Daisy Hill

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I felt like doing a big ride today, so my friend Dean agreed to accompany me on a long cross-town ride from my place to Daisy Hill. The plan was to try to stick to Bikeways as we rode the 75km across town, then do a few off-road tracks at Daisy Hill Conservation Park, then I’d finish the ride by heading west across town to visit my parents at Forest Lake.

It was also a chance to fill in some of the “missing links” on my global ride map.



Dean surprised me when he turned up on a fully laden Salsa Fargo touring bike, complete with panniers and bottle holders on the forks. It weighed a ton – which is saying something because a lot of my mates tell my I should send my bike to weight watchers.

As if on cue, as we started the ride, the rain started falling, so our first few kilometres along the bike paths were in cool humid dampness – which was actually more comfortable than riding in the blazing sun.



Before long we were winding through the swampy She-oak and Paperbark forests of the Boondall Wetlands. I love this part of the Moreton Bay Cycleway. Being so peaceful makes it hard to imagine that this track is so close to the busy Gateway Arterial Road.

And since I was in a lazy mood, I just stuck behind Dean all of the way, in his slipstream. He’s a strong rider and we were able to maintain some really fast speeds as we powered along the cycleway in our mini peloton of two mountain bikers.



A combination of high tides and recent rain meant that the track was slightly flooded in one or two places.



Eventually we reached the Gateway Bridge and made our way over the slow hump of the bridge and down the other side.



From there we rode through the Minnippi Parklands towards the Critereon track at Murrarie. Since I was still tailgating Dean and riding in his slipstream, he passed the Finish Line on the track just a split second before I did



We continued to head south, towards Daisy Hill along the Bulimba Creek bikeway.



When we eventually reached Daisy Hill, Dean led me up “Second Coming” track near the Buddhist Temple on Underwood Road. It was amazing to watch him push this heavy bike with no suspension along some winding steep single track. The bike rattled a bit on the bumps, by Dean handled it really well.



We rode down “Stringybark” trail and did a loop of the Quarry Lake in Neville Lawrie Reserve. By this time the sun was high in the sky, the day was starting to get hot, and I was sorely tempted to ditch my gear and jump in the water. I think Dean was relieved when I decided not to



Next time I’m there, I’ll definitely jump in. The water looked great on a hot day.



From there we headed up to the “Top Carpark” to top up on water, before riding down “Possum Box”.



And I got a lesson from Dean in how to ride a heavy no-suspension touring bike on some twisty single tracks.

Including the last leg of my ride to Forest Lake, I rode a total of 117km in just over 6 hours (excluding breaks). I burned 5,100 kcal and climbed a total of 1,150 metres. Riding this with Dean made it much easier – especially being able to slipstream him, and to benefit from his knowledge of where to go in a part of town that I don’t normally ride. I’ll rate this 8.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. But if I did it solo, I’d probably rate it 9.5 out of 10.

Mapleton National Park

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Most of the National Parks and State Forests around Brisbane were closed this week because of recent heavy rain. Luckily, Mapleton National Park (about 100km North of Brisbane) was open, so a few of us decided to go for a ride up there this morning.



We started in Mapleton, and rode northwards along the main vehicle track through some beautiful open Eucalyptus forest towards Cooloolabin Dam.



At the dam, we decided to take our chances and took the less-travelled fire trail to the west. The track was covered in fallen branches, bark, and a couple of fallen trees. But it was rideable. We only had to climb over one large fallen tree.



The climb up to the lookout is hard work, but it’s worth it for the great views.



From the lookout it’s a quick fast descent back down the hill to Cooloolabin Dam.





On the way back up to Mapleton from the Dam, we stopped at the waterfalls on East Cedar Creek to enjoy yet another spectacular view.



The steep ride back up the hill to Mapleton was tough, but the Eucalyptus trees looked stunning after all the rain.



Many thanks to Becca, Jason, Simon, and Ron; and also to local riders Dave and Ross. I really enjoyed being able to share such a perfect day with a great bunch of people.

This was a lot tougher ride than I anticipated. It’s only 22km from Mapleton to Point Glorious, so it’s a 44km out-and-back ride. But there are some long climbs between Mapleton and Cooloolabin. The hot and humid summer weather and the muddy branch-strewn path west of Cooloolabin added to the challenge.

Today we climbed 1,100m in 44km in just over four and a half hours including breaks. I burned 3,000 kcal.

Based on today’s conditions I think this ride deserves 8.5 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. In cooler months when the tracks are drier and there’s less debris laying around, I’d rate it 7.5.

Butcher Bird

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Here’s a few photos I took of a juvenile Grey Butcher Bird (Cracticus torquatus) sitting in a tree at our place this morning.

They have a beautiful song, and are quite agressive in the nesting season. Birds often attack cyclists in the nesting season. A Plover will scream madly at you until you go away (they nest on the ground, and have a lot to lose if thet don’t chase you). A Magpie will give you a warning cry before attacking, and will often snap their beaks close to you, to scare you off. But a Butcher Bird will slam into the side of your head without warning, and then warble happily about it afterwards, as though she was laughing at you: “Gotcha, you nasty cyclist. Stay away! Don’t come back!”.

For the rest of the year they’re fun to watch, and to listen to…

DID YOU KNOW that there was a vindictive court case in Brisbane in 1882 (Spry vs Minchinton) about the theft of a Butcher Bird?

Underwater History

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Lake Samsonvale is a large body of water west of Strathpine with a fascinating history. Today I explored the far side of the lake, near Kobble Creek with my friends Russel, Jason and Paul.



We started at the western end of Whiteside Road, and just kept heading east towards the shoreline. This road used to be the main route between Petrie and Dayboro before the North Pine Dam was built. But the resulting artificial lake permanently flooded the road, which split Whiteside Road in two., This meant that a new road (Dayboro Road) had to be built further north The eastern section at Whiteside is still an important road for local residents, but the western half has been transformed into a very quiet road which devolves into a disused gravel road before disappearing under the waters of the dam.





Whiteside Road crossed the North Pine River at a place called Quinns Crossing. Although the crossing is submerged we were able to ride within a couple of hundred metres of it. I’ve been told by local recreational sailers that in times of drought it’s possible to see the remains of the old bridge just under the water.



Some of the grass in the area is pretty long. I thought it was nice that the guys agreed to follow me through the grass even though they couldn’t see the ground in front of them.



This creek was too deep to ride across, or even push the bikes across, so we had to carry them, while taking care not to slipp on the muddy bottom and get soaked.



We eventually found a spot by the edge of the dam where we could enjoy a cool swim and take refuge from the 35 degree heat.



We swam quite close to the submerged spot where Isabella Joyner built Samsonvale House in the 1860′s.

Even though Samsonvale House is gone, we were able to sample some mangoes from an old tree that was planted not far from the house in the 19th century. Paul thought they were delicious!

All up we rode about 30km in about three and a quarter hours, including stops and breaks. For most of the ride we kept an easy pace in the heat, and just pushed the pace a bit on the way back the steep bitumen climb on Postman’s Track. Considering the high temperatures I’ll rate this one 8 out of 10 on the tough-o-meter. In cooler weather it would probably rate 7 out of 10.

Cooling Off

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Most of Australia has been experiencing a heat-wave. This makes riding a bit more challenging. So to beat the heat on my ride today, I thought I’d take a break at the half-way point and go for a swim.

Many of the trails around the lake are kilometres from anywhere. Knowing that the nearest person might be several kilometres away often gives me a wonderful feeling of solitude.

The views are great too.

So I just found a quiet spot, parked the bike, and jumped in.

I loved the feeling of having such a large lake all to myself, and enjoyed cooling off. The water was delicious. I think I could make a habit of this!

Why Ride?

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For my first ride of 2013 I decided on a short tough ride through the familiar trails of Clear Mountain. It has a bit of everything – winding single track, thick forest, fast firetrail descents and tough climbs.

While I was riding on the single tracks, I spied this mushroom in the middle of the track, growing out of a pile of manure left by a horse. I thought I’d try taking a picture of it, but when I did, a fly perched on top of the mushroom. He didn’t budge no matter how I contorted myself to try and get the best picture.

I’ve probably said this to you before, but:

I don’t ride to get fit. That’s just a side-effect.

I don’t ride to break records or win races – even though I sometimes try to grab a KOM or two on Strava.

The thing that keeps me coming back is discovering new things, exploring new places, and sharing those discoveries with my friends. That’s why I really enjoy riding with people, and writing about what we find.

I’ve ridden this track hundreds of times, but I got a buzz out of the fact that on yet another familiar ride I was able to discover something new.

I mean – it’s not every day you get to write about a bug on a mushroom in a pile of manure

Happy New Year!