Esk Rides

On the weekend of 21 to 23 March the club had a series of rides from Esk. All up we had about 25 participants with about 18 riders all up and a few Members friends and partners and two non-riding members due to injuries. 

The rides coincided with the Esk Camp and Jam music festival. So we had rides in the morning followed by music for the rest of the day. The idea of the music festival was to encourage up and coming artists to showcase their talent. Some of the talent on display was awesome. 

Ride 1: Friday 21 March Esk to Coominya return 

Absolutely amazing ride of about 45Km. The ride has lovely shade all about. It rises for about half of the ride for about 200m then falls for 200m. We had coffee in the park at Coominya. The surface is much better than it used to be but still there is some loose gravel and some rutted path. There used to be a number of dangerous gullies that riders had to traverse. These have been replaced by bridges in all but one case, and that bridge is under construction so next year this will be a great ride. One of our riders did have a fall on the loose gravel and lost a bit of skin however major injury was avoided and they bravely soldiered on for the rest of the ride. If riders are going to Coominya privately please be aware there is no potable water available and so stock up with water before you go.

Ride 2: Saturday Esk to Toogoolawah return

This ride is much the same as the Coominya ride with a rise till halfway then a fall back down. Its a little shorter at 40 KmI. It is a bit hot with very little shade but to compensate the surface is very good. On arrival at Toogoolawah we had coffee at the HavÁÇhat cafe.

Ride 3: Sunday Treasure Hunt around Esk

Riders had to complete a 14 km course around Esk looking for clues to a quiz. Some of the clues were quite cryptic and tricky. 14 km does not sound like much, but it took riders about 2 hours to complete the questions and there were some very decent hills to climb. Winners announced and arguments regarding the answers were conducted afterwards at Brisbane Valley Roasters. Winners this year were our President Phil Price and his partner Christine. Next year the club promises to double the prize money for the treasure hunt (The prize money this year was zero).

Noel Wood
noel.wd@gmail.com