Page 1 of 2

Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:18 pm
by Le Velo
Wondering if anyone has ridden from Brisbane to the sunny coast and wht would be the best route?
I had a look on a few mapping site and found a few routes that go along the way to the old gimpy road onto Steve Irwin way however have read reports that thensteve Irwin is not very bike friendly?
Anyone care to share their ride experience via that way?
I'll be leaving Brisbane mid morning and from my place is about 140km to mooloolaba

Much appreciated

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:42 pm
by RonK
I posted some advice and maps here that may be useful. Once you get to the Caloundra turnoff it's up to you where you want to go - across to Caloundra or maybe continue further north to Sippy Downs or even further.The motorway extends all the way to the Caloundra turnoff now so there is no choice but to use the alternative route that I mentioned.

I think you will also find maps on Bikely.com for the USM Noosa Century ride - these you may find useful as they mostly avoid the busier roads at the cost of some fairly steep but mercifully short climbs.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 12:15 am
by Purt
I went up there about 2 weeks ago.

On the way up I went out to Dayboro, over Mt Mee, Woodford, Maleny then down.

http://app.strava.com/rides/11104271

On the way back I went Old Gympie Rd from Landsborough to Caboolture (about 15 minutes of dirt coming into Caboolture - from 38km to 46km on the map - but you can go out to Beerburum Rd to divert it)

http://app.strava.com/rides/11262947


Definitely go the first way, over Mt Mee and Maleny. It's a really nice ride with some amazing views, the other way is flat and boring.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 8:57 am
by Le Velo
Thanks ROnk some good infos on that site.

Purt, thank for the links for the maps, I think map 2 is along the lines of what I had in mind.
How did you find the Old gympie and the steve Irwin section? Enough shoulder? Road quality / condition?
Thanks for your help

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 9:46 am
by Purt
Old Gympie Rd was alright, I only had about 10 cars go past me. It's not exactly smooth but it's not bad. When I do it again I'll go the same way, it's a lot more chilled than Steve Irwin Way you can relax. Chicken sheds smell like !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! though.

Steve Irwin Way has a pretty big shoulder so you've got tonnes of room, a lot of tourists and a lot of trucks though.

You can check out street view anywhere along the road, I think they even go over the dirt section.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:51 am
by Crawf
Ridden the Steve Irwin section from Caloundra Southbound to Beerburrum and wont be doing it again, the shoulder starts off great at the Northern end but the shoulder soon comes and goes and the surface is pretty course at times.
I'd cut in and go Old Gympie the next time and enjoy the hills and improved scenery.

Partial route:
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/46876884

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:06 am
by Le Velo
Looks like i will stick to the old gympie road section and only go on the steve Irwin from landsborough to Caloundra road which is about 8km I think.
Ride mapped out and is 144km from home, should be a good few hours in the saddle ..... not sure am looking forward to the chook shed smell tho :shock:

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:36 am
by Purt
The 8km, has a got quite a big shoulder like >1m.

There's only like 2 spots where you'll smell them but one felt like it went for about a km, I felt like I was going to gag. You might get lucky with the wind :P

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:39 am
by PawPaw
Out of Brisbane, two routes:

Gympie Rd, Bald Hills, Petrie, Narangba Rd, Burpengary Rd, Station Rd, O'Brien Rd, Lindsay Rd, Morayfield
OR
Sandgate Rd, Elizabeth Ave, Snook St, Anzac Ave, (back streets of Rothwell if preferred), Deception Bay Rd, Old Bay Rd, Burpengary, Morayfield.


I did Steve Irwin Way last year southbound from Landsborough, and won't do it again. The traffic is too fast and the shoulder is inconsistent. if you are going up mid morning, then I'd imagine it would be even worse. Old Gympie and Beerburrum Rds are much lighter traffic wise, but you still have to be careful riding solo.

Heading north of Caboolture, we turn right onto Pumicestone Rd, then left into Dances and Hamilton Rds, then left at the top end into Mansfield Rd and back on Beerburrum Rd. It's much lighter in traffic and keeps you off Beerburrum Rd for about 6 kms.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 12:09 pm
by Abby
+1 to avoiding Steve Irwin Way (at least until Landsborough).

I've done the big ride twice - first time used Steve Irwin Way. Felt lucky to be alive after that!! After Landsborough though, it's totally fine.

2nd time, I used Old Gympie Rd instead. Much calmer, scenic and relaxing. Easily the superior choice...!! :D

Its a nice ride most of the time - both times I've done Mt Gravatt to Caloundra. Very enjoyable...

Cheers,
Abby

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 11:28 pm
by PawPaw
When Purt said he/she did Old Gympie Rd all the way, I was curious as I'd raced up at Elimbah for the last 2 weeks and wasn't aware it was ok for roadies. I had business in Glass House Mtns today so tried to drive up Old Gympie Rd over the sections below, but the road was closed due to flooding.

Heading north
Between the fork of Old Gympie Rd and SMiths Rd, just south of Elimbah, and Twin View Rd.
= 3.2km of gravel road
Image

Between Twin View Rd and Beerburrum Woodford Rd
= 4.6km of gravel road
Image

I've ridden Old Gympie
from Caboolture to Smiths Rd, Elimbah, which is reasonable.
from Beerburrum Woodford Rd to Landsborough, also ok.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 10:47 am
by Le Velo
PawPaw wrote:When Purt said he/she did Old Gympie Rd all the way, I was curious as I'd raced up at Elimbah for the last 2 weeks and wasn't aware it was ok for roadies. I had business in Glass House Mtns today so tried to drive up Old Gympie Rd over the sections below, but the road was closed due to flooding.

Heading north
Between the fork of Old Gympie Rd and SMiths Rd, just south of Elimbah, and Twin View Rd.
= 3.2km of gravel road
Image

Between Twin View Rd and Beerburrum Woodford Rd
= 4.6km of gravel road
Image

I've ridden Old Gympie
from Caboolture to Smiths Rd, Elimbah, which is reasonable.
from Beerburrum Woodford Rd to Landsborough, also ok.

Geez I was only planning a ride not an adventure .... Looks like I'll be avoiding those 2 section and get back on the old gympie road section that is more civilized.
I have ridden on similar roads going to Warwick and not a fan of the gravel tracks

Thanks for the heads up

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:45 am
by RonK
As I suggested before, the USM Noosa Century route on Bikely is probably the best choice to avoid busy roads. Keil Mountain is a bit of a challenge but a worst you may have to walk a 100 metres or so.

Here is the Bikely route.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2012 12:29 pm
by Le Velo
RonK wrote:As I suggested before, the USM Noosa Century route on Bikely is probably the best choice to avoid busy roads. Keil Mountain is a bit of a challenge but a worst you may have to walk a 100 metres or so.

Here is the Bikely route.
Thanks Ronk,that's pretty much what I mapped out until landsborough where I get on the Steve Irwin stretch to caloundra road which is only about 8km and plenty of shoulder. Have ridden from there to moololaba previously
Will keep you posted on how the travel goes .... Cheers

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2012 8:03 pm
by Le Velo
Ride report
Travel time 4:30min and distance of 139km covered
Average speed of 30.9kkph

Left western suburb at 10:30 this morning, a bit later than expected but had to tidy over a couple of things for work before leaving. The garmin did not want to play the game and would not load the map I mapped out on map my ride.
Had travel notes in the pocket, had a good look over the map and had a cheat note stuck on the top tube with main turn off and distance also which helped a lot considering it was my first ride up there that way.
I was quit familiar with some of the roads having gone up to redcliffe a similar way so was all good till then, then from there I referred to my notes and had to stop a couple of times to check the gos on the iPhone due to the lack of signage.
I went on gympie road all the way to beerburum road then left onto wood ford road. A bit of rough surface, no shoulder but considering the minimal amount of traffic it was comfortable to ride on and the few cars that overtook me were we're civilized and left plenty of space. Back on the old gympie road from Woodford road I think I may have seen about 3-4 cars only ..... A bit of rough roads and some rolling parts but the sceneray was lovely and went pass close the the glasshouse which was nice. The weather was good which helped also. As I got closer to landsborough the traffic picked up but there was plenty of shoulder there and on the Steve Irwin also till caloundra road where I turned off onto corbould road till nicklin way then off to mooloolaba
Really enjoyed the ire and felt it was pretty good to ride that way. In all honesty I found the gympie road section on the north side of Brisbane to be more hectic than any of the other roads I was on later today .....
Will be doing the ride back down on Friday after the short break is over and back to work :shock:

Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:02 pm
by themerlin
Like the look of some of those ride, but how do younger home again :)

Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:19 pm
by RonK
You can get the train back from Nambour, or even Yandina I think. Check the timetables first though.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 9:55 pm
by Le Velo
Ride back like I did ! Spend a day or two up the coast and same route to ride down .... Problem solved !

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:37 pm
by jacob_T
Planning on doing this ride (starting from the sunny coast) sometime in the next few weeks.
Slightly nervous about having enough water for the trip.

I'll let you know how I go.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:42 pm
by RonK
If you are going via Steve Irwin Way there are plenty of opportunities to replenish your water.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:44 pm
by Purt
RonK wrote:If you are going via Steve Irwin Way there are plenty of opportunities to replenish your water.
Same with woodford/inland way.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:56 pm
by jacob_T
Purt wrote:
RonK wrote:If you are going via Steve Irwin Way there are plenty of opportunities to replenish your water.
Same with woodford/inland way.

Oh Great. Well I look forward to giving this a crack then. Will be my first ride over 100kms.

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 4:04 pm
by RobM
Thread resurrection.

Probably riding from Brisbane up to Caloundra early on Saturday morning.
Proposing to go via the below route:
https://www.strava.com/routes/2586595

Main question: Old Gympie Rd from Caboolture to Landsborough - I know its got some short gravel sections. But are we talking smooth dirt road or gnarly singletrack rock gardens? I'll be on a road bike (23mm tyres).
Anyone ridden/driven that way recently?

Cheers
Rob

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:38 am
by elantra
Sorry mate no idea.
If concerned about the state of the road you can get on the train for some of the way, but i think it is only an hourly service.
(i think the there is a railbus service between each train service, but i doubt you will be allowed to get on the railbus with a bike).

Re: Brisbane to sunny coast route help / advice

Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:43 am
by RonK
Check Streetview in Google Maps