Brisbane Weekday Rides

[ft_critical]

Hello,

Planning on being in Brisbane for a week. Looking for some group rides during the week. I have heard of the Park Road Ride. Where does that go? Would like to do a Samford loop. I will be South-West side - Moggill way.

Thanks for your help,

[goneriding]

The Park Road ride does a reverse Loop. There are 2 - 3 groups that go from La Dolce Vita. Wednesday (?) and Saturday. I've done the Saturday one in the second group. Average was around 30 kph which was a bit on the slow side.

There is a River Loop ride that goes from Hillstone (Indooroopilly Golf Course) near the Uni. From memory there is a fast group that does the Loop (~45 km's) in the mid 30's and a slower one. This goes on a Friday. I can find out if it goes on other days. Worst case just get yourself down to Coronation Drive and wait for a bunch to go past.

Where you will be based isn't far from Mt Coot-tha so you could get a few laps of that in as part of a River Loop. A nice 2.3 km climb (AT) 9%.

Most important is coffee at The Garage at South Bank!

If you are up for a bit of climbing, try Mt's Nebo and Glorious which you can then get to Samford from. On the way to Samford is Mt O'Reilly's Road off on one of the side roads. Highly recommended for a climbing challenge (avg 20% gradient).

The Zupps ride is the Brisbane version of the Coluzzi ride. 90 km round trip to Sandgate. Flat and fast. It is on the other side of Brisbane to where you will be.

[ft_critical]

There is a River Loop ride that goes from Hillstone (Indooroopilly Golf Course) near the Uni. From memory there is a fast group that does the Loop (~45 km's) in the mid 30's and a slower one. This goes on a Friday. I can find out if it goes on other days. Worst case just get yourself down to Coronation Drive and wait for a bunch to go past.

Where you will be based isn't far from Mt Coot-tha so you could get a few laps of that in as part of a River Loop. A nice 2.3 km climb (AT) 9%.

Most important is coffee at The Garage at South Bank!

If you are up for a bit of climbing, try Mt's Nebo and Glorious which you can then get to Samford from. On the way to Samford is Mt O'Reilly's Road off on one of the side roads. Highly recommended for a climbing challenge (avg 20% gradient).

The Zupps ride is the Brisbane version of the Coluzzi ride. 90 km round trip to Sandgate. Flat and fast. It is on the other side of Brisbane to where you will be.

Thanks. Great info. Indooroopilly is close so if you can find out whether there are other than Friday rides, that would be good. If not I will do a Friday. I would probably be a bit nervous doing Nebo/Glorious on my own and a first timer, but would love to do it. I am nervous enough about riding out on Moggill road

[BrisVegas]

If you're nervous about Moggil Road, you can jump on the Centenary Highway bikepath, off to the left, just after the underpass on Moggil Road and that takes you to Toowong via bike path. Approaching Toowong, you'll notice the huge pedestrian/cycle overpass as you come up to Anzac Park. If you want to go do a Mt Coot-tha loop, that overpass is where you need to go.

Plenty of riders congregate on Park Rd near the Eiffel Tower (replica). I do a river loop from there Tues & Thur around 5am, but I'm pretty slow. Once you're on the loop, you'll find someone riding at your pace you can join up with.

There are 3 groups leave from the 100 Acre bar (St Lcuia golf course) on Fridays at 5:30am. Fast, med and cruisers. It's a great spot to meet other cyclists and the setting is quite nice.

[ft_critical]

If you're nervous about Moggil Road, you can jump on the Centenary Highway bikepath, off to the left, just after the underpass on Moggil Road and that takes you to Toowong via bike path. Approaching Toowong, you'll notice the huge pedestrian/cycle overpass as you come up to Anzac Park. If you want to go do a Mt Coot-tha loop, that overpass is where you need to go.

Thanks BrisVegas. More nervous about Moggill road after Kenmore heading for Moggill. I have to use that to get to and from rides. Will try some Cootha reps one morning if there is no Samford option. Would like to try the run out through Karrana Downs too, but again no hard shoulder.

[PawPaw]

Being out Kenmore way, you want to try
A: Upper Brookfield Rd (nice dead end) though some tell me it's a busier on week mornings.
B: Cross behind Coot-tha on Gap Creek Rd and get up to Mt Nebo. Should be reasonably quiet during the week before 630am.
C: a Coot-tha and River loop would be the way to go though, with coffee at the Garage (Southbank) or Corner Shop Cafe (Sylvan Road)

There's a northern burbs ride from Tom Wallace Shop Lutwyche up to Sandgate Brighton. starts 530am every Thursday from the shop. usually gets 30 odd riders.

[ft_critical]

Being out Kenmore way, you want to try
A: Upper Brookfield Rd (nice dead end) though some tell me it's a busier on week mornings.
B: Cross behind Coot-tha on Gap Creek Rd and get up to Mt Nebo. Should be reasonably quiet during the week before 630am.
C: a Coot-tha and River loop would be the way to go though, with coffee at the Garage (Southbank) or Corner Shop Cafe (Sylvan Road)

Wow Gap Creek road. I used to train - motorcross - as a teenager. Nearly got killed by a Range Rover early one morning. But a great suggestion.

[ValleyForge]

Being out Kenmore way, you want to try
A: Upper Brookfield Rd (nice dead end) though some tell me it's a busier on week mornings.
B: Cross behind Coot-tha on Gap Creek Rd and get up to Mt Nebo. Should be reasonably quiet during the week before 630am.
C: a Coot-tha and River loop would be the way to go though, with coffee at the Garage (Southbank) or Corner Shop Cafe (Sylvan Road)

Wow Gap Creek road. I used to train - motorcross - as a teenager. Nearly got killed by a Range Rover early one morning. But a great suggestion.

I used to powerslide my Datsun 1200 on the dirt back in the day. It's mighty different now. It's a good ride in either direction. A couple of 15% grades but not as long as Coot-tha. Is beautifully sealed and fairly quiet. Only problem is Waterworks Rd at the other end!

Maybe just loop at the Dillon Rd roundabout & come back to the western suburbs.

[goneriding]

I would probably be a bit nervous doing Nebo/Glorious on my own and a first timer, but would love to do it. I am nervous enough about riding out on Moggill road

Moggill Rd was one I didn't enjoy overly as I didn't feel very safe. Mt Nebo on the other hand is a known cyclist hangout and is pretty quiet most of the time (especially compared to Sydney!) so you will be pretty safe. You can always tack yourself onto a bunch heading out along The Gap or get yourself to the McDonalds on Waterworks Rd as quite a few people leave from there.

There is another route you could take to Ipswich via Mt Crosby. Lot's of up and down and quiet decent roads.

[ft_critical]

Just back from Brisbane. Only ended up doing two rides. Thanks for the advice.

I did Nebo, Glorious via Gap Creek road from Moggill which was 104km and a pretty surprising 2.5km of climbing. The small hills were the surprise, very steep and punishing, some at 17% or so. There was one on the way back on Pinjarra Road that made me want to walk.
But what a ride. I would have to say the best ride I have done. It is virtually country riding all the way. I was lucky with an epic morning weatherwise. How good is Gap Creek road? Smooth empty and a pretty ride. The ride between Nebo and Glorious is like being in a rainforest, simply beautiful. The views of the hinterland are stunning in the morning. I will definitely bring my bike up again to do that ride. There was a landslide on the Samford Valley side, so I had to go back down Nebo the way I came. What a decent! Just when you think you need to brake, the corner opens up to you and shows you the way. The surface is excellent, the corners are constant radius and on camber. What a ride!
I missed both the fast river loop and the Park Road Ride. I ended up doing a ride with a slow group through the river loop on Sat morning, then took off and did Cootha on my own at the end for about 100km. I could not have followed the river loop without a group to help me. Also, probably best to have done it slowly first rather than at manic pace as it is pretty twisty, turny. Such a beautiful ride though. Actually, doing it slowly also meant I could enjoy the views and houses. One of the guys explained all the sprint points and key points on the ride so that was useful also. He suggested I must try the Zupps ride one day also.
Cootha was funny. I didn't know the climb so I took it easy. I discovered the strava segment but I didn't know where it started before I climbed it. So I was 9.31. When I got to the roundabout, I asked another cyclist if this was the end of the climb, he said no it is the tower. So I pushed on, but there are like 4 towers, one after another for every TV station. I would get to one and slow down, then see another in the distance.

Well you Queenslanders are spoilt for some beautiful rides I must say.

[ValleyForge]

Cootha was funny. I didn't know the climb so I took it easy. I discovered the strava segment but I didn't know where it started before I climbed it. So I was 9.31. When I got to the roundabout, I asked another cyclist if this was the end of the climb, he said no it is the tower. So I pushed on, but there are like 4 towers, one after another for every TV station. I would get to one and slow down, then see another in the distance.

You must have gone clockwise around Coot-tha. The timed segment I guess most of us know is on the back section away from the city view, so timed in an anti-clockwise direction.

[goneriding]

Gotta love Nebo for a great ride! Close to the City, great views, country road with an awesome descent if you make the effort to go all the way up! It is the ride I miss most from Brissy.