New Queenslander Ahoy!

[Lance]

Hello!

A bit over a month ago; it was my birthday. (yay!) And for my birthday, my brother got me a double Thule bike rack.

This was quite handy seeing as two weeks later; I packed all my belongings into my trusty Daihatsu Terios, with my two bikes firmly secured on the back, and set off for the 2,000km journey from Melbourne's Fashion Capital to my new home in the Valley.

My poor little car struggled on the hills, but bravely soldiered on. First stop on the trip was my home town of Albury to stop in and see Bowie and my family; then I hauled the next day through to Newcastle. Taking it easy the following day got me to Coffs Harbour where I stayed in a nice little villa for the night not 20meters from private beach front (Which was still cheaper than the hotel in Newcastle). The next day was a nice scenic drive from Coffs through to South Brisbane where I anchored ship and had a damn nice cup of tea.

One of the most interesting parts of the trip was the landscape. Melbourne through to Albury was nothing but charred earth, a very disturbing scene. The images seen on TV do not show just how far reaching the destruction was. Albury through to Sydney was incredibly bland; yellow and brown the only colours aside from the occasional dead shrub. Once we got to Sydney, we hit that toll Motorway (M7?) and took it through to Newcastle. I don't remember much of this bit as it was raining and I spent most of my time avoiding trucks. (My poor little car. ) Newcastle through to Coffs harbour though, if I could describe it in just a few words, these would be "Road-Works and GREEN". Except for the blemish of roadworks, I could only see Trees, Rivers and Green! It was fantastic! Coffs through to Brisbane was interesting; once we crossed the border, I was informed of the untold road rule of the state pertaining to freeways. "Go the speed limit. Unless you don't want to." I am all for going the speed limit. But having a whole lane on my right doing 15km/hr over was a sight I hadn't seen before. Seeing one car overtake, undertake, overtake, overtake and undertake again at about 20km/hr over the speed limit was quite a shock!

Anyway; to the point of my story:

I am now a Queensland Resident.

My question to you, fellow Forumites and Queenslanders alike; how is the bike scene here? Also, group rides/clubs! Hints, Tips, suggestions? I noticed a swap meet coming up on sunday and may very well be there.

Hope to hear and possibly meet you all soon!

Lance

[goneriding]

Welcome to BrisVegas! The cycling scene here is very active with the main Saturday morning ride being the River Loop with starts in various places. If you can get yourself over to Park Road (in Milton) there are a series of bunch rides that go from there in addition to various shop rides. Also check out http://www.bq.org.au as it is a good resource for this kind of info.

If you like hills (possibly not being from Melbourne!) try Mt Coot-tha (near Milton) or Mt Nebo (near The Gap).

For events there is the Brisbane to Noosa (July) which is a 160km ride and the Brisbane to Gold Coast (October) which is a 100km ride.

As always bikely is a good resource.

[winona_rider]

welcome lance
hope you go for the maroons at state of origin time.
note it is pronounced "mar-owns"

bike riding in SEQLD i have worked out is pretty cool: because:
1) we have hills - this makes us so much tougher
2) it doesn't get so stupidly cold in the mornings
3) it gets quite hot and sunny in summer (which can be quite dangerous for your skin) - but just adjust your routes and start earlier.
4) further to point 3 - you may have noted we do not have daylight savings here which I believe is AWESOME for bike riding as it means it is light at 4:30am in summer and this means you don't have to carry lights and the roads are clear in this sunny glory that southern states have to wait ages for. etc, etc

[MountGower]

Got to love people that hate daylight saving.

[beauyboy]

Welcome to the home of every thing Moroon.

My question is are you in the Valley or in New Farm?

Donald

[Lance]

New Farm! I'm still getting used to all this new geography. Took me two years to figure out Melbourne. Or rather; not figure it out.

A fellow New Farm-er!

[beauyboy]

Ok first things first. New Farm is often refered to as Gay Farm for good reason, though this is not as relevent as it use to be.

Geography is on thing. Trying to make sure you ask for the correct zone for when catching our Public Transport system. (we have far more zones then Melbourne does).

I would serously suggest getting a "Go-card" (pt-smart card) for the days riding is just not desirible. New Farm is very well served by Buses. We have the 199BUZ (BUZ = every 10 mins or better in peak & every 15 mins or better in offpeak and weekends). There is also the 196,197 & the 195. There is also the City Cats.

A word about the City Cats, if you are on the floating walkway(bikeway) , stay ahead of there wake. If you don't it feels like you are riding up a hill.

Donald

[RepcoMonaco]

A word about the City Cats, if you are on the floating walkway(bikeway) , stay ahead of there wake. If you don't it feels like you are riding up a hill.

Actually, if you get your speed/position right, you can surf that concrete wave on the bikeway - i.e. going down the hill all the time

[Pax]

Actually, if you get your speed/position right, you can surf that concrete wave on the bikeway - i.e. going down the hill all the time

That sounds cool

Welcome to Qld Lace, the cycling up here is great.

[master6]

Have you become a queenslander?
(Dictionary definition:- "one who was born in Queensland, or has come to regard it as his or her home"

[Lance]

I now always move from air conditioned spot to air conditioned spot and I seem to have stopped wearing socks with shoes.

Is that close enough?

[goneriding]

The other thing you'll need to do is learn how to talk slower and drink more (advice from my Mother in Law)!I still can't get the talk slower part.

That statement should get things going!

[master6]

Yes, talk slower. There is no need to rush, and it is a common courtesy extended by Queenslanders to ensure their friends understand them with ease. Only inconsiderate people speak quickly, and you usually recognise them before you hear them. They look like pox doctors clerks, usually with the pox!

[goneriding]

I'm not disputing the benefits of talking slower, its just that when I am riding I need to get my sledging out quicker as I am gasping for oxygen