BUG Ride 30th March, 2013 - Blackbutt to Linville, Moore and Toogoolawah to Esk

Today I (David) did a bike ride, which was absolutely fantastic, and I can say without hesitation that I will be ready and waiting to do it again!

After a good breakfast I drove to Benarkin in the Blackbutt Range about 150k northwest of Brisbane, 130k from Redcliffe.  Harry and Adèle had camped there overnight -- a free camp spot which even boasts hot showers (for $2).  From there, Adèle and I did the 4 or 5k on to Blackbutt and return while Harry drove down to Linville and got a ride back up with Bob and Joyce, leaving one car down in Linville in readiness for the return. After we all got back to Benarkin (9am), all 5 of us set off down the "rail trail" as it is called to Linville.

The train line reached Benarkin in 1911 and Blackbutt in 1912 so was completed just over 100 years ago.  Service ceased about 1989 and by 1995 the track was all torn up and the bridges demolished.  By 2006 fords or crossings had been constructed to make access possible and the "Brisbane Valley Rail Trail" was opened.  It accepts bicycles, hikers and horses but no mechanised vehicles of any kind.  We met several other cycle groups and a couple of hiking groups.  The trail is well marked with signposts at various points, a couple of rest spots, etc.

Benarkin to Linville is 18k so Adèle and I did about 28k (18 + 9 or 10) while the others did 18k, most of which was downhill -- which is why they took one car down to Linville.  The grade is pretty gentle though and I'd be interested to do it in both directions.

The scenery, particularly up the top end, is absolutely fantastic.  Really deep gorges on both sides and an amazing feat of engineering -- pretty much all done by hand probably at the time.  At one point there is a track down to a tunnel or large culvert, which channelled the stream under the railroad track.  That particular tunnel is 27 metres long, 3.7m wide and 3.7 high, with concrete walls 60cms thick, but there must be many more similar culverts or tunnels at various points along the way.

Apart from the beauty of the scenery, the bellbirds were absolutely gorgeous.  There's something about being right out in the wilds in the midst of Nature -- it sure stirred my soul. 
I also found myself marvelling at how all this was built so many years ago.  Who set out to find a suitable track?  How long were they wandering around and did they just camp out?  How many workers were involved in the actual construction, and how long did they live right on the job?  Whatever, the "scouts" did an amazingly good job of finding some pretty gentle grades. 

It was also interesting to see the site of a tent school.  Here the children of the workers were educated.  There is also a site commemorating where a couple of workers lost their lives in a tragic accident.

The whole nostalgia of the old steam trains was also part of what I was feeling I guess.  There is still a bit of track and some old rolling stock left at Linville.  After we reached there, we three fellas went back up to Benarkin to get the cars we'd left there and drove back down to Moore, 8 kms from Linville, to meet the Adele and Joyce for lunch.  They had ridden on down from Linville.  After lunch they all went to set up camp at Linville and I returned home.

I surprised myself at the number of photos I took. Attached is one, which shows us, heading down the trail.  It was very hard to know which photo to include but this gives the general idea.  Most of the track is quite good although it was a bit slippery in places today due to heavy overnight showers and also there is a lot of big gravel (or the old ballast) in places, particularly on the steep drops down to fords where there used to be bridges.  (Indeed, Harry came a bit of a cropper at one of these but no serious damage...)

In short, a wonderful outing, and one I'd be glad to repeat any time!
Submitted by David Judd
Story continued by Adele:
We enjoyed a lazy afternoon chatting and drinking cups of tea.   Cooked dinner 5pm to use the sunlight.  More chatting and an early night. Campsite was very quiet, so too the Pub across the road.

Sunday morning we left our Linville campsite at 9am, drove to Toogoolawah (Harry and Joyce took car to Esk) and then rode the “Rail Trail” to Esk.  Left 10.20am and arrived just after 1pm.  Bob had his "power assist bike" which helped protect his knees on the uphill sections.  Up a steady incline to the site of an old railway station, then down the other side to Esk.  Quite a difficult ride for me, because of the climbing, on mostly grassy surface with some creek crossings, some of us becoming "feet wet".  About 20km, and glad we were only riding one way.  
At Esk, Harry and Joyce both rode off for some lunch supplies, so we ate well on meat pies, wraps, dips, salad, Hot Cross Buns and fruit.   The light showers of the morning turned heavier as Harry and Adele ferried Joyce back to Toogoolawah to retrieve the car.   They were going to visit family in the area.  We purchased some meat for dinner and made plans for the afternoon.

Adele and Harry explored another possible bike route from Colinton BP station to Toogoolawah via a back route road, as this section of the rail trail has not yet been developed.   Looks a lovely undulating route, through farmland, about 20km; 4km gravel the rest tar seal, a very little used road.  The road is only one lane wide and has two or three river crossings with low-level bridges.   We saw no other vehicles while driving the route.

Back in Esk and it was really raining hard.  Cooked our steak, onions and mushrooms undercover on the electric bar-b-q. During this time decided we might as well head home tonight, rainy weather was really set in and might not get to ride further on Monday anyway.

Arrived home 7.30pm Sunday, unpacked, did washing and had showers and watched “Call the Midwife”.  What a lovely TV series, that completed a wonderful and physically demanding weekend of riding and being with friends.