The 2015 review.

Its almost a year since any postings have been foisted upon the world. What did December of 2014 through 2015 hold in regard to bikeventuring for Ant??

Christmas 2014: Riding as much bush from Brisbane city to Redlands Bay and getting "lost" and bush bashing through public easements. Thanks Google maps for showing roads that have never been built.

Tassie Trails and borrowed bikes. 

Fog on Mount Wellington top...

Gravel grinding the Lockyer Valley

Fatbiking on North Stradbroke Island (As previously posted)

Circumnavigating Lake Manchester

Freeroading up Tambourine Mountain for a family picnic

Riding 80km after work on Saturday to Tambourine Mountain for the Swift Solstice World wide campout. Via as much trail as possible of course!

Swift Solstice camp out day two and single track attack the next day at Nerang.

Up to Cairns for a top end winter holiday. Smithfield World Cup XC trail. I was here in 1996!

Racing the clock on the Brisbane Valley Rail trail between Blackbutt and Moore.

Lockyer Valley freeroading again.

 Trailer training in Esk as part of our first family three day touring trip in the Coominya district. ("Mummy, don't put your head in my trailer!") Country roads for our first ever tour... but soon trailer on trails!


A mad 90km dash for a Bribie Island sunrise, that started at 2am.

Rebuilt old Stumpjumper and Cornubia singletrack

Racing the Epic bikepacking style. Best result for the 87km ever! Framebag mounted water bladders, dropper posts and plus sized wheels rock! (Home made framebag as well!)


Prototype dropper post compatible seat bag tested on an overnighter in D'Agular National Park.

Team Rohloff at the Audax Midnight century. Yes, there are a few Rohloff Speedhubs in our family.

Family bikepacking overnighter on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail. On trails this time! Going fat tyres on the trailer: Tykepacking, its a thing!

Secret single track discovery on Boxing day. There is nothing quite like a new trail.

Sandy Sojurn

North Stradbroke Island half circumnavigation. 

By the end of March 2015 March another chance for an overnight adventure of the fat kind presented itself. Now I'd ridden a Specialized Fatboy on trails before at a demo event, but here was a chance to try one out riding on North Stradbroke Island. As mates were staying in cheap cabins at Point Lookout, I of course was going to ride half way around the island to get to them and half of that journey would occur on the beach at night. Ferry time tables, train time tables, all consulted to get me from the in-laws birthday party a little early and via the train, onto the last ferry across to North Stradbroke on a Sunday. I was lucky, my frame bag fitted the medium Fatboy I had to borrow quite well, so it was lightweight Fatpacking ahoy!

Fat on a train

Fat on a Ferry

Fat on the beach.

From the ferry terminal at Dunwich I rode east across the Island over the highest point, past the Blue Lake national park to the beach, and headed north to Point Lookout. I was nice to have the beach all to myself and roll along in the wind blown sand fog that seemed to dull my lights to the prehistoric level of a halogen bulb. The evidence of all the daytime 4WD frolicking was left higher up the beach.
I met up with my friends at the local pub, finished off their left over pizza and ambled back to the accommodation.

The next day it was back onto more sand via Adder rock camping ground and along beach to just before the knob of Amity Point. Sandy utility(power line) access roads, tar-seal, and wallaby tracks all eventually took me back to Dunwich. After the relaxing vehicle ferry ride back to Cleveland, wolfing dinner at at local eatery, I inflated the Fatboy's tyres to firm and rode that buzzy pedal Hummer 50km back to home. It was crazy, entertaining but I'm not sure that I'll do that again.

Follow those tracks...