but the light drizzle had stopped and we were hopeful that the day would clear.


Bush track at Caboolture

The least enjoyable part of a bike ride to the Sunshine Coast is having to deal with the heavy traffic in Morayfield. This time we avoided most of the traffic by riding through some pleasant tracks near the Caboolture Aquatic Centre, then zig-zagging through some local back streets. That way we totally eliminated the need to travel on any of the busy roads in that area.


Lagoon Creek, Caboolture

As we left the bustle of Caboolture behind us we rode north-east towards the pine plantations on the other side of the freeway.


Forestry Road

We let out a few “whoops” as our tyres splashed on the soggy tracks. It was a pleasant feeling to immerse ourselves in the seemingly endless forest trails.


Forestry Road

Flooded Track


Although many narrow single-tracks branched off into the trees, we decided to stick to the wider tracks. Some of the causeways were a bit wet, but we were lucky enough to be able to avoid most of the thick mud.


Glasshouse Mountains Track

In the distance, hints of the Glasshouse Mountains peered out at us from behind damp trees.


Wildhorse Mountain Cafe

At Wildhorse Mountain we hosed the bikes down under a firehose, then stopped for a quick snack at one of the cafes. Our bikes were cleaner than we were.


Flooded Track

Flooded Track


The tracks north of Wildhorse Mountain were quite wet. Floodwater followed the course of the road. It was like riding along a creek bed. Thankfully most of the water was only ankle deep.


Mellum Creek in Flood


The crossing at Mellum Creek was flooded in waist-deep water.


The water wasn’t flowing too fast, so we carefully waded across.


Progress was slow. We carried the bikes over our heads to keep water out of the drivetrain and hubs.


The bikes were heavily laden with our overnight gear, so they weighed a few kg’s heavier than usual. After a couple of minutes my bike started to feel really heavy. Thankfully Eric came back and helped me carry it across.


Dripping wet on the other side, I was thankful for thoughtful riding buddies, and waterproof electronic devices.


What followed was a very difficult trudge for half an hour through knee deep floodwater which was coursing down the track we needed to follow. Once again I tried to lift the bike to keep the hubs and drivetrain out of the water, but this made the bike feel really heavy.


“Well one thing’s for sure,” I said to Eric. “I’m definitely not bored.”


He grinned and understood. Tough rides are more enjoyable than boring rides. You forget the pain – but you don’t forget the fun.


We pushed on, and eventually cleared the worst of the water.


Stormwater Drain


One of the difficult things about riding a bike to Caloundra is the traffic. It’s easy to find off-road trails as far as the Caloundra turn-off, but in the past I’ve then had to jump on the main road for a few km and battle it out with cars.


Wayne had an audacious (mad? ingenious?) idea. We could pass under the freeway via a stormwater drain. This would allow us to get to more off-road tracks on the other side of the buisy motorway without having to contend with cars travelling 110 km/h.


Surprisingly, there was very little water in the drain – not even ankle deep. And it was reasonably high. We could walk through without having to stoop much at all. Normally I avoid stormwater drains, but this specific case was alot safer than the road.


Pierce

Pierce Ave


We poked around on the other side for a few minutes and eventually found Pierce Avenue…


Muddy Trail, Caloundra


This led to some more quiet off-road tracks and bike paths which eventually brought us out near Caloundra Airport.


Bike and Planes


Eric flapped his “wings” for a while but wasn’t able to get airborne.


Caloundra Bike Path

Caloundra Bike Path


From there we followed bike paths along the shoreline past Bulcock Beach, Kings Beach, Shelly Beack, Moffat Beach…


Moffat Beach Headland


I love Moffat Beach. It brings back childhood memories of happy holidays by the beach in a crowded beach house with a couple of other families.


Cheers!


Before checking into our hotel, Eric shouted us to a glass of dark ale. The other patrons in the cafe looked suspiciously at a trio of muddy mountain bikers as we tramped inside, but we behaved ourselves and tried not to make too much noise. The cafe only served two homemade beers – one dark, one light. It tasted great. I’m coming back :)


Currimundi HotelCurrimundi Hotel


A couple of minutes after that we arrived at our hotel.


Friendly staff helped us get a hose to wash down the bikes, and huge cup of laundry detergent to clean our muddy clothes.


It felt wonderful to be clean and dry again, and to enjoy a huge meal that evening.


MTB Bottle Opener


Eric showed me how to open beer bottles with Mountain Bike pedals. I think this is an important skill which I’ll find very useful in future. Plus it means you never have to pack a bottle opener.


Breakfast Time


The next morning we had breakfast at a local fast-food outlet before starting the return leg of our journey…


Stormwater Drain


… back under the freeway…


Meridan Hill, Landsborough


… to some fun trails around Meridan Hill near Mooloolah Cemetery.


Flooded Track


We let Eric test out some of the soggier trails, before we bailed out and travelled on the roadway for a few hundred metres.


Ewen Maddock Dam


We then followed the western shoreline of Ewen Maddock Dam…


Ewen Maddock Dam


…past friendly horse riders…


Ewen Maddock Dam


… and along twisty lakeside tracks.


Level Crossing

Landsborough


We eventually emerged from the bushland near Landsborough – the perfect spot for morning tea.


Forestry Road


When we re-entered the pine forests east of Landsborough we started to feel tired. We’d ridden over 160 km in about 24 hours. Rather than battle traffic for another couple of hourse past Caboolture, we decided to end our ride at Beerburrum Railway Station and catch the train home.


Mount Tibrogargan

Grumpy old Father Tibrogargan looked down at us from the other side of the railway track as we pedalled the final few km along the bike path.


Beerburrum Railway Station


We had the railway station to ourselves. Eric decided to have a “power nap” while I laid out my shoes and socks in the sun to dry them out before the train arrived.



All up we travelled about 170km in 14.5 hours.


Despite the hard work pushing through water and mud, I didn’t feel like I’d done 120km on the first day. It was easier than I had expected.


The second day was harder. Even though it was only about 50km, I felt the hills more, and my legs hurt.


Wet weather riding isn’t for everyone. It made a big difference doing it with good friends. It also helped to be able to clean the bikes off at strategic points, and to cover the chain with lots of oil. There are few sounds more annoying than grit crunching in the gears as you’re trying to pedal :)


Thanks Wayne, Eric and Paul for a memorable ride!





Friday, January 23, 2015

Over The Rainbow

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Paul on Rainbow Beach 800

During a family holiday at Rainbow Beach, I decided to enlist the help of a couple of riding buddies to see if we could complete a huge 100km ride along the beach before the tide washed us away.



Rainbow Beach

Rainbow Beach

In a single day Paul, Jason and I planned to ride out to Double Island Point, down the coast as far as Teewah, then back to Rainbow Beach. The low tide was at noon so we started on a falling tide.


Banana Phone

This was an ambitious plan, but we agreed that the main priority was to enjoy the ride – rather than turn the day into an ordeal by pushing too hard.


Fresh Water on the Beach

Apart from the striking cliffs, one of the special things about Rainbow Beach is the fresh water creeks that trickle out from the dunes and over the sand…


Rainbow Beach

We thought we might be able to use water from creeks like this if we ran low on water during the day.


Honeymoon Bay

After about an hour we reached “Honeymoon Bay” – the end of the first section of beach on the northern shore of Double Island Point. Vast tracts of sand were left as the tide continued to receed.


This is a great place to ride on a falling tide, but I imagine the wide flat sand bars could prove treacherous when the tide was riding. It’s definitely not the place you’d want to leave a 4WD parked for too long.


Double Island Point


We hopped around a few rocks, and made our way to a secluded fire trail which led up to the top of the headland. There are a couple of ways to the top, but this one had the gentlest gradient and was rideable for most of the way.


Double Island Point


The view from the top was breath-taking.


Double Island Point


The day was unusually hot, and we were running behind schedule. Nevertheless, we rested for a while in the shade of the lighthouse and enjoyed the views.


Double Island Point


The roll down the hill to the Teewah side of the point was a lot of fun, although we received a few incredulous looks from 4WD’ers at the bottom.


“Have you ridden from Rainbow?” they asked in disbelief, “Where are you going? Are you mad?”


It’s always fun to surprise our motorized friends :)


Double Island Point


As we rode southwards from Double Island Point along the beach, I hoped to pick up the pace. The aim was to cover 30km in about 90 minutes before the tide bottomed out.


Teewah Beach


We gave it our best shot as airconditioned 4WD’s rolled efortlessly past us. Kids in the back seat held up their smart phones to take photos of of the crazy mountain bikers grinding down the beach in the scorching sun.


I started to feel a bit dizzy, and then accepted the fact that today wasn’t the day for epic rides.


Freshwater Track


We turned around and rode towards our bail-out option: The Freshwater Track. This track starts off with very deep sand. It’s hard enough for motorized vehicles to make their way through it. We just pushed the bikes for a few hundred metres until we reached the day-use area. Then we soaked off under one of the water taps next to a picnic table. The water was untreated, but it cooled us down perfectly.


Freshwater Track


We found a shady walking track near the picnic area. The surface was firm and rideable. This mean that we didn’t have to contend with 4WD’s on the main track, we didn’t have to trudge through sand, and we could avoid the searing heat of the beach. So we followed it.


Freshwater Lake


Oh the delicious pleasure of jumping into a cold freshwater lake after battling sand and hot sun!


Once we got in, we decided to stay for a long time :)


Trail Marker


After cooling off, we had a bite to eat then followed the track west.


Tree Hugger


Ancient trees towered above us. Jason hugged one old matriarch in gratitude for the shade.


Martel and Alexe


As we rolled through the rainforest, a couple of hikers approached from the opposite direction.


“G’day!” I gushed. “Where have you come from?”.


“Germany”, one of the hikers replied.


Martel and Alex were here on holidays and had hiked from Rainbow Beach.


I thought that was impressive.


Poona Lake


The ride was hard work. Despite the shade, I was starting to feel a bit worn out again.


So when we reached Poona Lake, we decided to be unusually indulgent and had a second swim for the day. The water is stained dark from tannins in the leaf litter. This causes it to absorb more heat. So the top layer of water in the lake is very warm – it feels like a bath. But if you swim deeper than a metre, the temperature drops abruptly. I dove under the hot layer of water into the coolness. It was like entering an air-conditioned room.


Freshwater Track


After our second swim, we followed the walking trail back to the main 4WD track.


Freshwater Track


After a fast downhill roll we joined the main road for a quick 5km ride back into town.


Rainbow Beach


Rainbow Beach is an iconic ride.


You could easily do the ride out to the lighthouse and back in 3 to 4 hours on a normal mountain bike, provided you started 2 or 3 hours before low tide.


With our original plans, I think we bit off a little more than we could chew. Thankfully Jason and Paul were both considerate and flexible, so we were able to adjust our plans and had a memorable day out.


I’d rate our ride 9.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. In cooler, kinder weather I think it would rate 8.


If you plan to attempt our loop, take plenty of water. Bring some water purifying tablets if you want to drink any of the water from the taps at Freshwater day-use area, or the lakes and creeks.


Thanks Jason and Paul for another specatcular day out on the bikes.