Beaudesert to Brisbane

Wednesday 7th July:
Rest day at Beaudesert with Mum and Gerard. Coffee at Everyday's Cafe and catch up with changes in my hometown. Weather closed in again in the afternoon with some heavier rain. Got in touch with "Transit Queensland" (ph: 13 12 30) about how we could use public transport to get to Brisbane. The old train service is no longer in operation. There is a bus service (6.00am, 9.00am and 3.30pm - buy ticket at bus door) but it does not take bicycles. So we hoped that the weather cleared and we could ride onto Brisbane in the morning.

Thursday 8th July:
Beaudesert (7.20am and 0km) - Jimboomba (8.30am and 24km) - Moorooka (11.30am and 60km) - Ascot (1.20pm and 73km) - Brisbane Airport Novotel Hotel (3.30pm and 79km).
Ride time = 4hrs 46 mins
Trip distance = 78.76km
Average speed = 16.5km/h
Max speed = 52.7km/h.

Well the morning dawned fine 'ish and we headed off into cool grey skies and a great coffee shop at Jimboomba - can't remember the name of it Cascade maybe? - good coffee, scones. The road has a great verge to here and we had a tailwind all the way. The roads from here on have changed quite a bit. Just after the Jimboomba Creek, there is a Service Road that runs all the way to the Logan River bridge at Maclean and is traffic free. Back onto the highway for a few kms and then the new 4 lane road kicks in from Park Ridge onwards. Unfortunately the amount of glass on the verge for the next 20 km or so was astounding! Tania got a flat front tyre here - our first and only flat for the entire trip.
We followed Beaudesert Road all the way into Moorooka High Street for lunch at the bakery - excellent salad rolls. From here onwards, we used the footpaths quite a bit as our friendly wide road verge was now gone. This makes for much slower but much safer riding. We passed the "Clem 7 Tunnel" via a new bike bridge and continued along Annerley Road (as Beaudesert Road becomes) over the bike path on the Story Bridge on the Brisbane River and stopped here for photos.

Amazing how many apartments are now built along the river here - looks a bit like Glasgow.

We used footpaths to get across to Breakfast Creek and then Kingsford Smith Drive. We called in on Lynne's mum at Ascot for great conversation and a cup of tea before battling the traffic on the East-West Arterial Road to get to the Novotel at the Airport - great location and double-glazed windows make for a quiet room. Unfortunately they are the only place for dinner unless you have a car to get over to Hamilton or eleswhere - there are plenty of shops nearby in the DFO complex but all the food shops are only open for breakfast and dinner. DFO itself is open 10-6.
Met up with Vick and Nev for dinner and laughs at Hamilton Wharf (cinemas and restaurant complex) and hit the sack about 10pm. There is no shuttle bus to the airport (unusual for an airport hotel!).

Friday 8th July:
Up early to pack the bikes back into their bags and a relaxed breakfast at the Coffee Club - their House Toast is excellent value at $4.00. Checked out and ordered a maxi-taxi to take us to the VirginBlue terminal ($27.50!) to catch our flight back to Sydney (Virgin were 1hr late this time!).
A great trip though way too short - I was just getting some fitness into the legs and now its over until next time.