Rode down to Kat's on Sunday morning but thought I would take the scenic route instead of sticking to the M1 right the way down. I set off at 6:30am and hit the Gateway - was really good as hardly any traffic around. Rode at a good pace down to Nerang and then took the turn off into the hinterland for Numinbah Valley. This usually busy biker route was almost empty and so I was able to ride it at pretty much my own pace - no sportys sitting up my ass and flying past me. The road has some great sweeping corners as well as a few really tight ones - passed the Hinze Dam and then into the Numinbah Valley. As I rode towards Numinbah village I stopped to phone Kat and take in the view - the day was fantastic - sunny but windy - I let Kat know I would be less than an hour and continued on. Finally reached the border and, after crossing into NSW, I decided to pull over and take some pics of the Border Ranges.
After soaking up the view and readying myself for the decent I noticed a couple of bikes and a car that had passed me turning around about 50 metres down the road and heading bacvk up. The wind had blown a large tree across Numinbah Rd and there was no way through - not at this stage anyway. Had a chat with a few others and it was suggested that we would ask the guy in the border post for a chainsaw to clear a few branches. He wasn't even aware that the road was blocked and so rang the council - he wouldn't let us use his chainsaw cos he said it required a licenced department employee to use it, and he didn't have a licence - dunno why he had a chainsaw then!! I hung around and watched more and more bikes cross the border and then realise there was no way through - some pulled over to wait but others just headed back into QLD. At one stage we even tried to move the thing ourselves - about 15 of us - but couldn't budge it.
After more than an hour of hanging around and waiting I decided to take off and head back to the M1 via Springbrook. Rode the 25 odd kms back to the turnoff then climbed the road towards Springbrook - again there was very little traffic on this road and so it was a really enjoyable ride. Made it to Springbrook-Mugeeraba Rd intersection and turned left to head down the very twisty and narrow section of road towards the motorway. This road at this time of the morning is sensational to ride - nice and cool and not a lot going on around you, so you are able to fully concentrate on the corners and your positioning to keep yourself at a reasonable pace and with no floorboards on my bike anymore I was able to flick the bike around a bit more too.
I finally reached the M1 and then took the cattle track down to Kingscliff arriving a little later than I had planned but a lot more awake!! That one is on the list to do again real soon.
After soaking up the view and readying myself for the decent I noticed a couple of bikes and a car that had passed me turning around about 50 metres down the road and heading bacvk up. The wind had blown a large tree across Numinbah Rd and there was no way through - not at this stage anyway. Had a chat with a few others and it was suggested that we would ask the guy in the border post for a chainsaw to clear a few branches. He wasn't even aware that the road was blocked and so rang the council - he wouldn't let us use his chainsaw cos he said it required a licenced department employee to use it, and he didn't have a licence - dunno why he had a chainsaw then!! I hung around and watched more and more bikes cross the border and then realise there was no way through - some pulled over to wait but others just headed back into QLD. At one stage we even tried to move the thing ourselves - about 15 of us - but couldn't budge it.
Just outside Numinbah
At the border looking south into NSW
The view north back into QLD over the border / cattle grid
View of the Border Ranges
Just a few of the many bikes that were forced to turn around
The tree
After more than an hour of hanging around and waiting I decided to take off and head back to the M1 via Springbrook. Rode the 25 odd kms back to the turnoff then climbed the road towards Springbrook - again there was very little traffic on this road and so it was a really enjoyable ride. Made it to Springbrook-Mugeeraba Rd intersection and turned left to head down the very twisty and narrow section of road towards the motorway. This road at this time of the morning is sensational to ride - nice and cool and not a lot going on around you, so you are able to fully concentrate on the corners and your positioning to keep yourself at a reasonable pace and with no floorboards on my bike anymore I was able to flick the bike around a bit more too.
I finally reached the M1 and then took the cattle track down to Kingscliff arriving a little later than I had planned but a lot more awake!! That one is on the list to do again real soon.
Labels: On the road
posted by Beaker at 12:07 PM
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4 Comments:
that's one heck of a tree and some great vistas as well. have to ask though, what's a cattle grid? i'm guessing that it refers to the grid on the road, but i have no idea what it does. (guessing...something to do with cattle. ;))
Sounds like a great ride, dispite the downed tree. Beautiful country. Love the pics.
arrgh, that last post (rider) was by me. stupid blogger...
A cattle grid is the grid across the road in one of the pictures above. Because it is a grid cattle cannot walk across it and so eliminates the need for fences across the road.
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