With alarm set for early start to try and beat the heat, and the bike prepared, it was early to bed.
After a week on the gold coast, with some quality miles chewed, it was time to do the long ride for the week, and find some hills too.
Just before nodding off, my phone pinged with a SMS from a mate of my brother, seeking some suffering. So I rang him to arrange an agreed meeting point and route. He was keen to throw in Springbrook, so I had to adjust my thinking. The planned route was Robina, Springbrook, Numinbah valley, Chillingham, Murwillumbah, tweed heads, Broadbeach.
I was up at 4 am and downed some breaky and got kitted. I rolled down the driveway to find my cadence sensor was interfering with the GPS ( I’d changed my wheels for the ride but not the magnet) so had to ride back to cut the sensors off the bike.)
Anyway I got 20 km’s in before meeting Brett at 530 at Robina.
Now Brett was an ex professional cyclist who liked to train alone… because he has limited cycling time these days, so when he’s out he is hammering the pedals….
I was feeling pretty guilty at this point, because I was wired to 160 km distance pace but we worked out a solution. Brett only had a ‘couple of hours’ while I was out for 6, so I suggested he tag along til he had to turn back, and he could open the jets on the return, sweet….
So we rolled through Robina and onto Springbrook road, which goes up a valley with rolling climbs, it took me back to my childhood passing the Mudgerabah war museum, little Nerang dam, and a picnic spot next to the river where I cooked my first damper on a stick with my brothers nearly 40 years ago…
Brett was great, happy to spin uphill…..I worked away trying to keep my heart rate down, good practise for 3 peaks I thought.
We finally emerged at the turn off well up Springbrook after climbing 500 m, from here after a right turn the descent is technical and fast, averaging 15 degrees down over 6 km’s bringing us out in the Numinbah valley for a left turn and the beginning of a gradual climb of over 400 m to get us to the NSW boarder. This part of the ride is spectacular, with rain forest, no traffic, the incredible beauty of the Natural arch, and the breath taking views when crossing the grid on the Qld/ NSW boarder. 90 km’s in with plenty to go. Oh and yes Brett turned back at Numinbah, thanks mate.
From here I descended again loosing the 400 m in a few km’s before rolling into Chillingham. This area is spectacular forming the rim of the volcano now known as Mount Warning. PowerAde top up, and water filled before off again to Murwillumbah . This area was familiar having rowed on the tweed river between Murwillumbah , Condong, and tweed heads at school, they were the days…The sugar cane area is flat until a climb through Terranora before descending into Tweed heads and then the familiar drag along the coast to Broadbeach for breakfast.
The hinterland is amazing, I’m hooked!
ride time 5 hours 51 minutes, 155 km’s. 2000 m vertical climb. Suffer score on strava ‘extreme’.
Cheers
Van Diemen