Sunday rides

While there are a lot of beautiful coastal rides on the Sunshine Coast, Sunday is for the hinterland. We generally have a club ride on Sunday mornings with a small but keen group of riders. The scenery is spectacular, the roads are usually quiet and there are some delightful country towns to visit.

A typical Sunday ride is around 60-70 km with at least 500 m of elevation (yes, it is hard to avoid hills in the hinterland). But we plan the routes carefully, are in no rush and have plenty of regroups.

One of my favourite Sunday rides is the so-called Coolum Beach northern hinterland loop, which combines the best of the coast and the hinterland. We depart from Coolum and head up to Tewantin via Noosaville with some rolling hills and spectacular ocean views. From Tewantin we ride up Gyndier Drive of Noosa Triathlon fame. It is 3 km uphill on a closed winding road but not steep – only around 3% gradient.

After a regroup at the top we head down to Cooroy and on to Eumundi Range Road. There are a couple of steep pinches but the views over the range are well worth it. After a break at the lookout, we head down to Eumundi. Then it's a few kms on Eumundi-Noosa Road and a coffee at Alfresco's Garden Café, before we turn off towards Verrierdale and make our way back to Coolum via Peregian Springs. All in all, it is around 70 km with 700 m of elevation but quite manageable for a reasonably fit cyclist.

We are always keen for new riders, so if our Sunday rides sound like you, we would love to see you!

Paul McGuire