Monday, November 21, 2016

November- time to ride the Northside to Kenilworth


It was time to go across the great river divide to the northside and the great sunshine coast hinterland roads to Kenilworth. With a great group of 22 bikes and 25 bikers it was just another awesome ride in the great Sth East!
We welcomed a few new bikers on the ride and enjoyed our usual pre-ride community before heading off to BP Caboolture to meet up with northern riders and a big surprise.
welcome to John, Cindy,David and Joanne
So it was going to be a long 350km day which was made longer by the intervention of the boys in blue.

As planned we headed off up M1 to BP roadhouse Caboolture to meetup with Leigh McQueeney our fearless ride leader for this run and a few other northern riders...well that was the plan but riding into BP we were confronted by chaos, motorbikes and cars everywhere...and the boys in blue writing out tickets at their leisure.

Apparently there was a very large meetup of not so suburban bikers and the police were in a feeding frenzy with non-compliance everywhere....unfortunately no video was taken though one photo was found of our unfortunate Gold coast member...Scott, who was the unfortunate one sprung for a non-compliant helmet ( 1 in 3 that road past the police were the same) but he got the $365 fine and 3 demerit points (later he became known as D.Merrit). The big issue was he couldn't ride till he had a compliant one! So off they went to buy a new one before joining us again at coffee stop at Woodford bakery.
B.o.B enjoying Woodford bakery break...Brenton checking his notifications
We had to wait for the other helmet buying bikers to join us...things were settling down after a disruptive start but Scott seemed to have moved on...check out the video below.



Finally we headed off to the twisty roads up to Maleny then over and down the Mary valley to Kenilworth... snaking our way through the hills with a large group of bikes.



...and who said Harleys couldn't go around corners....its an awesome run down the valley

We were heading for the Pub at Kenilworth for lunch ...and you never know what you come across ....we saw a bike towing a trailer...good idea
We settled into the pub for a good lunch and refreshing liquid. Everyone were on high spirits after a great run..






potato wedge temptations and the worries of a ride leader
Another great time of community but it was time to retrace our steps back up to Maleny...its a nice road up as well then some sunshine coaster split off and headed home...the southerners headed back home via Mt Mee (we do eat twisties for breakfast) , stopping at the pit stop for afternoon tea before getting fuel at Dayboro and battling the late afternoon Saturday traffic home through the city.
Check this video I call ..."Where's John" , a close call as we entered pitstop cafe :)

The pitstop cafe on Mt Mee is a great place to stop with awesome views for a selfie :)

So ended another awesome day riding in the Great Sth East ...and though it started in an unfortunate way (sorry scott) it got better and better as the day went. Riding clears the mind and gets you in tough with the amazing God who created all of this...and as we know   "your tribe determines your vibe" and riding with this awesome community really does fill your tank.
You can enjoy more great vision in the video below...also please forgive me for my first Vlogging attempt, many newbie mistakes ( always in conversation with ray om the intercom but you can;t hear the other side of the conversation :) also a little crackling noise I need to sort out.


Monday, November 14, 2016

Christmas Creek Weekend- Bikes & 4WD Crazy


I had a great idea that instead of our normal 3 day November roadtrip ...we would take our Band of Bikers and 4wd'ers (rut conduct) to an awesome Christmas creek property for some family fun and adventure....and we certainly got all of that and more.
Unfortunately only a few of us rode bikes whilst other bikers bought their families and vehicles ..which was awesome to see.
we enjoyed a meetup at Beaudesert maccas for morning tea as we made our way out on Friday




So we arrived at this wonderful Christmas property with its quaint old Homestead and amazing shed. The advance party setup accommodation and cooking facilities...the bikers comfortably ensconced in the homestead with the 4WD in tents and caravan.
Now with storm clouds brewing we headed off to cut wood for our evening fires....there were a myriad of dead trees and an eager group of woodcutters armed with chainsaws...and supervisory skills.
After filling up the vehicles with firewood we thought we would head up the mountain on the property for a reconnoiter...but we were greeted by a storm, lightning and hail...we hightailed it down the slippery mountain holding our breath at time..not before God gave us an awesome surprise.
Hail was falling, lightning flashing in we faced a slippery drive back...time to air down...was it cold Mick?
wow...God showing his spectacular grandeur
When we arrived back it was time to set up for an evening meal and our obligatory fire pits....a great space for building community.
During the early evening we saw the storm return , not a problem for those sleeping in the homestead but made life for some in tents a little difficult.
As we woke to a better day we planned for a meetup at Oreilly's with bikes running through Canungra and the 4WD's running up duck creek rd.

As the bikes enjoyed a twisty run up to Oreilly's we had one eye on the skies not wanting to be caught on the mountain in the rain....whilst we enjoyed ascending through the gumtree line we were caught off guard by the impact of the storm which created deep and wet leaf litter all across the road making staying upright a challenge.
a great ride to O'Reillys.... variety of landscapes and in the end...a dirty bike
view from Oreilly's

t was an enjoyable time at O'Reillys as we shared some good food, some talking to the animals and even a walk along the rainforest "skywalk" ..a great time.

It was then down the mountain and the backroads back to Christmas creek  .... being stopped by a herd of dairy cattle to provide some comic relief. The run down Kerry rd to the Darlington range then onto Hill view .



So it was back to Christmas creek..enjoying the setting sun for some dinner and Movie night...and you guessed it ..."Wild Hogs" was on the menu. Despite plenty of preparation for board children they never bothered with DVD's or technology...too busy riding around the property, swimming in creeks, patting horses, climbing hills...you get the picture. Hmmm..a whole different way to live.
Calebe enjoyed some spectacular pork while we were away :)

















We awoke to on Sunday to a spectacular day...after some discussion we agreed to hold a small service down at camp with concern about accessibility up and down the mountain. It was an awesome time as we shared what the weekend had meant to us, enjoyed communion and prayed together.
great community of food, the dishes and communion
With a few hours before lunch we decided to give it a go to try and get to the top of the mountain and its beautiful vista's..it would be a great way to finish our weekend together.
We celebrated an awesome weekend with great people from a small plateau on the mountain top...wishing that we could stay longer.


So once packed up the bikers made their way home via Rathdowney, MT Alford, Lake Moogerah and Boonah ...what a way to finish!
Check out a video of the weekend below....and sorry you 4WD'ers , of course it has lots of motorcycle riding :)