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In August 2012, there was a major geology meeting in Brisbane which was a perfect excuse for another bikeride around SE Qld. Yes, august is winter, but Brisbane is cool rather than cold in winter. As part of the conference I offered to run 2 short bicycle events for geologists at the conference and there were 7 participants for the 2 hour ride around Brisbane city on a sunday afternoon and 3 participants for a longer 2 day ride to the Glasshouse mountains and Caloundra beach.
As usual, I rode to the airport in Darwin and packed my REACH folding bike and checked it in for the midnight flight to Brisbane, where I reassembled the bike upon arrival at 5:30 am. It was still dark and cold outside the terminal, so I deliberately had a very slow coffee while I waited for some warmth from the morning sun before riding off to the city centre. I knew it was not easy to cycle from the airport to the city as there was no continuous bike route and many busy roads and a freeway to cross, so I had mapped out a route using the roads through the freight handling section of the airport. This worked well and led me to a major road along the Brisbane river bank, which had a marked bicycle lane! Amazing - this would be easy after all! But after just a few Km the bike lane simply ended, with no alternative but to block a lane on the busy roadway. Brisbane has tried hard to cater for cycling with numerous bike routes, but they don't quite connect which is quite useless, even dangerous as the motorists don't always understand that cyclists only intermittently have bike lane space.
Brisbane is an interesting city as there are numerous bridges
across
the river at the city centre. Most of these have bicycle access on
a
footpath and 2 of them are restricted to pedestrians and bicycles
only.
One of the pedestrian/cycle bridges had a coffee stall halfway
across
and I stopped there every day en-route to the conference venue to
enjoy
a coffee and serene view of the city as it awoke, while isolated
from
the buzz of the vehicular traffic. On the last afternoon of the
conference 8 of us (using bikes rented from a nearby vendor) rode
on
the bike paths and bridges around the city centre for 2 hours. Our
interesting route included 4 bridges, but could easily have
included 2
more. I particularly liked the fact that the newest bridge, which
charges a toll for motorists to cross, has a dedicated cycleway
and
cyclists cross for free!
After the conference I borrowed 3 bikes from a very kind friend,
Owen,
so that 3 geologists could undertake a 2 day bike tour north to
the
Glasshouse mountains and Caloundra. We caught the train to
Caboolture
where we started our cycling. It was a great sunny day with no
wind and
perfect for enjoying the mostly quiet roads north of Caboolture.
But we
were not traveling very fast and so after lunch at Glasshouse
mountains
we skipped the geology and rode on to Caloundra, a total ride of
about
60 Km. Here we relaxed with a brief swim at sunset. Although we
had
planned to cycle back to Caboolture next day, this would be rather
boring as we would have to use the same road, so we went swimming
instead and arranged to use the bus for return transport. I always
like
to visit the yandina ginger factory, so while Anastasiya caught
local
buses and walked there next day, I cycled the 60 km and arrived
first,
despite getting lost on the way through the densely populated
seaside
suburbs. Buses are good, but bicycles are better! After purchasing
far
too much ginger, ginger chocolate, macadamia nuts, macadamia
coffee and
some tourist souvenirs we traveled to Nambour and this time the
bus was
faster than the bicycle - but not by much!
Anastasiya departed on the train next day to return to Brisbane
and
then Russia, and I met Mike who arrived from Brisbane on the next
train. After spending a pleasant night with Mike and Sandra at
their magic duck-pond villa
nearby, it was time for me to commence my serious cycle touring
and I
headed off up into the mountains next morning. From the Blackall
range
there are impressive views back over the entire sunshine coast
region
and it was a pleasant, though challenging ride. Here I met the
only
other cycle tourist on my journey, a Norwegian. Next day I
traveled
south along the edge of Somerset dam, one of the water storage
reservoirs for Brisbane. It was a pleasant ride, and the
motorcyclists
also enjoy this scenic winding route. After stopping at Esk, it
was
time to climb westwards up onto the top of the great dividing
range.
This quiet route is a great alternative to the other busy highways
up
to the range top. I stayed in Crows Nest, a small town, because my
next
plan was to ride through the Bunya mountains to Kingaroy in one
day,
which would be some 160 km and quite a serious ride. After some 80
Km
across open pasture lands next morning and quite pleasant riding I
stopped for a drink at a small store. The proprietor warned me
that the
road ahead was unpaved, and I could take an alternative road which
was
paved, although this would add about 20 Km to my ride. After
taking the
paved route detour it was some 110 Km to the beginning of the
Bunya
mountains, which started with an immediate 20 % gradient long
climb. I
climbed very slowly up into the densely forested hilltops but it
was
already late in the day, I was tiring and I was still 60 Km from
the
nearest overnight accommodation! After a seriously undulating and
challenging ride along the ridge top of the mountains, i reached
the
descent, which was terrifyingly steep and twisty on a very narrow
roughly paved surface. After another 50 Km I reached Kingaroy just
after dark and was glad to find a motel to rest for the night
after a
ride of 185 Km. Sometime in the last few days I had contracted the
flu,
despite having had a flu vaccination, and with the exertion of the
ride
through the Bunya mountains I needed to rest for a day in Kingaroy
before continuing, as the next few days rides would also be quite
long.
From Kingaroy, the peanut growing capital of queensland, I rode
north
to Gayndah, a major citrus friutgrowing region. This was a nice
ride
through open, gently undulating sunny fields all day, but there
were
almost no shops for the last 100 Km and it is necessary to carry
food
and drinks on this inland route to Gayndah. By now I had decided
to
return to Brisbane and fly home in 3 days time, so I needed to
ride
some long distances to keep on schedule. The ride east from
Gayndah to
Maryborough is pleasant but long, and I made it longer by deciding
to
visit the paradise dam en-route, which entailed a 40 Km detour. So
this
became another 180 Km riding day with an evening arrival at my
destination. Arriving at Gympie the next evening was exciting as I
arrived in the middle of the Gympie muster, a music festival. I
was
lucky to get a motel room with help from a bike shop proprietor
whom i
spoke to, as most of the accommodation in town was booked out.
Next day i rode south to Nambour through the very enjoyable
sunshine
coast hinterlands with several saturday morning markets in full
operation. But I did not stop at the markets as I choose not to
buy
things which i would then have to carry on the bike. It is better
to
look and enjoy the memories rather than carry heavy souvenirs!
From
Nambour I caught the train to Brisbane to avoid the traffic
congestion
in the sprawling Brisbane suburbs. I planned to ride the last 10
Km to
the airport from the trian station, but bicycle access to the
airport was quite difficult, even though I had expected
that. I
became lost on a bicycle path to nowhere and
eventually carried the bike up an embankment and over a fence to
reach
a busy highway
towards the airport. Unexpectedly, I found a bicycle lane at the
next
intersection - but it disappeared just as soon as i crossed the
intersection, and I then guessed my way through a maze of freeway
access
ramps and overpasses, eventually finding a route into the airport.
Once again I folded the bike and checked it in, with no need to
pay
excess baggage. In Darwin, at 1 am next morning I unpacked the
bike and
rode home the last 40 km in the warm night. A successful
conclusion to
another 1500 km cycling journey on my nice and trouble-free
Reach folding
bike.
During my previous tour ( in Melbourne), my Shimano Tiagra gearshift lever had given problems. After that tour I installed a Microshift brand rear derailleur gearshift lever, leaving the Shimano lever installed for the front derailleur. The microshift lever uses 2 "paddles" for gearshift as the brake lever does not twist like Shimano levers. Now this may sound rather odd to mix these 2 different types of lever, but I quickly became used to the shifting. In fact I have come to like the microshift lever as the gear changes are crisp and precise. And I had no problem with the gearshifts in the entire 1500 km journey. Although i have repaired the Shimano Tiagra lever, I presently plan to leave the Microshift lever on the bike as I like it and it works so well!
I originally purchased the Microshift lever groupset as an
emergency
spare as I had had problems with 2 prior Tiagra levers. And
Shimano
lever replacements are surprisingly expensive. But now I am a
convert.
The Microshift levers are reasonably priced and
work very well. Don't
underestimate these nice bike levers!