This is the Christmas BVRT Night Ride from Yarraman to Linville. The Brisbane Valley rail trail is a disused rail corridor repurposed as a trail for cycling, walking and horseriding. Its about 160km in length and being an old rail corridor is mostly flat with gentle grades other than where it vanishes down a gully. At one time bridges would have crossed these gullies, now its a steep descent followed by a steep climb for the most part, excellent fun with the potential to get very exciting indeed if it goes wrong.
So why is this an epic ride then? The BVRT is a unique and epic thing – especially the very top of the trail where it descends the range. Lots of creek crossings, the sun descending over the range and then into the Benarkin forest in the dark. Only 42km to be sure, but a very memorable 42km and a truly epic ride.
42km, mostly downhill with the last 20 in the dark. Speeds approaching 30km/h in places which is way too fast for a novice like me on loose and uneven surfaces. Luckily the bike knew what to do and kept me upright. I will do this again but in daylight and with plenty of time to take a lot more shots on the trail where there is interesting stuff everywhere you look.
The Linville Hotel opposite the former Linville railway station and where the BVRT passes through town. It is from here I later travel down the trail to Moore for a test drive of the new machine and later join a cast of many for the journey from the trailhead at Yarraman up on the range back town to Linville.
On the trail at Linville. The machine is a Cannondale Topstone 4, aluminium framed, Pirelli shod GRX powered beast of a thing. It is at this point way more capable than its pilot and a fun thing to propel.
The upper trailhead at Yarraman. It sits a little outside town for what may have seemed like a good reason when they first built it. I suspect they ran out of money to run it right into town.
Blackbutt is an old timber cutting town and the trail runs right through the middle of town. It would have been a really busy place back in the day.
Moore is to the south of Linville and was my first destination on the morning of the ride. It was on this section of track I discovered the deep dives down into the gullies where once there were bridges.
The trail heading east from Linville to Moore.
The Brisbane River through the trees.
This will be one of those descents I mentioned. I was told that some have been helicoptered out after getting them wrong.
The top where the bridge would have once been. Its a long way down.
Looking down into the abyss from the other side.
From the bottom, very pleasant.
Another view of the serenity at the bottom of the abyss.
A random bicycle up a tree for no particular reason.
The trail from Linville heading to Moore is very unassuming, pleasant even. But it becomes a lot more challenging a bit further down the road..
Relics at Linville.
Relics at Linville.
Relics at Linville.
Relics at Linville.
Post ride carnage following a collision with a steaming pile of cow manure which was efficiently distributed in every direction by the front wheel of the bike. Everything got a decent coating and it sticks very well indeed.