Wet ride along the Grand Ridge Road

Simon, Andrea and I (Laurie) had planned to ride the Grand Ridge Road whilst completing the Mawson Trail late in 2020. We would all be spending some time in Victoria over the summer. We met mid morning near Ellinbank, at the intersection of the Korumburra Warragul and Leongatha Warragul roads. It was cool and cloudy as we set off down the twisty sealed bitumen towards Hallston waving goodbye to our respective lifts.

The road was sealed and undulated through extraordinarily green pastures, with a farm house here and there. About halfway to Mirboo North we slipped into our rain jackets as spitting moved to light rain. Just as we reached Mirboo North it started to rain to pour down, so we headed for the local pub. We spent a couple of hours drying out, enjoying a hearty lunch and listening to the rain pummel against the hotel roof.

By mid afternoon the rain had cleared a little but the wind was still strong and it was really cold outside. We made a quick dash to the supermarket for supplies and found ourselves shivering by the time we headed up the road.

After about 15km of seal we turned on to the first dirt/gravel section of the old Grand Ridge road. It was still raining on and off, but we managed to stay warm pedalling our way through through a mix of farmland, plantation and native forest country. Now and again we would catch glimpses of what would have been quite dramatic views out towards to southern coastline of Bass Strait or north towards the Mt Erica Range.

We camped the night at a clearing in the forest that was once Gunyah, a small settlement that served those living and travelling along the Grand Ridge Road. Apparently there was a pub, post office school in its day, but now it was just a wet soggy clearing in a beautiful bush setting.

Not long after setting up our tents it started to rain heavily again, with just a couple of short breaks now and again that allowed us to rendezvou breifly for a quick meal or drink now and again before retiring to sleep.

Hit the link below to see our strava recording of day 1 Grand Ridge Road.

https://www.strava.com/activities/4627454996/embed/563b00a0103f58e68a48ea0cad0412b82b3bf2aa

Far East Victoria

Day 1 8/2/2022.  Our 5 day cycle tour along the Snowy River gave us a tantalising glimpse of east Gippsland.  A week later we headed off in the car to explore east of Lakes Entrance to Mallacoota and the NSW border.

Our first stop was the Port of Sale where we visited the canal and the old swing bridge at the Junction of the Latrobe and Thompson rivers. 

We continued on to Lakes Entrance were we crossed the foot bridge for a walk on the 90 mile surf beach.  About 20 km further east we turned into the Lake Tyers Forest reserve and took the burnt bridge road to cherry tree picnic ground,  which  is along Stoney Creek. 

There were a few people fishing in the quiet brown tree lined waters,  so we took some rods and had a go ourselves.   We did not have any luck,  even though there were fish jumping everywhere.

A nice fellow gave us two nice sized black beam that we cooked on the wood BBQ in the picnic grounds.  It was such a nice peaceful place we decided to stealth camp.

Day 2 – 09/2/2022   Woke to a cool, damp misty morning beside the creek at Cherry Tree picnic ground.  We packed our tent before everybody arrived and spent the morning along the waterway. I attempted to catch fish whilst Andy chased birds.

Cherry Tree camp ground

Late morning we drove to Lake Tyers Beach, which was more of a town than we imagined, there were heaps of houses, shop, tavern and caravan parks, Quite a nice little place.

Following the dirt in the Adelaide Hills

It has been great having the Surly’s to ride during our stay in the Adelaide Hills. We have done several great rides from Mylor this week which is 4 weeks after arthroscopic surgery on my knee for a torn meniscus.

We have ridden road bikes around the hills for years, but riding the Surly’s opens up a whole lot of new territory to explore. There are lots of gravel roads and MTB tracks to interesting places, and there are no cars to worry about.

The wide tyres make off-road and gravel riding possible and a triple ring up front means lots of gears for the hills and my knee.

Today we visited the Chapel Hill diggings an old gold mining site between Mylor and Echunga.

Check out my activity on Strava: https://strava.app.link/r5nTNBWc7bb

Day 1 Jarrahdale to Dwellingup

Our  long time friend Ian (Chook) drove us to Jarrahdale and joined us for the first 15km of the ride along the Munda Biddi. The track very quickly became steep and pea gravelly, some parts Andy found difficult to ride, so took to pushing up the steep sections. The bushland reminded us of the topend of NT, red pea gravel, lots of rough barked eucalyptus trees and green leafy palms, but you knew it was WA by all the grass trees and huge variety of wild flowers on display. The going for the first 15km was pretty tough but enjoyable. It was very steep with slippery gravel making it hard to keep momentum. Chook turned back when we got the first bitumen road, riding back to the car. It seemed to level out a bit, but there was now quite a bit of sand that also slowed a heavily weighted bike. The surlys with the wider tyres went pretty well in the sand and gravel, but Andy did manage a couple of crashes. One crash broke a clip off a front pannier, but we managed to fix it with a tiny occy strap ok. We caught up with another rider crossing a dam wall. He was towing a overloaded trailer, and was hugely overweight himself, so was struggling. He planned to head back to Perth from Dwellingup. We enjoyed lunch at the Dandelup hut and as it was only 2pm decided to contnue on to Dwellingup campground. It was a nice ride, with a few big climbs and interesting forest. We arrived at a spacious, grassy camping area that car campers were using, so we found ourselves a little nook to camp in away from everyone else. We befriended a couple of young campers and managed to collect few litres of water from them as there was none at this site. We had ridden about 60km in all for the day.

Karta Burnu to Quinnup 71km

It was misty with fog like drizzle falling around the hut when we woke. It was a nice ride on an interesting variety of trails through forest and rich farmlands and orchards to Manjimup. We feasted at the bakery, collected some supplies and went back to the bakery for dessert. The KMs seem to go quickly in the afternoon as the trail was interesting, but we were getting tired by the 60km point.  The last 10 km were hard, particularly the last few into Quinnup which seemed to be a strange detour up a huge hill that took us directly away from the village!  We stayed at the camp ground which had a great little camp kitchen and was friendly and peaceful. Total 71km

Nannup to Karta Burnu

Nannup to Karta Burnu 63km
We took our time getting it together leaving Nannup. The final Tour of Margaret River was getting underway, snappy looking cyclist everywhere, and we where the only ones riding bikes over 8 kg. The ride started with 13km on bitumen, and then a mix of gravel roads and overgrown single track. We were now in Karri country, lots of tall straight eucalyptus trees, banksia and greener thick undergrowth. We had lunch outside the general store at Donnelly Mill, surrounded by kangaroos and emus all looking to share our lunch. It was more forest track and a few diversions due to management fires which we skirted around, and the a long set of switchbacks up to the Karta Burnu hut set in a grassy clearing with a great view over the forests.

New Bikes

When we returned from Aurukun we could not wait to rip into the boxes of our new touring bikes. The boxes sitting patiently waiting for us in Cairns were labelled “Surly Ogres” ! A little bit of fiddling to fit mudguards, pannier racks and the likes and these two hefty beasts where ready for the road. First impression on hitting the road was “boy these feel heavy” as we attempted to zoom off like we do on our carbon racing bikes. A strong steel frame with ample lugs and braze-ons for racks and other luggage insures they are a little hefty. Our first outing with fully loaded panniers and trailer on steep bumpy dirt roads demonstrated that they are comfortable, stable and up to the task of hauling us and our gear. We rode up the Gillies Range (1100m) and around Lake Tinaroo, camping one night beside the lake. Coming back down the range was a hoot, being able to get along and through the corners faster than the cars. Looking forward to hitting the hills in Japan in 10 days.

Riding the Aurukun Pavé

Neither of us have been riding very much since arriving in Aurukun, mostly due to other distractions such as fishing and travelling to other places. Assuming this would be the case we only brought the one trusty Specialized 26″ mtb with us. Most riding has been on the few tracks leading out around the now mostly dry swamp and floodplains country or to Aban the nearest beach fishing spot (no swimming due to huge snapping handbags). The country is interesting to ride through with lots interesting bush, bird life (heaps of brolgas) and many tracks of the other creepy crawlies that live in this part of the world. The going can be rough at times with a lot of the tracks being sandy and corrugated or what I call Aurukun Pavé (I think the pictures tell the story).  There is one particular place I pass on each ride up the river, that has a break in the mangroves that looks perfect for fishing.   As I approach it quietly each time I catch glimpse of a large croc  near the water’s edge sink silently without a trace.

Aurukun Pavé 2

Aurukun Pavé

Dirty Boys (& Girls)

Two hardy riders from Alice Springs, Jess Harries and Jane Hutchinson joined Andy and I for the Dirty Boys section of the Cairns to Karumba charity ride. Andy resting her knee chose to be our support crew and volunteer in the catering crew for the ride.  The Dirty Boys ride MTB bikes cross country whilst the Rugged Roadies follow the bitumen from Cairns to Karumba.

Jane, Jess and Laurie ready to go.

The ride briefing left Jess a little worried about how much we would be riding as they focussed a lot on bus transport and daily beer supply.   As it turned out there was plenty of fun times, riding, drinking, socializing and eating across the entire 7 days.  The group of 80 Dirty Boys rode more than 600km of dirt with bus transports to the next good track on most days.  On the way we enjoyed amazing morning teas and lunches provided by the local school and/or cattle station owners. This included refreshing home brewed beer, home made cakes, home made dried fruits, sausages and lots of other goodies.

C2K Beer

In addition to this we were followed by a 4wd with trailer full of homemade cakes, dried and fresh fruit & 900 beers. This trip rivals the famous Kings Canyon Cruise for food, but with the addition of beer and rum refueling stops.

Horses join us for a river crossing.

The terrain covered was very diverse, starting the the lush green forested area near Kuranda through rich pasture and horticultural land on the tablelands, dry dust savanah cattle country and flat salt flats near the gulf. We rode lots of rough dirt tracks with a variety of creek and river crossing, some with quite deep water. Now and again we rode single track or followed cattle paths through open bushland or salt flats or marsh lands.

Riding old train lines.

One very remerable section was a fast ride along a single track beside an old train line, scattered with boulders, sleepers and rail ballast.  Jess impressed all the boys by being the only person to ride the skinny boards of a big, high railway bridge, making up for her fall in the dust along the track.

Salt Water Creek was warm!

The mornings were cold for the first three days in the tablelands, but that did not stop the brave from swimming at the numerous dams, springs or creeks that  stopped at.  We  even found ourselves huddled around the fire place at one of the old pubs we stopped in.

Champagne Sunset at Karumba

Each night we we camped, generally in rodeo grounds or sporting facilities.  Andy and the crew of volunteers converted sheds into production kitchens, feeding more than 300 people.   After each dinner session we were treated to fun entertainment, Sumo wrestling, No Talent Quests and the famous Albion Pub Ball all of which involved lots of drinking and laughter.   Our last night was spent in Karumba with a fantastic sunset display over the sea and the best barramundi any of us had ever eaten.

warming our butts around an open fire was not what we expected to be doing in FNQ

The salt flats near Karumba

The Entire Dirty Boy Gang

Dirty Boys (and Girls) hit the pub again!

 

Big weekend for the legs.

Last weekend was hard on the legs, but loads of fun.   On Fridays we travelled 25km south of Cairns to climb the famous Pyramid, a conical mountain that rises about 850mt above sea level.  Once a year there is a running race from Gordonvale to the Pyramid (3km), then up the Pyramid (3km & 845mts) and back to Gordonvale, phew!  The fast guys do all this in about 1.5 hours which is pretty awesome.  Our walk up the Pyramid (note I said Walk) took about 3 hours.

The view as we climbed was pretty awesome, an amazing patchwork of shimmering white fields of flowering sugar cane opening up in all directions.

Andy sitting on top of the Pyramid

It was tough on the legs and knees coming down,  we were starving by the time we got back to the car. Lucky for us we have a good friend who lived close by that had invited us for lunch.  We enjoyed a gourmet lunch with Campbell overlooking the pyramid and his lush bush garden.

Later that day and again  on Saturday morning I went riding the world cup XC course at Smithfield with friends.  I had just received my replacement frame for my bike and there was a race on Sunday around this course, so I was keen to master some of the technical parts (not fall off).  The consequence of all of this activity was very tight, sore legs and by Sunday moring it hurt to climb even small stairs.  Halfway up the first climb of the 3 lap MTB race the leg soreness forgotten, everything hurt!    It was all worth it,  ended up winning Super Master class by about 50 sec.

Sunday afternoon was time to relax, we headed down to Trinity Beach to try our luck fishing off the rocks.   The fishing ended up being quite exciting,  hooking something super large and so athletic it nearly pulled me off the rocks. Eventually it straightened out the big hook on the end of my line and disapeared.