Overnight rain had me wondering how today, the first day of the Tenere Tragics 2018 Bay to Bush run might pan out on my luggaged up 260kg Bumble Bee Super Tenere. There was no talk at that stage of any of the sections being deleted so Karl and I left Hervey Bay with me harbouring some trepidation that things were going to get muddy. This was compounded by a 10 minute drenching on the way to Maryborough where we stopped for breakfast at the first bakery of the five day event.
The first offroad sections were through the Tuan and Toolara State Forests. The event organisers did their homework, despite the rain that was about the route consisted of decent gravel sections that weren’t badly affected by the wet. I was almost ready for a smile after knocking off the first sections without incident.
More fun roads, winding narrow tar and dirt that included the Pomona Kin Kin Road, and Coles Creek Road saw us at the Bellbird Creek Cafe for morning tea. I don’t eat that much while riding but Karl and I decided to stop and chat. The fun social aspect of this ride is as important as the riding itself.
Kidaman Creek, Bellthorpe, Kilcoy, Sheep Station Creek were all names on the route sheet as we wound out way up and down narrow mountain roads. This guy popped his hear out somewhere along there.
And we got a great view of the closed fire tower at Jimna on the Kilcoy Murgon Road..
Followed by Manumbar Road then winding our way to Kingaroy for the night. Kingaroy smells like popcorn, but the locals reckon it’s nuts.
More rain overnight and some light rain falling greeted us as we rode out of the hotel to start day 2 of the ride. The route took us up into the Bunya Mountains Road, some nice twisties and eery fog.
There weren’t too many opportunities for photos up there, here’s one of Karl taking one of me.
We stopped for breakfast early at Maidenwell Trading Post, and here’s a tip. If you are in the area stop here and enjoy the food this place produces. Pies, pastries, sauces, conserves etc etc etc and great coffee/chai.
A few of us made the good choice here.
The weather didn’t improve but the spirit of the riders wasn’t dampened. Again the organisers had made good choices of trails that despite the rain were all manageable on Tenere’s of all sizes, including the big 1200’s.
We dropped in on Lake Perseverance, a nice little ride dow the hill to see it.
And wound our way to Seventeen Mile Road and through the Lockyer State Forrest, Ma Ma Creek Road and other fun sections before a scheduled lunch break at Allora
The weather turned much worse after that and one stage of the route was cancelled for safety reasons. So we highwayed our way as directed to Stanthorpe for the second night’s festivities. We regretted not being able to ride the whole route but to be honest it was nice to get out of the wet gear and enjoy some warming fluids.