The Wild Geese

Non Overlanders Not To Cania Gorge
Kandanga-Gympie dirt ride, Sunday 28 May

Mac and Peter were away on the Overlanders To Cania Gorge ride. For those staying behind, Dave Osborne had some suggestions for a ride, to which Steve added the leg from Kandanga to Glastonbury.

Various Geese met at the Coolum Cafe as usual, slightly more dirt- than road-riders turned up. The dirt contingent was Steve, Rod, Josef, Neil and Ron. We took Steve's standard back-road route to Cooroy then on to Kandanga, busier than usual due to the protestors against the proposed Mary Valley dam. For what it's worth (not much), they have my support; this area is too beautiful to put under water.


Gathered in Kandanga

Dave was waiting for us in town, and led us out to the trail. We spent a fine couple of hours following Steve's GPS through the forestry and out to Widgee. And, sceptics please note, the GPS worked well as a guidance tool, getting us on to some of the less-travelled tracks where the best riding was to be found. My new dirt-oriented tyres worked well, even though I didn't have a full-on knobby on the back. The pace was reasonably brisk and those on dual-sport tyres had it tougher; Ron's bike was apparently a bit of a handful on near-slicks, and Josef unfortunately came unstuck on a gravelly downhill bend. The GS has been de-beaked as a result and will shortly be paying a visit to Coastline to get a face lift.


One of a few gates
Josef's beakless GS

By the time we all regrouped in Widgee it was well past midday and several decided to head for home - Josef, Rod and Ron. That left a 1200GS and two KTM's, and we decided to give Kilkivan a miss due to lack of time. Dave took the lead after a quick burger break. No GPS to guide Dave though, and we never made it to Tiaro. Instead, we looped NE through Gunalda and then headed back to Gympie where we relaxed over a beer or two at Dave's place. Neil and Steve had a cold and wet ride home, but that couldn't spoil another fine day in the hills.

(Not many pictures of the day as we were mostly too busy riding)

Links
  • Here is a Garmin-produced "mud map" of the planned ride - it's the route marked in yellow, and here is the ride which we actually rode.
  • Here is a downloadable route plan that should be usable in most GPS units (right click to download the file).

Category Rides ~ Category Dirt Rides