Trail conditions? Gap Creek Reserve

[steve_sordy]

I am on hols in Brisbane and I am planning to visit the Gap creek reserve on Tuesday. I came across this report. which says the trail is closed (due to the recent flooding). It is three weeks since the report; have conditions improved to the point where the Rocket Frog is ridable now? Any informed comment would be most appreciated. The Quail Trail seems OK.

• Mar 25, 2022 Rocket Frog Trail Report
• Rocket Frog Trail (Gap Creek Reserve)
• Closed / Red
• Prevalent Mud - trail use not recommended, trail damage likely
• Mountain Bike Reporter Primary Activity

Ultra muddy, very slick, very rutted out and overgrown with most creeks swelling.

Ditto for the Dingo Trail:

• Mar 05, 2022 Dingo Trail Trail Report
• Dingo Trail (Gap Creek Reserve)
• Significant Issue / Amber
• Prevalent Mud - trail use not recommended, trail damage likely
• Mountain Bike Reporter Primary Activity

Many trees blocking trail that are not hoppable and big ruts being formed as well as eroded lips.
If anyone is interested with helping me rebuild message me here our at Instagram at Ethan renals

 

[iXi]

Looks like still closed

Trails — BORRA

www.borra.org

Where are you staying in Brisbane? as ironbark is a good alternative network if you need somewhere to ride on the northside.

 

[steve_sordy]

Looks like still closed

Trails — BORRA

www.borra.org

Where are you staying in Brisbane? as ironbark is a good alternative network if you need somewhere to ride on the northside.

I'm staying in Augustine Heights with my brother. I will be picking up a Speccy Levo from Epic Cycles at 08:30. It looks like Epic Cycles is half an hour from both Ironbark and Gap Creek and they are half an hour from each other (give or take). Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[iXi]

Castle Rock may be an option as its over Augustine Heights way. Depends on how long you have the bike for, if it's only for the day, that's a bit of a hike to castle Rock and back to epic cycles.

Mt cotton is probably the most popular and highest rated trails in the Brisbane area, it's also a bit of a hike from epic cycles. Shame gap Creek is closed as it has a good mix but it took a beating in the floods and drainage isn't the best.

 

[steve_sordy]

I have been looking around and I believe that I will start at Mount Coot-tha as it is only ten mins from Epic Cycles. If it is washed out or just no fun, I will move on to Ironbridge Gully. If that fails, I will take a look at Gap Creek Reserve. as long as I get the bike back by 5pm, all will be well.

What I really need of course is a friendly guide, but that is asking a lot mid-week. I know how hard Australians work.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

 

[iXi]

2 weeks ago I rode over to gap Creek not knowing it was shut. Pipeline is popular there and it's on the other side of gap Creek road away from rocket frog and dingo. It may be open but I didn't check.

Ironbark, all trails are open and I ride it frequently. I love it there and would offer to guide you but at work all day. It has 4 decent trails and are all blue rated. Kombi, whipsnake, sunset and ball buster (lorikeet) are the pick.

 

[steve_sordy]

I returned from OZ yesterday after a 34-hour journey (typical door to door journey from OZ to UK, just wearing). The Brisbane area daytime temperatures varied from 24 to 34 degC (and this was their Autumn!)

The rental bike from Epic Cycles (very good shop by the way) was a Speccy Levo. The tyres were Butcher grid 2.3 front and 2.4 rear. The front was OK, but the rear was well worn. Epic set up the bike for my laden weight. It seemed OK at the start, but I later had to increase the rebound damping on the shock and reduce the tyre pressures from mid 30's to 24-26, bearing in mind they were tubed (and I had no pump!)

I started at Mount Coot-tha. That place is high, higher than all the skyscrapers in Brisbane at least. At the start, the trails appear to be well signposted. But once I got going, not well at all. I was left at more than a few crossings without a signpost in sight. Some of the trails are for walkers only, some shared, there were very few mtb only. The Mahogany Trail was not signed at all in terms of a signpost that said what it was. I was glad of the exercise, and the scenery was good, but I was disappointed with this part of Mount Coot-tha *note. The trail surface was dry as dust and very slippy. The city council in Brisbane take flooding very seriously indeed. They have some serious rain from time to time that can cause extensive flooding. There are massive rain gullies all over the city, with huge flood areas all over the housing areas. They look like parks and are intended to be as such, but they are built to flood and then drain when required. The signs of the recent massive flooding were everywhere. They were still digging out the underground carparks while I was there. The following pics show a gulley that takes rain from the road above down the trail, across the trail and then down again to the bottom of the slope. The rocks are to slow the water flow and to reduce erosion.

The pic above gives an idea of the steepness of the terrain.

It was at this point I started altering the bike set up. The bike had been sliding out at the back and fishtailing. A tyre pressure reduction and an increase in rebound damping on the shock sorted that out. I believe that at some points I was also on the Citriadora trail and the Frogmouth Trail and one other. They were all steep in places and roller-coaster, but as smooth as dusty gravel will allow. The lack of signage found me on a walking trail at one point. I found myself on a seemingly endless series of steps on a steep climb, too steep for me to ride up in that heat. In this pic, there were still 11 more series of steps to do, varying between 1 and 6 steps per flight. I have no idea how many flights I pushed up, thank God for walk mode! The only reason that steps were installed was that the trail was too steep for the walkers to descend without skidding out. Can you see the bike? (On the right near the top).

Note: Later at Ironbark Gulley, I discovered that I should have been at the other side of the mountain where the off-piste trails are allegedly so scary that full-face helmets are worn by all but the foolish.

At the top of the steps very sweaty and sagging a bit, I packed up and set off for Ironbark Gulley in the Samford Conservation Area.

According to my satnav, the Samford Conservation area was about 35 mins away, but the sat nav took me to the middle of a housing estate. I met three very friendly chippies that were all too happy to send this particular Pommie Bastard in the correct direction. They sent me up Mailman's Track and into Ruby Court. It was close, but no cigar, as I was on the North (wrong) side of the conservation area but fantastically expensive housing was to be seen. Once I relocated to the South side, Ironbark Gulley was a completely different experience. Clearly aimed at mtb and not mixed use, although the access trails were used by walkers. Really good signage, see pics below.

Note how short the trails are. The Kombi trail was almost 100% descending though after a long climb up an access trail.

I still had had a few problems finding exactly where I was supposed to be, but getting there was good fun! Then I found another trail sign that made a recommendation for riders new to the area. I followed that and I was away!

The best of the lot was the Kombi trail which was 100% mtb and deffo not a walker's trail. it was steep, loose, twisty, swooping with berms over gravel and/or rocks. It snaked back and forth across the hillside, extracting the maximum distance from the hillside. The following pics, as usual, don't do justice to the trail, but if you look at the background or zoom in, you can get an idea of how steep it was.

The next three pics show an area where the Kombi trail crosses a stream, the bike is in all three shots. In the recent floods, the trail was completely stripped of all soil and most vegetation. In the first one I am standing on the trail looking down it.

This next one is stood roughly in the same place but looking right, to where the flood water went.

This shot shows where the flood water came from.

I took the first run down steadily as I had no idea what was coming, but let rip after that. I say "let rip", what I actually did was to go as fast as I dared without ever risking falling onto my left side. The previous week I had fallen like a tree from a height of 12" onto a concrete floor and very badly bruised my left hip. Also banged up my left forearm and shoulder. There was a swelling right on the hip joint that was still hurting and I didn't want to aggravate it. It is nearly three weeks since that accident. Since the photo below, the bruising has spread down my leg to the back of my knee and is still giving me gyp at that point. Photo or it didn't happen!

I had a lot of trouble at both destinations actually finding the trails, although none of them were "off-piste". Regulars would be puzzled at this, but once you know, you know. It gave me a new insight into how to mark trails (big at the start and take a photo, then small markers at every intersection).

Thanks to all those that gave me the benefit of their local knowledge. It was a last-minute scramble because I discovered the day before that the trail I had researched and planned was closed due to the flood damage. Also, I had no working phone other than its camera ability because I was too tight to pay £6+ per day for roaming. "How Much!"

 

[Jackware]

Glad you managed to find your way out of the trails!
Was the 12" drop a drunken accident at the wedding reception?

 

[steve_sordy]

Glad you managed to find your way out of the trails!
Was the 12" drop a drunken accident at the wedding reception?

Finding my way out wasn't the problem. Finding my way in was!

After the wedding, I had just started my first bottle of beer. I was outside, sat on a high stool with my feet on the rungs that were 12" above ground. I got a photocall to be with the happy couple. As I turned to go, my left heel caught on the rung, and down I went. It was one of those falls that just takes over. There was nothing to grab hold off, and nobody to fall onto either (!) I went down fairly straight but bounced like a dead cat. As I lay on the floor wondering just how badly I was hurt (not really), I can clearly remember two comments. The first was "Look, the old guy's fallen!" At least he didn't say "Look the old guy's had a fall!" That would have been awful.
As I was rising to my feet, another guy volunteered that I should take more water with it! The bride was a paramedic (known by the Ozzies as an "ambo"), therefore more than the usual number of medically qualified people were at the wedding. They all rushed to put their skills into action, yet my wife never moved! When this was commented upon, she said that she was mentally checking where the insurance policies were! She loves me really!

My 12-years younger brother, whose son it was that was getting married, is a total piss-taker. He has warned me that this will never be forgotten. I will be reminded on frequent occasions and it will even be referenced at my wake. Joy.

 

[Jackware]

I think the mods need to change your title to 'Wedding Crasher'

 

[Zimmerframe]

Don't let the mods see it. I don't think they allow brazen nudity and butt flashing. Though if we assume that's another mans hand, does that make it pornography?

 

[billwarwick]

Anybody else see a face in that bruise? Man with a beard?
.

 

[Jackware]

Anybody else see a face in that bruise? Man with a beard?

Yes, now you mention it

 

[Jackware]

I think the mods need to change your title to 'Wedding Crasher'

Wow, it's been changed!!!

 

[TheRealPoMo]

Glad you enjoyed our corner of the world Steve. Yes there are some truly steep and slippery trails here...which is why we sometimes have to point out to certain forum experts here that the dinner plate cog in the cassette is actually needed.
You should have tried Camp Mountain East approach, about 4 km from Ironbark; though it's been graded in the last week or so.
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