Middle Distance Rides

MountGower

Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:54 pm

G'day

When I first registered here, it was to see if I could find someone else who enjoyed getting up very early on a Saturday morning and doing long road and mountain bike rides. I was unsuccessful and to be honest I regret the amount of time I have wasted on the internet over the last few years. Too early and too far I've been told, more times than I care to remember.

Typically, I ride MTB as soon as I it starts cooling off until after the magpies regain their sanity and ride on the road the other six months. Road riding in summer means I get away and back before I melt completely. MTB riding in winter means I get to survive the grind. My road rides are around 160km and MTB rides around 75km. They are not hard, fast rules as it's hard to go a long time without riding on or off road. I love both.

I have some excellent road and mtb rides planned for the coming months .I know this corner of ours very well. They will be testing, but not a competition. These range from long mtb rides around the Redlands and Brisbane Forest Park to road rides like The Hell of the South and A Wheel In Each State. Also some great hilly rides north west of town and a ride to Maroochydore are planned.

I will try and start photographing and documenting the rides as I do them, but will not forecast them here. Please PM me if you would like to come along. They all start very early on Saturday morning. I am open to various starting locations and your input.

Happy cycling.

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leighthebee
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby leighthebee » Fri Jun 25, 2010 11:40 am

If your prepared to be patient, I'm in with bells on :D

Have started riding a couple of weeks back on an old Trek MTB. Have ordered a Roubaix (hope to have this weekend), work in the Redlands, live over Holland Park way.

Have pretty much exhausted Toohey Forest, am planning a ride at Daisy Hill in the next couple of weeks and looking to get pretty serious as long as the body holds up. Wife is a park ranger who works at BFP and both Daisy Hill....

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Fri Jun 25, 2010 11:52 am

Too good. A response from the same suburb. Sounds like a plan. I had a couple of other replies via PM, but nothing concrete yet. I'll PM you my details.

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sat Jun 26, 2010 1:31 pm

I promised to keep a record of these rides. So....

Last weekend I rode down to the crit track at Murarrie to blow some dust out of the roadie. I couldn't bare the thought of countless circles and just rode past coming home later with 90 something on the clock. That was the first time I'd ridden more than 60km on the road for over a year and a half. I've been in a prolonged MTB phase after discovering the joys of 29er ownership.

Today was a ride I was looking forward to because I recieved my new Zondas to replace my shagged out Sciroccos. I've done it a million times - almost a million? Home to Wynnum and a coastal/riverside ride to the Logan Hyperdome, across the freeway, service road, Loanlea Rd, Kingston Rd, Browns Plains Rd, Johnson Rd, Staypleton Rd, Blunder & Oxley Rd, Graceville Ave, Fairfield Rd, Cornwall St, LoganRd, Old Cleveland Rd, Cavendish Rd.

135km at 28.95kph. Not happy with the average speed as a poor week of driving, drinking free coffe and not enough water, especially on the ride had me feeling less chirpy than I'd like to be after 135km. Riding is about more than the numbers and i was never going to not enjoy today after such a long time on the MTB.

Not exactly a typical winters day here. Still haven't seen the sun and not likely too. These photos are amazing in clear winter weather and I was there at a perfect time too. Doesn't matter.

These at Wynnum where you first come out on the Esplanade opposite Agnes St. Not much i can do about the clouds, unfortunately.

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I have loads of much better pics from this loop. I may dig them up later.

Have a good weekend, a good week and happy cycling.

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trailgumby
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby trailgumby » Sat Jun 26, 2010 3:01 pm

Great post, MG.

And don't worry about the clouds - they really set the atmosphere for the first two shots.

Edit: just noticed the bike in the bottom right corner of photo 2 with it's light pointed at the ground - I really like your shot composition, mate. :D

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baabaa
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby baabaa » Tue Jun 29, 2010 9:31 pm

..........discovering the joys of 29er ownership............

Like it. Yes these things are fun.

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sat Jul 03, 2010 8:27 pm

Today was not the greatest, but I'll bore you with it anyway.

Alarm goes off at 4.30. It's raining. Woke up again at 5.00. Still raining. Day turns in to a picture perfect example. I check the rain gagues on the BOM website. About 10mm where I want to go.

After some stuffing about, I eventually take off from the end of Lightline Rd after parking on Lake Manchester Rd. Up Lightline to Job 6 Rd and up Cabbage Tree Range Rd. Down Banks Creek Rd which may still be Dundas Rd until you get to the bottom. Either way it doesn't matter. Did a fair bit of exploring around that area and back to Branch Creek Rd, Lightline Rd and back to the car.

The fire roads were as dead as a door knob and slow in many parts, which I expected, but did well to ignore, because that's the type of thing you don't want to think about. It's nice to not be about to run out of water, but enough rain is enough rain. It's winter, OK, so just bugger off already.

Not quite as far as I'd hoped to ride today, but a very steep 50km in the end, after it looked like a write off. Enough really considering the slow surface. Sorry, I forgot the camera and a perfect day in the end. Next time.

Happy cycling.

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Tue Jul 13, 2010 5:02 pm

Saturday's ride was interesting. A bloke I ride with sometimes tells me he wants a decent 80km hitout before the Epic in a month or so. He wants to go to the BFP because he hasn't been there in years. I wasn't intending to prove a point, but I plotted us an 80km ride in there, not really thinking about just how hard it'd be.

Well, 81km later we'd started at Bielby Rd, ridden throught the Mount Cootha Forrest Park and along the Boscomb Rd single track, entering the BFP on South Boundary Rd. 5km of Mt Nebo Rd and down Lightline Rd to Job 6 Rd and up Cabbage Tree Range Rd, which is a fairly steep 8km climb to the intersection of Dundas and Goodes Rd. Down what is probably Goodes Rd or Banks Creek Rd, through the gate behind the shanty town and along to the merge with Branch Creek Rd.

Back up to Lightline and down the track between Lightline and Creek Rd. Creek Rd was murder as it always is and we walked the second climb. I could hardly believe I usually ride it as we shuffled up it. The sight of South Boundary meant 16.5km of fast decent coming up, but those power climbs on the way down were more of a grind with no fuel left.

I can't believe I didn't take a camera with me again. Something I was determined to do when I started this thread. Anyway, here is and old one of Augies Rd and a couple of friends I bumped in to there about two years ago. I have plenty more, but these will do.

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One thing that really occured to me after such a long and steep ride was just how brilliant a bike the Big Mama is. I had no fuel in the tank after this ride, but also had no recovery time. The way it climbed was outstanding. No variation in chain tension as with the hard tail it replaced enabling me to pick a gear and nuckle down maintaining exact cadence and cruising over the trail in front of me as the bike dealt with all variations. At one stage when Cabbage Tree Range was starting to get me down, I gave a poke of the controls with my right thumb and found one more gear. There's three short little flats on the way up and I mustn't have gone back down all the way.

I felt a bit guilty about the difficulty of this ride, but I also know that not so far back, we both would have scaled Creek Rd at the end of such a monster ride, albeit slowly.

I've never had both road bike and MTB screaming so hard for attention. Clear winter weather this weekend for the first time in donkey's aswell. What will I do? I'm not certain yet, but it will be bloody good.

Happy cycling.

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Lark2004
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby Lark2004 » Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:21 pm

Looks like a really nice area... I might have to take the MTB out there one day and have a poke around.
Andrew

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Tue Jul 13, 2010 7:47 pm

G'day Andrew

Grab a map from Welcome Creek at the Enogerra Reservoir. They were $10 about 4 years ago. You may be able to do a deal over the phone and have them post it out.

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Lark2004
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby Lark2004 » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:32 am

cheers for that... I'll probably be over that way today with work, so I'll drop in grab one.
Andrew

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sat Jul 17, 2010 1:28 pm

Today I went to the most picturesque part of the BFP riding what is known locally as the Super V in both directions. Parking at Maiala on Mt Glorious it goes Joyners Ridge Rd, England Creek Rd, Lawton Rd, starting and finishing on Mt Glorious Rd.

You'll all be thrilled to hear that I remembered to take the camera. I switched it on and it had a nice little message for me. "Insert new battery pack" if I recall correctly. When I uploaded some photos last week I must have forgotten to turn it off when I pulled out the USB cord.

This is good and bad. Bad because it is definately the best trails for photos. There is a lot of rainforest, big trees, ferns etc. It is also hard to get view shots in the BFP because of the near tree line. There is great views everywhere, but it's hard to photograph. This ride has some great exceptions to this and also some of the best views aswell. It's good because I haven't done this ride for ages and I'm now very keen to get back there soon and take those pics.

The ride was just under 50km which was a lot shorter than last week and I feel a little underdone to be honest, but I did know before I left, so I put in a little extra effort instead on simply focussing on survival. It touched on 65kph a few times and almost overshot a few turns. Something you can only do once for real in there.

Picture wise, this thread is a disaster. Only one bloke showing up for one ride too. Trust me to go on an 80km vertical nightmare that day, LOL.

Have a good week.

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Pax
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby Pax » Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:16 pm

Hey MG, this is a great thread. Enjoying your reports. Hope that it might be possible to hook up later in the year for a ride or two (Road Bike) when I am back to fitness. But even if we don't I'm enjoying the local reports

Thanks
Tim

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sat Jul 17, 2010 8:00 pm

G'day Tim,

I'm interested in a ride up north. I'm thinking meet the family somewhere in the Mooloolaba, Maroochydore strip, lunch and home or going back to Nambour for the train. Also a Coolangatta, wheel in each state and back. My annual Hell of The South ride is a must in coming weeks. Brisbane, Bromelton, Coulson, Peak Crossing, Ipswich, return. Time is running out before the birds go mad, so don't wait till your totally fit. Just grab a wheel. Once Andrew and Wazza cave in you'll have a nice little selection of blokes to sit on. There's no obligation on each rider to drive a social ride, surely.

I'm really wishing there were more Saturdays in a week lately. I finish relieving in my boss's job soon, so every second Monday comes back to me then too.

Oh, the camera. Must go and charge it.

Cheers.

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Lark2004
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby Lark2004 » Sun Jul 18, 2010 4:45 pm

Thread Hijack!!!!

here's a few pics from my little ride this afternoon (60k's from Lawnton out to Dayboro, up Mt Mee and back again)

15 minutes of climbing Mt Mee from Dayboro gives you this view back down to Dayboro
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But there's still 20 minutes of climbing to go :|
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And this is the view that waits for you at Townsend Rd....
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and then after a banana and squirt of water... it's 5 mins of pure adrenalin as you descend back down the Mountain to Dayboro.
Andrew

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Dizz
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby Dizz » Sun Jul 18, 2010 11:20 pm

MountGower wrote:.... I finish relieving in my boss's job soon, so every second Monday comes back to me then too.... .
Hi MG, I'm from Wynnum and I normally ride during the week; I would be keen to join you on some of your Monday rides. By the way this is a great thread and I especially love the photos, great work. :D

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:53 am

G'day Dizz,

Mondays are usually more of a shorter ride for me. If on the MTB is usually Daisy Hill or an out and back on South Boundary Rd. On the road bike it'd be through Wynnum for certain but only about 100km. This is so I can get back home by about 9.30 and spend the day with my wife. I will definately PM you when I get my first Monday off. Hang in there.

Thanks for the reply.

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Dizz
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby Dizz » Mon Jul 19, 2010 5:02 pm

MountGower wrote:G'day Dizz,

... On the road bike it'd be through Wynnum for certain but only about 100km. This is so I can get back home by about 9.30 ...
So close yet so far :( The distance is good but I won’t ride that earlier in winter. In winter I scale back to between 200-300km/week from 10am-3pm, Mon-Fri.

Anyway, I still like following your thread and perhaps we might have an opportunity to ride together in summer. :)

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:04 pm

Today’s ride was the same as last week, The Super V, with an extra run down Lawton Rd, half way to Wivenhoe Dam and back in search of some better photo opportunities. This bumped the ride to a more acceptable 50+km.

Lawton Rd certainly threw up some truly amazing panoramic views west of the England Creek Rd turn off, but they suffered from exactly the same problem as always. The views were just brilliant over the dam and beyond, but a decent photo was not able to be taken due to the near tree line. It wasn’t until I started descending England Creek Rd that I was able to get any sort of distant shots and even then it’s really lacking because you have to zoom through the trees and the angle gets cut down drastically.

It’s amazing what you find when you are looking for photo opportunities. That pool at the bottom of England Creek, I kid you not, is about 2.5m deep and if it were summer I’d have been in there like a shot. The water was crystal clear and I’d say even in summer would be quite cold.

A couple of the picture towards the end were taken whilst riding, so are blurred at the bottom and sides. Am effect I actually liked when I saw it.

As I’ve said, this is definitely the most picturesque part of the BFP. My next ride in there will probably be a standard South Boundary, Lightline, Creek Rd, South Boundary Loop to narrow down travel time and increase ride time.

I can’t ride next Saturday morning due to another commitment, but will fit something in and try to keep this thread updated. The weather looks bad for the next week, so here’s hoping it doesn’t interfere too much. I have tomorrow of work and the road bike is giving me some nastly looks, as it has been doing a lot lately.

Until next time………

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:05 pm

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MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:08 pm

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MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:12 pm

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beanspropulsion
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Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby beanspropulsion » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:16 pm

Fantastic scenery MG.

Went mountain bike riding with some of the outlaws when I went to the UK last year. Mad buggers they are, having to wash your damn bike after every ride..... And cuts from brambles and stinging nettles and the mud......

Was heaps of fun, i'm serously thinking of selling a spare bike and getting a mountain bike for winter.

What sort of entry level would be ok for Brisbane Forest park MG? What's the cheapest I could get away with without being too cheap? I suppose a hardtail would suffice?

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sun Jul 25, 2010 12:40 pm

G'day and thanks.

I'm no photographer really and BFP syndrome as I call the near tree line is a problem, but it's hard to take a bad one in some places, not withstanding all the bad ones you didn't get to see.

What bike to get is a matter of opinion where you'll get a differnt one in some way for every rider you ask. I agree with the hart tail for the first bike arguement only to a point, that being budgetry. I am almost 41 and bought a dual sus bike to try and limit the sore muscles, shins etc from a long ride. It has exeeded my expectations massively and I now have almost zero recovery time from rides now. Just a case of refueling, not recovering.

I think that if you are my age, have pre-existing soreness from sport or are heavy, then a dual suspension bike would be a great idea. It would be a shame to buy a hard tail and not enjoy it for any of those reasons. It would also be a shame if your fitness was high, but ride times and distances were restricted because of discomfort.

Also don't be told by anyone that 29" wheels are a substitute for rear suspension. This is in no way true. Now is a great time to buy. There are sales everywhere and I wouldn't restrict myself the a few nearby shops. Drive to where ever you have to. You'll only benefit from buying locally if you have warranty failure, which is uncommon.

I love riding on and off the road. At the moment I am in a very extended MTB phase and I attribute that to the bike. It's just the best thing I have ever ridden, almost entirely because of the rear suspension.

I hope that doesn't confuse the issue too much or temp you to spend money you shouldn't. I rode the same HT for 8 years.
What's the cheapest I could get away with without being too cheap? I suppose a hardtail would suffice?
To answer this specifically, I think the best value for money available now is the Giant XTC 29er which I have heard selling for around $1600 in some places. There is plenty of 26" HTs on sale at the moment. A matter of budget and how much you can justify stretching it.

Cheers.

MountGower

Re: Middle Distance Rides

Postby MountGower » Sun Aug 08, 2010 11:44 am

Me again.

Last week I did not update this thread because I have a twice annual commitment which occurs on a Saturday. I snuck out for a couple of 40km blasts down some paths. Just thinking about that, there is some good photo opportunities on our bike paths, but I'll wait for a wet day when I ride them all.

Yesterday was my first decent road ride in too long. From Coorparoo through South Brisbane and up Waterworks Rd, Mt Nebo, Mt Glorious and down to Samford. I had someone with me who was good enough to wait while I dragged my backside up there. After being dropped coming in to Samford I figured that if noone was waiting all the way at Alderley, I was on my own. I hope nothing bad happened to them.

So I headed up South Pine and Old Northern Rds and down to Strathpine, Lawnton, Petrie, Kallangur and over the Bruce Hwy to Redcliffe. After some 5 minutes of birdseed and shrivelled up little things I headed down and over the new bridge, through Brighton and Sandgate and Down Sandgate Rd, Nudgee Rd, over the Gateway Bridge and home along Wynnum Rd.

All up 161km. I am usually a person who keeps a close eye on average speed and nearly always riding alone, it has been a good sourse of motivation in the past. Being rusty in the road department, I never looked at it until I was on Nudgee Rd and was, at that stage too spent to do anything about it and fell just short of 25kph. I blame the steepness of the roads ofcourse, without which a few more kph would have been possible.

Another good thing was that the magpies had discovered that their recent early madness was all a mistake and took the day off to enjoy the cold, dry air and take in some nice views somewhere. Much appreciated. I may even try my luck on the road again next weekend after their kindness.

I had to order some SD cards at work and discovered a free programme called Panorama 4 inside. I gave it a go and here is a couple from yesterday. One from Redcliffe and the other from Mt Nebo looking over the Samford Valley. Hopefully you can zoom in scroll from side to side or what ever.

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Whilst I was on the Gateway, I met an alien and asked him to take a photo for me whilst I regained my composure. If you look closely you can see him.

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My pack horse looked so good in the sun yesterday, you could hardly tell how dirty it was.

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See you next time. Have a good week.

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