Riding Home

[Cormanus]

At the end of my [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=5204]last report, I was in Brisbane being supportive. All went well with the birth (thanks for the kind words, Blockhead) and after a few days I was clearly in the way. It was time to head home. Again, there was no great hurry, so I decided to try an alternative route back over Mt Nebo.

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I left slightly later than I’d intended which turned out to be mildly unfortunate as the day just got hotter and hotter. And, of course, it was worse inland.

I retraced my path up Mt Nebo, a better ride up than down, but instead of turning right onto the Mt Glorious Rd to Samford, I kept going to Mt Glorious where I stopped at the very motorcycle-friendly Mt Glorious Café for a belated breakfast. As this is a favourite ride out from Brisbane and very close, there were a few bikes parked.









I continue to be fond of the bike in the second photo.

The road from the Mt Glorious Café leads briefly along the remainder of the ridge before starting its descent into the valley. It’s a pretty road and in good condition as it takes you through tall eucalypts that provide plenty of welcome shade on a stinking hot early autumn day.







The last photo in that series, is the start of the descent. It’s a beauty, although there is a fair bit of leaf litter about which means caution would be required in wetter conditions. I had to stop briefly for some road works, but then made my way down through some great and steep twisties to the valley containing Lakes Wivenhoe and Somerset—Brisbane’s water supply.

The Wivenhoe-Somerset Road is a bit of a favourite of mine. There’s almost no traffic; it’s reasonably straight but with enough sweepers and hills to make it interesting; and the good surface allows for a quick passage.




Wivenhoe-Somerset Road

At the northern end of this road I turned right onto the Esk-Kilcoy Road and made my way through an enjoyable winding section along the banks of Lake Somerset. I stopped at the dam for a quick photo, partly out of sentiment—as I rode past here one day on the way to meet Pterodactyl I saw a white CB1100 in the wild.




View over Lake Somerset

At Kilcoy, I decided to try the road to Jimna. I’d [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=4926]once contemplated riding it from the other end, but given up because of the threat of 88 kilometres of dirt when my stomach was growling. This time I gave up when a sign told me there was no more fuel for 130 or more kilometres. I had no chance and, by the time I’d ridden the short distance back to Kilcoy, the heat and hunger made me decide to keep pushing homewards.

After faffing around in Woodford trying to find petrol (there isn’t any until you reach the Mt Mee turnoff, I decided to make the run to Maleny. By rights I should easily have had enough fuel, but I always get nervous once the CB1100 gets past 200 kms and the nasty little light starts flashing. As it turned out I made it without trouble and filled up and took a break for a great big milkshake as, by then, it was well into the mid 30s (°C).

A ride along the Blackall Range, down through two sets of twisties to Nambour and I was back on the Bruce highway riding into what felt like a hot hair dryer. A slight detour to Noosaville to collect a new visor for my helmet and then home.

Yet another great day on the CB.