Stradbroke Island "Straddie" Trip

I'm dragging BF out of Bed on Saturday morning and stealing him away to Stradbroke Island for the day. For his birthday of course

http://www.more2redlands.com.au/more...ng+and+Walking

We're going to take our bikes on the vehicle ferry and ride from Dunwich to Point Lookout. At Point Lookout we're going to be on the hunt for HUMPBACK WHALES, DOLPHINS and TURTLES and maybe even stop off for a swim in the surf. and have lunch in our cycling gear at the SLSC

The Island's made entirley out of sand. But the main roads are sealed. We'll be sticking to them. There's only three major roads on the island anyway but more than likely they'll be covered in sand because of all the 4WDs on itcoming back onto them after their beach treks.

Plus there's a freshwater spring not too far into the ride with some of the coolest water i've splashed around in.

All in all it'll be an approx 50km ride divided up because of the stops.

http://www.more2redlands.com.au/NR/r...ideislands.pdf
(you'll need Adobe Reader)

I'm most impressed with the brochure because they even reccommend using a dry lube on your chain to prevent sand clogging. ^_^ ha ha. :o

Taking the camera and I'm REALLY hoping the whales put on a show!

Hey light,

How was the day trip???? That's an are of brissie i didn't get to visit!

C

Here's my ride report.

at 5:00 on Saturday we got up and had our first light breakfast. WE drove 20mins to the ferry and got there as the barge was pulling in. Jumped on, secured the bikes and paid our way.

It was great to watch the sunrise on the 1 hour journey over to the island. It looked like the day was going to overcast and the barge itself was freezing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...r/cb8918cd.jpg
(Sunrise over moreton Bay)

As soon as we got to dunwich we saddled up and started out ride. The first part was pretty flat and we reached Myora springs in under 20mins.

The first part of the road ride was awesome. The shoulder was wide enough for the bikes without going onto the gravel and the road was smooth bitument.

About 15mins after Myora we arrived at the turn off to Amity point. There was a map pointing out we'd already ridden 11km and there was only 10km to go!!

The last ten km was a bit of a perilous journey. The speed limit was 100kph!! which means cars were WIZZING past us! WE spent about 15mins going uphill... then 20mins coming back down. ^_^ IT WAS FANTASTIC!!!

I made it up to my third chain ring and highest gears on both sides! I was doing 45kph on the way into point lookout. I was screaming with joy cause I was doing almost half the bloody speed limit!

Anyway. We made it to point lookout with an average speed ove 18kph! My best average EVER!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...r/61d2ec3b.jpg
(Me and BFat the TOP of Point Lookout!)

We left the ferry at 7:30 and arrived at point lookout by 9:00! WOOHOO!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...r/c517b713.jpg
(BF with the bikes)

So we had second breakfast at LOOK cafe and I had the best pancakes ever! Whilst sitting there a mother and calf humpback whale were putting on a magnificent show out to sea!! IT WAS GREAT!

After breakfast we lounged around watching the surfers on Frenchmen's beach and reading the saturday paper.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...r/fddb465a.jpg
(Me on Frenchman's)

Then we kinda lounged around on Cylinder beach. It was like being on the reef! The water was CRYSTAL CLEAR and CYAN! It was BEAUTIFUL! and calm on Cylinder!

In fact! We fell asleep for two hours!!

After that we got up and went to the pub! WoOHOO!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...r/108f3462.jpg
(the view from the PUB!!! You can see our bikes attached to the fence. ^_^)

Great lunch of fresh whiting! and BEER!

Then we started back... It toock two hours but we made it back to the ferry terminal just as the barge was leaving... D'oh. So we sat round and waited for an hour!

The climbs on the way back were REALLY HARD and even BF struggled with it!

It's actually amazing that we were the only cyclists on the roads that morning. It was a gorgeous day and a great trip and I THROUGHALLY reccommend it. Even if you've only been riding for ONE MONTH like I had! JUST DO IT!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...r/4620a956.jpg
(BF's KANO KULA MTB with my JAMIS TANGIER back at the Ferry Terminal)

BARGE: $16 return ticket
TIME CYCLING: 3hr 16mins 58 seconds
DISTANCE: 45.04km (that's 27.9miles)
TOTAL AVERAGE SPEED : 13.7kph (that's 8.5miles/hour... pretty slow)
MAX SPEED: 44.6kph (that's 27.7miles/hr)
CALORIES: 646.1
IMPORTANT FACTS!

• Broke 300km on my odometer!!
• Used third chain ring for the first time
• Went my fastest speed ever!!

IT'S A GREAT DAY OUT!!!

Thanks for posting the pics they are gorgeous. Whiting and beer sounds yummy - now Im feeling hungry for fish, beer and a lazy day at the beach.
Sounds like a perfect day out.:)

Thanks for the pics!

I too now am thinking about the beach...just wish it would stop blowing a gale & raining...

Sounds like you two had fun! Does your dear mtn bike?? He has a Kona mtn bike with disc brakes...just wondering if he's into dirt.

c

Hi crazycanuck.

Yeah he was into mountain biking a lot last year... More into roadies now.

He dragged his kona over to straddie because he didn't want to get sand on his Bianchi Road bike. :P