Sunday 21 December 2014

CLEVELAND loop via Ormiston, Alexandra Hills, Thornlands and Cleveland Point.



It is quite easy to form a habit of riding the same route over and over again  but it doesn't have to be like that. Merely by changing the route slightly by adding a climb into the ride or an unfamiliar trail, the whole aspect of the ride can change and therefore doesn't have to become boring.



Two friends and I started the ride at Cleveland Harbourside climbing 3 consecutive hills in the first 10 minutes, the last two although short, had a gradient of approximately 20% which was enough to get the blood pumping through the veins. These hills are in the suburb of Ormiston, (Dundas Street East and Sleeth Street) and are excellent for training purposes. As an added advantage, the views overlooking Raby Bay from the top are spectacular.


Platypus Corridor

We continued on, weaving our way through a number of forested reserves changing from cement paths to dirt tracks following the creek line until we entered Alexandra Hills.


The ride takes you through 14 forested areas and park lands, in 35 km.


This route took us to Cleveland Point where we stopped at one of our favorite refresher stops, The Lighthouse Restaurant, where we ensconced ourselves for a short period sipping coffee etc. whilst engaging the view.

From here it was only a short ride of 4 km back to our start point.

As Christmas is only a few days away I would like to wish all of my readers a very happy and safe festive season.

Cheers,


Jimmy Bee

Thursday 11 December 2014

THE PEDDLING PATHFINDERS



The Peddling Pathfinders are part of the University of the Third Age ( U3A), Redlands group and was initially set up to search out paths, trails and roads suitable for the much larger Peddling for Pleasure group from the same organisation. We ride every Friday unless the weather is unsuitable and often take a train to the start of the ride and back again on completion. As we are purely recreational riders, the aim is more to the social side than speed and personal bests and apart from experiencing better health, the enjoyment is gained through riding in a variety of different locations around Brisbane. Each year, the number of suitable paths and trails expand and a lot of them actually criss-cross which offers a number of alternatives and variations, particularly if combining rail travel because you can start the ride from one station and finish at another. Our group is small and controllable which is a plus when crossing major roads, it is also easier seating 8 riders rather than 20 when stopping for coffee.


The benefits of riding with a group of friends are many:

You get to share great cafes and have a lot of laughs


There is safety in numbers and we support each other when things go wrong.


Cycling is an excellent form of exercise and it is much more enjoyable doing it together.


Taking in nature at it's best.


Sharing a conversation en route on the train.


or on a ferry.


Even doing the hard yards pushing up hill.


Some of us even wear outrageous socks.


Whilst others just don't give a damn,


All of this and more is a whole lot of fun when riding in a small group.

Cheers,

Jimmy Bee

Monday 1 December 2014

RIDING WITH POINCIANA

Lady in red

After reading the title you are probably wondering who Poinciana is. She is a gorgeous, voluptuous redhead which slips into and out of my life once a year. In fact, the poinciana is a beautiful flowering tree which, when in bloom signals the coming of Christmas. This year however it burst into bloom far earlier than in other years, possibly alerting us to the fact that we are in for a very hot festive season. In all of the years I have lived in the Redlands, I have never experienced a spectacle such as we are experiencing now with these trees in full bloom. Streets of vivid red with just a dash of white.

Red heads are the order of the day

Quite voluptuous

We, in Australia are still in our spring season but a visitor to our fine land may well be mistaken for thinking they had arrived in the middle of summer. Just  recently, I had a friend from England arrive and although she has experienced our summers at their worst, coming from a northern hemisphere summer to the heat we are experiencing at the moment, was quite a shock and it is taking a while for her to become acclimatized.

Manly Harbour

Last week, the Pathfinders decided to ride to Manly for our weekly ride. Although this is a frequent ride for us it never becomes boring as there are a number of routes that can be taken which make for a more interesting ride. 

Wellington Point with King Island in the background

The ride from Cleveland Harbour to Wellington Point was slightly different in that we chose to cruise down the hill leading to the Point and then just to make it a little more interesting on the way back, we ascended the hill on the eastern side via a series of steps with just sufficient room on the side to wheel our bikes up.

Thorneside, Qld.














Birkdale, Qld.














As the next stage involved riding through Thorneside and Birkdale, we stayed on the cycle path following the coast line as much as possible. Like all of our cross suburb rides there is a necessity to ride on some back streets but these do not present any problems as they are in excellent condition and traffic volume is low.

Lota Creek boardwalk, Qld.
Lota, Qld.

From Birkdale to Manly is another pleasant section, crossing wetlands via boardwalks and bridges to Lota and then following the pathway to Coopers Restaurant and cafe, situated on the water in Manly. Although we do vary our coffee stop from time to time, Coopers seems to be the favorite, mainly due to the view, openness and the friendly staff.

Sensational view

On the way back, it's just a matter of retracing  the same route back to Cleveland. We vary our rides to and from Manly quite a lot. but unless you are a local or love riding with a map in your hand, it's best to stay on the beaten track and I have to say that it is the most scenic route.

Cleveland to Manly via Wellington Point, Qld.

If you haven't done this ride now is a good time to think about it.......another great ride with the beautiful poinciana's in full bloom as an added bonus.

Flaming Red, Bold, Beautiful and Voluptuous 

Although this route is approximately 55 km long, it is quite easy, however, if you are feeling the pinch, you can always hop on a train from Manly, Lota, Thorneside or Wellington Point back to Cleveland.

I use Map my Ride for simplicity and elevation information. Become a member (free) and find similar rides within the area and elsewhere.


Cheers and safe riding,
Jimmy Bee


Tuesday 18 November 2014

CYCLING CAPALABA to WELLINGTON POINT

Capalaba to Wellington Point 

There is normally more than one route between A and B and Capalaba to Wellington Point is no exception. This ride is similar to other rides within the Redlands in that it combines riding through small areas of forest, parks or native bush to rolling along the shoreline of Moreton Bay. Apart from crossing a number of busy roads, it is very relaxing and scenic. Of course, there is the inevitable riding on back streets but these are quiet and if precautions are taken, quite safe. Naturally enough, if you left your vehicle at the start point, you will have to return and this can be achieved by taking a number of routes.
1. Retracing the same path.
2. Looking at a Google map and connecting the green cycling paths back to the start point, through Birkdale and Alexandra Hills.
3. Completing a loop back to Capalaba via Wellington Point, Cleveland and Alexandra Hills.

Dedicated paths

On the way to Wellington Point, you travel via Thornside and Birkdale each of which display their own personality. This route will take you through natural bush land on dedicated paths where one is able to appreciate not only the variety of bird calls but also the coolness of the forest whilst riding through, particularly during the early morning and late afternoon. Queensland is noted for it's hot and humid summers and it is always a pleasant relief to seek refuge within the forest.

A point of interest is that  there is a well known canoe and kayak course on Tingalpa Creek running from Capalaba to Thornside. I navigated this trail some years prior and was amazed at the variety of bird life finding shelter in the trees lining the banks of this creek. There were times when the only noise to be heard apart from the sound of paddling, was the many and different bird calls, from the common Shag to the majestic Sea Eagle. It's moments like these that I really cherish, having so much natural bush land set aside for our recreation.

Various photographs taken in Thornside and Birkdale

Wellington Point is very picturesque and has a number of good food and coffee outlets as well as being able to take a swim in the salt water off the Point. Taking time out to appreciate the view whilst indulging in a tasty snack, coffee or cool drink under a tree or shelter is well worthwhile. If the tide is out, take a stroll out to King Island and back, which is worth the effort. Clean toilets are also available  for your convenience.

Wellington Point with King Island in the background
Wellington Point at low tide with the march of the crabs prominently displayed in the foreground.

Wellington Point

There are so many people residing in the suburbs who would like to ride for recreation and pleasure but are afraid of mixing it with traffic on the roads, even riding in dedicated bike lanes. If you happen to know any of these frustrated potential riders residing in Brisbane, direct them to either a Google map showing bike paths or alternatively, point them in the direction of Jimmy Bee's blog as there are many trails and paths on both sides of the river of which they can avail themselves.

I use Map my Ride for simplicity and elevation information. Become a member (free) and find similar rides within the area and elsewhere.


Cheers and safe riding,
Jimmy Bee

Monday 10 November 2014

CYCLING ON THE GRANITE BELT -- Day 2

As promised, here is the second half of 'Cycling on the Granite Belt'written by a cycling buddy of mine, Graham Kimber. Hope you enjoy it.......

Map courtesy of  Riding with GPS

We came back a week later to ride Highland Way to Ballandean and return by the Regional Council’s road bike trail. Ballandean is roughly south of Stanthorpe, about 20 km along the New England Highway. Highland Way does not follow the highway, but runs from Stanthorpe to Ballandean in a 31km arc over the hills to the east. Interactive map and elevation profile for Highland Way is here

The return trip using the Regional Council’s new road riding trail zigzags through the hills, roughly parallel to the New England Highway along quiet back roads. The cumulative climb for the round trip Stanthorpe to Ballandean by Highland Way and return by the Regional Council’s bike trail is 679m.

In order to get an early start, we had stayed in Stanthorpe the previous night. The next day we really did experience tourist brochure weather – cold clear air, just a slight haze from last night’s wood fires, truly dazzling blue sky, grey-green eucalypts, occasional bright native flowers, bluish hills with weathered granite outcrops, slight winds just right for cycling.

Leaving Stanthorpe, for the first few kilometres along Sugarloaf Rd, we experienced the nearest thing to “traffic” of our whole time on the Granite Belt. Something to do with the time of day perhaps – maybe parents returning from the school run. About 4km out of town, Sugarloaf Rd forks into two. Highland Way takes the right hand branch, and at this point we were back to the virtually empty roads we’d experienced on Armistice Way a week ago. This branch of Sugarloaf Rd becomes Eukey Rd a little further on and continues all the way to Ballandean. 

Storm King Dam

The scenery for the first half of the ride along Highland Way was similar to what we’d seen on Armistice Way.  For the first 19km the slope was fairly relentlessly upward. There are a couple of possible side trips; the first at around 10km, where a short 500m ride takes you to the Storm King Dam picnic area, which was almost eerily empty of people or vehicles, but with a sense of tranquillity enhanced by the sight of water birds and a few cattle on the other side of the dam. The second is at at Breens Rd at about 15km, a couple of kilometres short of the locality of Eukey.  Turning off here is a possible 13km trip to Bald Rock Creek campground in Girraween National Park.  This is not the main road into the national park and is unsealed. We noted this as an exploration for another day with more appropriate bikes.

Vineyards galore

Two km past Eukey we reached the highest point of the whole trip at 1020m above sea level.  The descent from here to Ballandean included some fast downhill runs through winery country, with the granite mountains of Girraween National Park off to our left.


In the village of Ballandean, at the end of Highland Way, we crossed the New England Highway to the start of the new road bike trail. The trail turned out to be very easy to follow, with clear signposts at all road junctions. Except for two sections, the first of about 1.1 km and the other of about 100m, the roads were sealed, but the surface was of variable quality, some sections with coarse aggregate and some with ripples, bumps and occasional potholes. When riding through forested sections these irregularities are sometimes hard to see because the road is in patchy shade. In some places the road is quite narrow, but these are back roads and there were very few motor vehicles. At about 13km from Ballandean we encountered a sign outside a winery inviting cyclists (or possibly just one of them!) in for refreshments, but it seems there was nobody around that day.

At the village of Glen Aplin, 16km from the start, the trail crosses the New England Highway. At this point the highway is only two lanes, the speed limit is 60km/h through the town, and there are large signs alerting motorists to the presence of the bike trail.   

A collage of photos taken on this ride

At several points on the trail there are stops with a route map complete with elevation profile, sheltered tables and bike racks. Toilets and drinking water are available at the Glen Aplin stop. The next 10km passed very quickly, and suddenly we were back at the Stanthorpe tourist information centre, just 3km from our accommodation at the other end of town.   

So what are our impressions of Stanthorpe and the Granite Belt as a road cycling destination? I hesitate to tell you truthfully, because you’ll probably tell someone else, and soon everyone will know and there will be cyclists all over the Granite Belt! The total experience was great. We often felt the sort of meditative sensation that people associate with the granite country – helped along by the colours, the silence, the empty roads, steady exertion on the climbs, the dreamy scenery.   The roads are generally good and our road bikes were well up to the task. The locals are friendly; they waved encouragement when they saw us on the bikes, and if we asked directions, as likely as not they would draw a map.  The volunteers at the tourist information centre were rightly proud of the new trail and were keen to hear our feedback. 


Accommodation of all sorts is available, motels, villas, chalets, tourist parks, campgrounds. Their standards are all high, including a motel we stayed in with an operating-room level of cleanliness; no surgeon’s glove would pick up a molecule of impurity here. There is a variety of eating places in town; even a couple of Italian restaurants, for example this one, which have survived the Australianisation of the descendants of the post-war settlers.  A cycling holiday could be readily combined with food and wine tourism, or bushwalking with seasonal native flower appreciation.

All photographs in this post were taken by G.K.

Graham Kimber

I really appreciate receiving good, constructive and polite comments.


Cheers and safe riding,
Jimmy Bee

Wednesday 5 November 2014

CYCLING ON THE GRANITE BELT - Day 1


Stanthorpe, Qld.

To us thin-blooded lowlanders of the sub-tropics, the town of Stanthorpe and the surrounding Granite Belt offer the unfamiliar experience of cold weather, plus the attendant attractions of temperate fruits, vineyards and peculiar tourist phenomena such as “wine tourism”, “Christmas in July” and “Brass Monkey Month”. Stanthorpe is over 800m above sea level with a population around 5000. It is about 230km southwest of Brisbane, about 2½ hours drive. In a straight line the town is about 150km inland  and is as far south as the coastal resort town of Byron Bay in New South Wales. On any day of the year Stanthorpe, or nearby Applethorpe, will almost certainly record the lowest minimum temperature in Queensland. Stanthorpe claims the record for the lowest temperature ever recorded in the state at minus 10.6°C (+13°F).

The surrounding area is known as the Granite Belt; the name comes from the underlying granitic bedrock and abundant granite outcrops and boulders.  Ores of tin occur as accessory minerals to the granite and the name Stanthorpe (from stannum – the Latin word for tin) derives from the town’s early settlement as an alluvial tin-mining centre.  The well-known local national parks such as Girraween and Bald Rock have typical granitic peaks, extensive views, precariously balanced boulders, clear streams, and seasonal wildflowers.


 A road cycling trail from Stanthorpe to Ballandean (28 km) was recently developed by the Southern Downs Regional Council in consultation with Granite Belt Wine Country, the local tourism marketing organisation. The locals tell us that this is the beginning of a move into cycle tourism, with other road routes and mountain-bike trails to come. One might wonder about riders injudiciously combining wine tourism with cycling tourism, but apparently it’s not a problem yet, at least not on weekdays; during our stay we saw no other cyclists apart from children riding to school!

Our plan was to stay two days and assess two tourist motoring routes, Armistice Way (Tourist Drive 5 - 34km) and Highland Way (Tourist Drive 6 - 31km) as potential road cycling rides, and also to try out the new road cycling trail. The new road bike trail combines neatly with Highland Way for a trip from Stanthorpe to Ballandean and return. 

See the links to maps and itineraries for the drives and the brochure for the Stanthorpe to Ballandean cycling trail. My interactive map of the cycling trail is here.

The author's wife and fellow cyclist Jennifer


The distances given for the tourist drives (34km and 31 km) are driving distances for just the tourist routes themselves. Unsupported cyclists have to add on the necessary riding from home base to the start point of the drive and from the finish point back to home base. For us this extended the Armistice Way ride from 34km to 55km, and the combined Highland Way-road trail ride from 59km to 68km. Armistice Way follows Amiens Rd which is paved all the way and in good condition.  Weekday traffic in mid-July was very light, but may vary with the time of year, depending on tourist seasons and crop harvesting. The route involves some climbing. The elevation gain from lowest point to highest point is 163m, and the cumulative climb for the trip is 466m. Map and route profile is here. The day we rode, the Granite Belt declined to provide what we city dwellers think of as a typical winter’s day in this part of the world. The sky was not the clear blinding blue of the tourist brochures; rather the day was overcast and cold with occasional rain.  


Armistice Way passes through a mixture of picturesque country. At different stages there are dairy farms, forests, vineyards and orchards. The views of distant hills are pleasant rather than spectacular. We had chosen to ride in a clockwise direction, opposite to the direction described in the tourist drive brochure, mainly because the elevation profile suggested that the climbing was a little less arduous.  


The French place-names on the way refer to localities rather than towns; there are occasional schools, community halls and general stores but no coffee shops!  Returning WW1 soldiers were offered resettlement here on farming leases resumed from local pastoralists.  They chose place-names such as Amiens, Passchendaele, Bapaume and The Somme, recalling battlefields on the Western Front. After the next war, another group of farmers arrived and gave another set of European names, this time Italian, to some of the side roads and lanes.  These post-WW2 Italian settlers were more experienced and more successful on the land than the ex-diggers of a generation earlier, and so began the region’s “stone fruit, apple and grape” tradition.

We planned a coffee stop at Singing Lake Cafe at Robert Channon Wines  about 11km from our starting point, but when we arrived at 10.30am in drizzling rain we found that the cafe didn’t open until 11. We decided to try to stay warm by continuing to ride.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

We made a stop at about 26 km to be entertained by a deafening flock of about a hundred yellow-tailed black cockatoos feeding in trees either side of the road. (The link includes the call of a yellow-tailed black cockatoo. Listen, and then amplify it one hundred-fold to recapture our auditory experience.) As we rode along the road towards them, they continued their games, flying with fragments of pinecone in their beaks, screeching and chasing each other and splashing in puddles, but they gradually moved their activities further down the road as we approached. They were aware of us, but not about to let our presence detract too much from the fun.  Their behaviour took me back to school days; the birds were just like we kids in the playground when we spotted a teacher on patrol. Perhaps there’s something in the highland air that not only makes cyclists light-hearted, but turns cockatoos light-headed   ̶  further into the ride we saw a small flock of corellas playing a typical adolescent  game, taking it in turns to swing on a rope they’d found hanging from a tree.

At about 34km is Granite Belt Dairy which claims to offer uniquely flavoured cheeses because it is “Queensland’s highest and coldest dairy farm cheese shop” We certainly won’t argue with “coldest”. Attached to Granite Belt Dairy is the Jersey Girls Cafe, where we had a great lunch. The attentive staff offers a small range of meals based on their own dairy products and local produce, and the two dishes we selected were superb. There was a minor glitch when we asked for “skinny” coffees; the sweet waitress gently explained that the only milk on offer was full-cream, but since it was authentic (and therefore non-homogenised) she could carefully remove as much of the cream as possible! We opted for the full-fat experience and decided the taste was worth the risk to our arteries.

The author changing a flat on his Gellie (custom)

A couple of kilometres on from Jersey Girls, I had a catastrophic front tyre puncture of the “bang-whoosh” type. As I changed the tube and used the well-known five dollar note trick to protect the replacement tube from the hole in the tyre, I mused on the ingenuity of polymer scientists and concluded that their greatest gift to us cyclists was not carbon-reinforced resin, rejected in any case by us steel frame retro-grouches, but the indestructible bank note. Although of more immediate import were my thoughts on the scarcity of bike-shops on the Granite Belt and our isolation (no vehicles came past during the repair operation, despite the fact that we were close to the village of Thulimbah). I returned to this thought frequently during the remaining 20km, because the brand new replacement tube (from a well-known European manufacturer) slowly leaked all the way home. I discovered later that it was not damaged; rather it had a faulty valve.

Because the tourist drive ends at Thulimbah, the final 19km to complete the circuit back to our motel in Stanthorpe was beyond the designated Armistice Way. We followed the New England Highway, a major interstate road, but managed to avoid riding on the actual highway. Initially we followed another of the tourist drives, the Granite Belt Drive (Tourist Drive 3), which travels parallel to the highway. Granite Belt Drive was formerly the main highway and Tourist Drive 3 was known as the “Fruit Run” because of the fruit stalls along the way. The realignment of the upgraded highway and shifting agricultural emphasis led to the abandonment of the fruit stalls, but some of the buildings survive in various stages of dereliction.  After about 5km there is an underpass beneath the highway, crossing to Old Warwick Rd, which, after a couple of name changes, joins the Stanthorpe High St, completely avoiding the highway.

When we woke on the morning of our second day we abandoned our plan to ride the Highland Way that day. The weather was cold (as expected) but also seriously wet. The thought of attacking empty country roads in the rain and cold with only one spare tube remaining between us was quite off-putting   ̶  even  mounting the bikes on the car in the freezing rain was daunting enough.  So we drove back to Brisbane with every intention of returning soon.

Day 2 to follow shortly.

Graham Kimber

Graham is a riding buddy of mine whom I encouraged to write this post. I hope you enjoyed his article on cycling in this fascinating area of Queensland as much as I did.

About the author: As a child I owned and rode bikes, but between reaching car-driving age and having enough money to purchase my first car, I thought  that being seen on a bike was an admission of low financial status, so I walked everywhere and  permanently relegated the bike to the dirt floor under the verandah of the Queenslander. Thirty-five years on I had open-heart surgery and took up cycling  in an effort to regain some cardiac fitness, soon working up to the 20km round  trip to and from work. On retirement I almost gave up, but then discovered mass-participation rides, which served as a great source of training goals. I also discovered another wonderful attraction of the cycling life - the opportunity to socialise with like-minded retirees. 

I really appreciate receiving good, constructive and polite comments.


Cheers and safe riding,
Jimmy Bee