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!