Off To Mt Glorious & Nebo

Another midweek run and with Mt Glorious as the destination and the anticipation of a great ride was definitely filling the air.

A smaller than expected crew (Action, Barree, Marika and Tojo) and the normal variety of cruisers and sports bikes got an earlier start from Mudgeeraba at 7.30am (earlier for us anyway) and headed west along the normal route to Beaudesert.

West along Worongary/Gilston Road, a left down Hinde Rd and left onto Latimer’s Crossing Rd.

Then a right onto Nerang/Murwillumbah Rd and up through Advancetown back towards Nerang. A left at Clagiraba Rd and then a nice wind up over to Nerang/Beaudesert Rd. Left out of here and head out through Canungra (no stop today) and then on to Beaudesert.

Action abandoned us here. Something about a granddaughter who would put him in a nursing home if he didn’t attend her swimming carnival. And then there were three. We headed towards Boonah, and it didn’t disappoint. The roadwork speed limits are still in place and the odd truck and dog performing right hand turns in our path kept us on our toes. A right up the Boonah/ Ipswich Rd and again the flowing road just kept the dream alive.

At the Cunningham Highway we turn left and head for Amberley. Pick up the Ipswich/Rosewood Rd on your right. Grab another right at Haigslea/Amberley Rd and straight through Walloon and keep heading for the Warrego Highway. At the intersection, Barree decided to go olive picking at Minden which had Marika and I instantly checking our deodorant and deciding that it wasn’t us.

A right onto the Warrego and a quick zing to Blacksoil had us grabbing a left onto the Brisbane Valley Highway. This road has a good surface and is quite busy for what seems to be country road. Past the National Paintball Fields on the left and onto Fernvale (again no stop today, but the bakery is a winner). A further 4 kilometres out along see’s the first of the Wivenhoe/Somerset Road turnoff’s. We keep on straight today and over the hill is something new in the Wivenhoe. Water!! Looks like an inland sea at the moment at over 95% full. Great to see! Over the Dam Wall (take all the Dam photos you want! ha ha!) and another 30km has Esk in our sights. Bakery time on the left and Marika orders a skinny latte, hoping the low fat milk will alter the price. No such luck but I was paying anyway.

After a refuel at the Shell (yes they have 98RON) and 3 km north of town has a hanging a right onto the Esk/Kilcoy Road. Nice bit of black stuff but keep an eye out for the right hand turn with the little Mt Glorious sign, which is the northern end of the Wivenhoe/Somerset Road (If you bang along for another 3k’s you can have a butchers at the Somerset Dam wall). Marika missed the turn and went on a one man adventure towards Kilcoy. Now this is a fantastic bit of road with big flowing corners and excellent surface. You pass between the backwaters of the Wivenhoe and the downstream of the Somerset Dams which at the moment means you also get to see water.

There is fairly big sign on the left to let you know that the Mt Glorious turnoff is coming up, but again keep an eye out for it. Left here puts us on Northbrook Parkway which becomes Mt Glorious Road. It’s an excellent bike road, but the amount of warning signs give you the idea that respect and commonsense is the order of the day. A lot of leaf litter is on the road due to the overhanging branches, but there is still a usable line to keep both wheels on the straight and narrow. Gear selection is important, as I found out after getting caught short on a triple 20km/h hairpin. Second gear just pulled out but first was probably the better option. Up through the D’Aguilar Range and the riding is just fantastic with corner after corner of testing entries and exits. At the top of the range are a few lookouts to see where you’ve come from and heading to as well as a cafe which had plenty of bikes parked outside.

At the intersection of Mt Glorious Road and Mt Nebo Road is the opportunity to turn left and down to Samford with the continuing corners of Mt Glorious Road. We chose to continue on, which had us on Mt Nebo Road and heading for The Gap. The road is just as good as Glorious and has you skirting the ridge which overlooks the Samford Valley.

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, and Mt Nebo Road becomes Waterworks Road at The Gap. We follow this all the way into the city. It was a real change from the fresh air and lack of four wheeled phone booths (I’m sure they are cause everyone was on the phone) to the heat and smog of the inner-city traffic. Waterworks Road becomes Musgrave Road and we keep a look out for the turnoff to the Gold Coast on the right at Hale Street. Past the Cauldron (Lang Park) and left onto the Riverside Expressway has us heading for home and thinking about another great day on two wheels.

Keep it safe. Tojo