Samford Velos

The Department of Transport and Main Roads website includes the project page for the Samford to Ferny Grove Cycle Route.

Cycle Queensland 2011 was my first time although the event was in its 10th year.

The weather was very kind to us albeit very cold at times but the Volunteers, spectacular scenery, brilliant organisation by BQ, friendly locals in every town and the great company of like-minded people were the real highlights.

I really do have to take my hat off to all the volunteers and support staff who gave their time to make things run so smoothly – the ride just wouldn’t happen without these people. Also the local community groups who looked after us at every rest stop and in the camping groups were terrific.

We travelled to Goondiwindi on the Friday afternoon, a whole convoy of buses with a few hundred cyclists dressed in civvies, no Lycra to be seen and after a stop at Warwick, we got into Goondiwindi about 5:30pm. After registration down at the Civic Centre and a quick tour of the town, we settled down to a nice feed at the local Chinese restaurant and a few quiet drinks.

Up early on a very brisk Saturday morning, we queued at a local Bakery for Coffee and a healthy pastry – yep, a queue! By early morning, the Lycra was out in force and Goondiwindi was crawling with cyclists. Apart from us, there was a Gourmet food festival in Gundy the same weekend, so the locals were making the most of it!

We wandered down to the local park looking for our bikes which had been transported in trucks to Goondiwindi but we ended up helping the volunteers unload and stack the bike boxes. After unloading a few hundred of those, we were warmed up, found our bikes and put them together before going for a spin around the town. Gunsynd (aka the “Goondiwindi Grey”) and I were reacquainted and I took the photo opportunity like a true politician.

We went back and lined up at the midday starting point and, speaking of Politicians, there were a few speeches and we jostled for positions out of the cold wind. I did see JVC and Rhonda shivering up ahead of me with quite a few others and my group moved to the left wing in a sign of weakness.

After a clean start, we turned down the main street around the roundabout and on our way to Yelarbon 57k down the road. About 2 hours later, we went looking for our bags, found a good camping spot and set up the tent for the first of 8 times – this part became a bit repetitive so next year I’m going to arrange slaves in every town…….

Some food, refreshments and a shower followed and then some reconnaissance of Yelarbon to work out the best place to watch the Broncos play the NZ Warriors in a finals match that night. The Publican was ready for us, he had a Can bar, an outside beer garden (of sorts) and the main bar. Who would have thought that a Publican in south western Queensland was a Kiwi and Warriors supporter – those Kiwis, they’re everywhere! History shows the Warriors lost heavily to the Broncos but they did make the grand final and the Publican made a killing in beer sales so I reckon he did okay.

I was a bit sluggish from the big footy night and the overnight temperature of -3.8 degrees didn’t help a great deal! I may have underestimated the cold weather (possibly due to my alcohol consumption) because I went to bed in boxers and a t-shirt but when I woke up, more layers of clothes went on and on and on…….

By the time I had breakfast, chipped the ice from the tent and worked out how to pack the tent (should have practiced before the event…) it was well after 8am before I joined the hordes heading off to Texas about 65km away. It seemed a bit funny stopping for morning tea at 9am, lunch at 10am etc. but again after a short ride of under 3 hours with stops, we were at the campsite again.

Getting smart n my old age, I decided to halve my alcohol intake for the night knowing that tomorrow was a relatively hard day – 100km uphill most of the day to Stanthorpe. I settled back swapping beer for a bottle of red (those midnight toilet trips…) and with some friends watched a local band rock the joint eventually getting to bed a bit later than planned.

Up bright and early and ready for a crack at the “hard” day, I had breakfast, packed up and headed off to Stanthorpe. I’d barely warmed up and the hills started and they seemed to go on forever. Cyclists come in all shapes and sizes and degrees of fitness and so, as I started to pass quite a few who were walking, I started to feel better about things. Some of the people with me were struggling a bit so we just pottered along one hill at a time.

One footnote at this stage – a lot of families do the ride and many Mums & Dads take quite young children, towing tem along behind or in tandems if the kids were old enough. When you consider the hills on the Stanthorpe day, you have to take you hat off to their efforts!

I learned afterwards that the Sag Wagon picked up about 10% of the riders on the day and I think our group only averaged about 20kph with the stops, which most people used! We got in after lunch and found the bags, put the tent up, yata yata……this tent thing was starting to become annoying………

But the camping facilities at Stanthorpe, the huge covered eating & entertainment area and the entertainment itself – well that made up for any concerns with camping. The local boy, James Blundell got on his own, sang all sorts of different stuff for quite a few hours – fantastic. The highlight of the night was his brother Peter joining him for a few songs including a version of “Stairway to Heaven”. Peter doubles as the Deputy Mayor for the area and as far as politicians go, he’s a good bloke. The state member out that way is Laurence Springborg and apart from a 2 minute welcome speech, the only place we say him was behind the BBQ cooking – now that’s serving the constituents!

The Stanthorpe showgrounds are a fair way out of the main town area and this, combined with the great campsite facilities, meant most people stayed on site. There was presentation from BQ to those riders, volunteers and staff who had managed all 10 Cycle Queensland rides. Later, I swapped the Pub for the Movies on our second night and watched as old classic – “World’s Fastest Indian” with a few nice local granite belt reds of course!

As Stanthorpe can do, it turned up a -2 degree morning the day we left for Killarney but by this stage, I was an expert at chipping ice from the tent. The trip to Killarney included about 8km of dirt road at about the 30km mark and this certainly slowed us down trying to avoid some potholes and some soft sand in parts. The Council did a great job although I did see quite a few people with flats along the stretch. The lunch stop was at Morgan Park which is a well know equestrian and car racing venue – it really is a great complex and from memory, the place where horses got stranded when we had the EI (Equine Influenza) outbreak a few years ago. By this stage of the ride, I seemed to be eating all day (breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea – all of these before Noon on the ride and then real lunch at the campsite and dinner at night). In a courageous move, I decided to cut out the lunch on the ride, leaving more room for beverages later in the evening…… Anyway 86km or about 3.5 hours later we arrived at Killarney, a really nice little place with great camping facilities and very friendly people. Only made one mistake in Killarney, the movie at Stanthorpe was so good, I we decided to go again and wasted several hours of good drinking time watching Alice in Wonderland – not for me thanks!

The next day, we were off, over the NSW border to Woodenbong, a lumpy 54km down the road to a nice little town with one of the last genuine old picture theatres left in Australia. We watched one of the Pirates of the Caribbean pictures later that night and it was a real experience – reminds me of my youth in North Queensland when others (never me) threw Jaffas and other things down the aisle. I think the camping ground had some recent rain and a camp draft because the ground had huge hoof prints everywhere and it was a bit uncomfortable. The local Pony Club came in to give us some entertainment and the kids were terrific! The main street has a nice coffee shop for us of the “Latte set” and I enjoyed a nice skinny cappuccino and about 4 x 6 inch round Anzac biscuits for another dollar – inflation hasn’t hit Woodenbong yet!

Up early, we had breakfast, packed up and set off for 88km ride to Boonah with an early sharp climb before a long mainly downhill stretch. We stopped for lunch in Rathdowny and then at a little place called Maroon where the local school catered for all 800 riders and support staff. Everywhere we went, the local groups had great food, all sorts of thirst quenching drinks and a friendly word for all of us. We arrived at Boonah and for the first night of the trip, I ate off campsite catching up with a retired work colleague, enjoying a good bottle (or three) of red and a nice steak!

A mate of mine on the ride came along for dinner and when asked about the trip and the food on campsite, he relied “that it was great to have a meal that wasn’t served with a ladle…”. It was an interesting observation, in that I hadn’t really thought about the logistics of preparing and serving food for about a 1000 people every morning and night. In hindsight, the food was great and the catering effort was truly remarkable.

Boonah is a great town, quite a bit bigger than I’d originally thought and I could easily spend more time in Boonah and surrounding areas.

We were off again the next day, this time to Rosewood, just a mere hop and step up the road – 68km to be exact. After the obligatory stops for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea, we reached Rosedale about 11am and went through the motions of setting up camp etc. which was starting to drive me around the twist…only one more day to go! I had a dilemma with a clash of events – should I go to the Pub and watch the Broncos play St George in another finals match or go to the CQ Final Night Party? I decided to try each venue out in the afternoon so I went to the Pub (actually three Pubs) and had a beer and a bet to get a feel for the atmosphere.. Then back to the hall for a few more drinks so I could work out the best spot for the night. In the end I did both, watched the Broncos at the Pub (another victory) and then back to the Showgrounds hall for the rest of the party. They had a band called the Mick Travers Band, never heard of them, but they were very good although I may have been impaired by the euphoria of the Broncos win earlier in the night!

Our last night was a beauty and alas sleep overtook me and in no time it was time to have breakfast, pack up and get on my bike for the last time for the short 52km ride to Ipswich and then onto Jindalee in Brisbane’s south western suburbs where the event finished. It seemed a blur and in a bit over two hours, the 570km from Gundy to Brisbane was all over…….until next year, Gayndah to Noosa here I come!

As I end War & Peace, here are some observations from my first ride –

• The “Bush” is a great place, full of great sights and great people – if you haven’t, take a chance and visit some of these wonderful places
• It’s hard to appreciate the economic value that an influx of about 1000 cyclists and support staff can do to a little town or to a roadside community group – for many it would be there major fundraising effort for the year
• Riders are mostly great but there’s still plenty (some experienced) that don’t know the road rules or good etiquette
• Bicycle Queensland is a well-run organisation, they do a lot of work in the background with limited resources – if you can, you should join

Richard K

Come on those who rode this ride, lets have a short report on what it was like, how well organised, food, numbers, hills etc

thankyou.

Its that time again folks.  We ride a comfortable pace to Landsborough and back via Caboolture, with a support vehicle and 3 stops to refuel.

Then dinner at the Samford Tavern later (6PM onwards) if you feel so inclined, partners and family very welcome.

Come and join us for a great day out, maybe just ride half way or three quarters, or miss a bit out by sitting in the support car. Just come and enjoy the fun and challenge.

Start time is 6:30 in Samford in the car park by the Patisserie, or you can pick us up anywhere ( be earlier than estimated below) along the route,which is:

via Eatons Xing / Lilly / Ira Buckby (approx 7AM) / Youngs
Xing (7:15)/ Dayboro / Beeville / Torrens and Narangba Rds. Then Oakey Flat Rd to
Morayfield Rd... stopping in Caboolture (50+kms) (9-10 AM)for a break. Follow Beerburrum Rd and left into
Beerburrum-Woodford Rd and right into Old Gympie Rd all the way to Landsborough for
a "lunch stop" (80+kms)(11AM+).

Returning, follow Old Landsborough Rd (rail-line on left) to Beerburrum
then Roberts Rd and left onto Peechester Rd and imediately left again onto Old Gympie
Rd retracing our northward route however, at Elimbah swing left under the rail-line into
Hamilton / Dances Rd back to Caboolture again for a break. Leaving Caboolture along
Morayfield Rd to Burpengary turning right into Station Rd then Burpengary Rd back to
Narangba. Continue towards Petrie, swing right onto Anzac Ave then Gympie Rd to
Strathpine. Turn right into South Pine / Old Northen Rds turning right into The Jinker
Track. The the top head back to Samford Village via Bunya / Woodhill / Tarnook /
Cesear / Patrick Rds and Samford Rd over the range. (170 plus kms) ... well done