Gravel photos

[warthog1]

Was a ripper day today weather wise. Headed out on a route I haven't done in a while. Had a bit of everything. Rocky trails, wide open roads, loose gravel, packed finer stuff. A few corrugations in places. Passed by only a handful of cars and they were all good.
Last pic is a bit of the O'Keefe rail trail heading home.

[MichaelB]

bit of dirt on the way to work

[elantra]

bit of dirt on the way to work

Nice photo - has the combination of the author’s image, the dusty hillside, the hazy city and the distant deep blue ocean. Superbly intricate.
And just one tree.

At the other end of the great Murray Darling river system - Brisbane offers a reverse panorama of bush, city and ocean- but only reliably in winter.
Ironically, Mt Coottha used to be known as “One tree hill” - decades ago.

There are heaps of gravel tracks around Mt Coottha, but many of them are steep flowing single track suitable for MTB only.
Some though are Ok for a gravel bike, depending on weather conditions etc.
Yes i concede, the bike pictured hardly qualifies as a gravel bike…







I would suggest that if you have to visit Brisbane sometime, you are better off bringing a gravel bike than a road bike

[MichaelB]

bit of dirt on the way to work

Nice photo - has the combination of the author’s image, the dusty hillside, the hazy city and the distant deep blue ocean. Superbly intricate.
And just one tree.

Cheers

You make it sound like I knew/know what I'm doing. It was more just a decent spot to stop !!!

[Mr Purple]

Photo from my standard Karawatha gravel ride on the weekend.



Running out of KOMs through there now, will have to go further afield! Always plenty of wildlife - small wallaby almost took me out yesterday, and a massive goanna climbing up a tree near the track gave me a start.

[elantra]

Photo from my standard Karawatha gravel ride on the weekend.



Running out of KOMs through there now, will have to go further afield! Always plenty of wildlife - small wallaby almost took me out yesterday, and a massive goanna climbing up a tree near the track gave me a start.

Nice pic !
That’s one of the nice things about gravel riding- the wildlife is usually full of life, unlike what you see on the busy roads.
Goannas are such noisy critters, especially the big ones. I think that they sometimes like to prey on snakes, so where you see goannas there are (or used to be) nice juicy snakes.
Hard to get a good photo of goannas, they go up trees, usually around the other side of the tree from where you are standing with your camera.



Here’s a different sort of “wildlife” that is making an unwelcome move from Qld into New South.

Actually I haven’t seen any Fire ants and don’t wish to either.
The mountain in the background is called Mt Nullum. It’s a totally awesome climb to the top, and when I say climb I mean walk as the “road” is too steep to ride up.
But it’s a wonderful “ride” back down again.
Depending on the state of the gravel road, as long as you have wide gravel or MTB tyres it’s usually doable and a thrilling descent.

[Mr Purple]

Up at Noosa hitting the trail network again this week - 270km odd so far.

Sometimes it goes a bit wrong but at least it’s still scenic!





You know you’re spending too much time on the gravel bike when you bunnyhop a branch without thinking. On tarmac at 35km/hr.

Do recommend.

[warthog1]

Looks great!

Liked the bunny hop comment

[Mr Purple]

It really brought home just how appalling Brisbane City Council is with their offroad cycling strategy.

In Noosa they literally build you singletrack in pristine rainforest and say 'go for it'. Down here if you dare use an already built fire road in scrubby, neglected bushland they fine you $1000 because of the 'damage' you're doing.

Considering Noosa Council has a reputation for environmental management I suspect BCC is just banning cycling in these areas because it's popular to do so, rather than on any environmental credentials.

[elantra]

Apologies if this does not appear to be a gravel bike…. in my defence you can see that it is a gravel trail.
As a matter of fact the Tweed Valley Railtrail surface is pleasantly smooth and quite suitable for whatever genre of bicycle you have access to.
This retro bike is running 23mm on the front and 26mm on the back. Can’t fault it on this surface.



It’s when you start to explore the side roads of the Railtrail that a “real” gravel bike becomes necessary.
The Railtrail is only 24 km long but there are several side roads that offer something different.
Often they are rough, or steep, or both rough and steep !

And the good news is that the Tweed Valley Railtrail is in the process of being extended.
South to Mullumbimby and north to Condong.
Not sure how long this will take, but it is going to be great.
And eventually will be extended all the way to Cassino, for a total distance of 132 km

[warthog1]

Looks like some great riding up that way!

[jaseyjase]

Couple of snaps from my Seven Gravel Race 2024 (i use the term race very lightly here)

So many amazing photo ops but your either descending at speed where you need two hands, or climbing brutal climbs.

[elantra]

^^^ Just Wow !

Looks like a champagne experience !

Appreciate the photos. Cheers

[warthog1]

Yes great photos thanks.
Looked like the roads were pretty good, but maybe that was just the smooth spots where you could take snaps.

[MichaelB]

Looks great !

[jaseyjase]

Yes great photos thanks.
Looked like the roads were pretty good, but maybe that was just the smooth spots where you could take snaps.

The night before there was decent down pour, so it definitely compacted and washed away loose rocks.

Conditions were supreme!

There were definitely rougher, looser, sandier, ruttier, muddier sections, but yes, bit hard to stop and take photos

[warthog1]

The night before there was decent down pour, so it definitely compacted and washed away loose rocks.

Conditions were supreme!

There were definitely rougher, looser, sandier, ruttier, muddier sections, but yes, bit hard to stop and take photos

Nice!

[warthog1]

Small gravello bunchie this morning

[jaseyjase]

One of the pro pics

[jaseyjase]

Small gravello bunchie this morning

is your bunchie busier in summer or winter?

[warthog1]

Small gravello bunchie this morning

is your bunchie busier in summer or winter?

It is sporadic. Some, including me, cant always make it. Only about 5 or 6 people at anytime of the year.

[elantra]

Had a pearler of a gravel ride the other day.
Mebbin National Park is a little-known wilderness area that is easily accessible from the Village of Tyalgum in the Qld/NSW Border ranges.

It does get cold here on winter mornings but frost almost never.
And even if the early morning temperature is single digits then it will get up to the high teens or early 20’s if the sun is out - which it often is in winter.

There is a gravel road that goes through the National Park in a north-south direction.
On this road is a small but splendid camping grounds.
What is slightly unusual about this Park is that horse riding and bicycle riding is officially sanctioned on the main access road and also on the rougher side trails.

This gave me the opportunity to take a pleasant photo of the horses and their riders as they quietly strolled along the road through the rainforest

[elantra]

Been looking at a bit of history the other day.
Via a short but very pleasant bit of gravel road



That huge lump of rock is one of the most prominent features in the eastern border region of Qld/NSW.
Has been referred to as Mt Lindesay for a very long time, and on a clear day is visible from some high points in suburban Brisbane. But it has to be a very clear day because it’s almost 100 km - as the crow flies.



That pic above is looking to the north, and is a smaller mountain known as Mt Gillies (I think)

Between the 2 mountains but out of view is the “current” Mt Lindesay HWY.
But in actual fact it’s a bit of a “Clayton’s” highway because as soon as it hits the NSW border it becomes the Mt Lindesay “Road” - having been “decommissioned” as a highway in NSW almost 25 years ago



And this is the point from which I took the photos.
It is referred to as the “King George Gate” and used to be the point at which the road crossed the border between Qld and NSW.
Presumably it was so named because the actual road was constructed during the reign of King George V (1910 - 1935)

At some stage either before, during or after WW2 this road was replaced by the current road which runs just to the west of Mt Lindesay
(King George Gate is just to the east of Mt Lindesay)

So it’s basically an abandoned road corridor.
I don’t know how traversable it is to the south of this point. Some of it may now be private property.
Access from the north is easy - it’s 120 km south of Brisbane CBD via main roads (don’t try and use them for cycling these days !)

Then from the HWY it’s a pleasant 5 km gravel ride up a gentle but winding hill. (Careful on the descent !!!)
There is one gate about half a km before the actual border.
It doesn’t have any indication of what is beyond, but does not say to keep out.
But just to the side of this gate there is another property with a gate that says No Entry Private Property - so choose the correct gate !

[darkelf921]

I haven't posted anything to this board for years. So many memories Anyway, here is a picture of my Frankenstein Cannondale Slate. Absolute Black and FSA chain rings, Suntory Cassette change it from default to 50/34-11/34. Running tubeless.