Ringtail Forest Ride Summary 22/01/2017
What may have been a tough slog through sweltering heat turned out to be a rather pleasant cruise thanks to a cool reprieve from the heatwave. 18 riders showed up for a mini adventure through Ringtail Forest from Tewantin.
First off we warmed up our legs by heading along Mckinnon Drive before heading into the dead straight access road into Tewantin Forest. We rode through the Sunken Gardens, which is a tight and twisty set of single tracks snaking along to Old Tewantin Road which we begrudgingly exerted our way up (or in Boaz’s case gleefully levitated up on his new Giant XTC Advanced 0 29er hover-bike). Did you know that this area is home to the endangered swamp stringybark tree which you won’t find anywhere else in Australia or the world – pretty special place we live in.
Ol’ Soggy Socks Andy showing us how it’s done!
Hanging a left onto a trail that leads to Lake Macdonald we sped down to Cod Park for a bit of a rest. We then moved on to do a loop past the dam spillway and the single track that runs along Lake Macdonald Drive. This time we did something different and went back into the park via a access road and checked out a neat swimming spot which required a bit of acrobatics to get across (Andrew decided to just keep it simple and simply walked through the water).
We got back onto Old Tewantin Road and continued on along Forest Acres Drive and back into another forest. After a bit more dirt road and a sandy descent we ground our way to the top of the old Noosa Enduro downhill trail that runs along Louis Bazzo Drive. It’s an old and rutted trail but still plenty of fun – a bit of trailcare one day will bring it up nicely I reckon.
The rest of the ride was cruising along the various access tracks through the pine trees in the Ringtail State Forest. After crossing Ringtail Creek Road we did a bit of exploring to find the start of another trail. The little bit of hike-a-bike was worth it as the discovered trail was fast with a few logs thrown in to keep you honest. Popping back onto Old Tewantin Road we headed back the way we came to the cars with some riders taking the road and others sticking to the tracks.
Post ride coffee and conversation was at the Zabe Espresso bar in Tewantin.
All in all a good ride apart from Andrew’s poor bike’s mechanical issues that shouldn’t be too hard to sort out.
Welcome to new rider Marty and good luck to Boaz in the nationals coming up this weekend!
