Brisbane Valley Gravel Grinder

Years ago I lived for a short time on a grazing property at Johnstown, via Nanango, Queensland, at the head of the Brisbane River. At the watershed actually, with the Brisbane River catchment on one side and the Burnett River catchment on the other. On our infrequent trips to the big smoke, we followed a very scenic road which crossed the Brisbane River around 30 times before emerging onto the D'Aguilar Highway at Moore.

It's long been on my mind to revisit the area, so I planned a ride which took in the Brisbane River Rail Trail to Linville then continued on to Elgin Vale and Manumbar, before heading back through Jimna, Kilcoy and Woodford to Beerburrum. I did actually set out to ride the route at Xmas 2016 from the Beerburrum end but reached only as far as Kilcoy before turning back in fierce heat. A few days later a motorbike rider died in the Beerburrum State Forest from heat stroke.

So I'm now going to ride the route in spring between work assignments (if I can get away). The plan is to take the train to Ipswich and ride the BVRT and camp a night at Esk, then at Linville, At Linville I'll leave the rail trail and follow the river road to Elgin Vale, to camp in the old school (now CWA) grounds or maybe continue to Manumbar and camp at the hall/campdraft ground. 

From there I'll head south to Jimna and camp at PeachTrees, the next day continue on through Kilcoy and Woodford to Beerburrum and get the train home.

If anyone wants to tackle this ride you can download the route from RideWithGPS. Search for BVGG - you should find seven tracks by Arefkay, but there may be copies others have made. I think you will need to sign up for a free account to download the tracks. 

This link should work. RideWithGPS

What is in the bags?

 Grasshopper in Frankton (Queenstown) New Zealand.

A few people have asked: What is in the bags?

Hmmm. That is quite a long list so I won't go into the detailed specifics, but generally it goes like this.

Seat bag:

• Long pants and polo shirt
• Thermal top and leggings
• Running shorts
• Bike jersey and liner shorts
• Down jacket 
• Socks, jocks, gloves and beanie
• First Aid kit.

On the outside, ultralight sandals.

Frame bag.
Lower compartment:

• Spare tube
• Toolkit and assorted spares
• Sealant
• Pump.

Upper compartment:

• Sawyer 2 litre gravity filtration system  (4 litre total capacity)
• Tent poles.

Side compartment:

• Cable lock
• Maps and documents .

Handlebar bag:

• Sleeping bag
• Wind shirt
• Rain jacket and gloves
• Rain legs
• Leg warmers.

 On the outside, tent (Tarptent Protrail)

Front Pocket:

• iPad Mini (in a Zagg folio keyboard case).

Anything bags:
Left bag:

• Food.

Right bag:

• Cooking pot, stove and mug etc.
• Gas canister
• Meds/toiletries/personal hygiene.

Top tube bags:
Front:

• Auxilliary battery
• Camera
• Smartphone.

Rear:

• Six port USB charger and assorted cables.

Chaff bags (2):

• Snacks
• Sunglasses
• Headphones 
• Passengers.

Downtube:

• Air mattress.

And of course I’m wearing another set of cycling clothes - jersey, baggies and liners, MTB shoes and socks, and cycling cap