Kingaroy, Dalby, Toowoomba
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 3:30 am
I haven't really done much riding on highways, sticking mostly to mountain runs and back ways to get to a destination. Yesterday I decided to go out west of Brisbane to see how I would cope riding longer distance on the rural highways, with a plan of riding further that I had in a day before. Weather was great, 31C temperatures, fine, not much chance of a summer thunderstorm rolling in.
Headed NorthWest out of Brisbane, fueling up on the city outskirts then heading out towards Samford. It was about 10am so the traffic was fairly light. From here continued on through Dayboro and started up Mt Mee (See my other post on this area). I knew there wouldn't be much in the way of curvey roads or twisties the route I had planned, so made the most of the mountain. Turned onto the Daguilar Highway to travel West, this would be my road for the next few hundred kilometers. Passed through the town of Kilcoy, 100km's from my starting point and where I'd normally turn South and ride around the dams and mountain ranges, but not today. The highway continued on west following the terrain with long gentle curves following long straights, roadways here well kept and pretty smooth. There was a mountain range that needed to be crossed, mmm corners (yay!). Continued on to the town of Black Butt. Was a few places that seemed interesting to visit, but most places were closed early in the week, so made a mental note where I would visit on future trips.
My plan originally here was to head south to Toowoomba, but felt good on the bike so decided to head further out NorthWest towards Kingaroy. I hadn't stopped the bike or put a foot down since fueling up, so pulled up and grabbed a drink. The scenery looked like a tunnel of green going down the road...
Continued on through Nanango, seeing a road off to the side with a big sign 'No trucks, buses or cars with trailers'... mmmm I'll have to explore that later! Entered Kingaroy around midday and it was time to fuel up. 212km's on the clock since last fill up, and the bike only took 12 liters of go-go juice, fuel economy a lot better than I had seen before. Cost of petrol even outside of the main city was a cheap $1.06/l for premium, more reason to be riding. From here, got back on the bike with the next main goal being the town of Dalby.
Rode out of Kingaroy headed SouthWest on the Bunya Highway. This highway was a bit more narrow and I had a new experience while riding... Road Trains! Semi trailers with 2-3 trailers which seemed to be mostly filled with cattle, so I tried to keep a nice distance when coming up and following them. One ran over the carcass of a dead wallaby which barely moved the trucks suspension, I doubt the driver would notice if I got run over by one of these things. Overtaking was also interesting, as you would be riding beside them for so long, then get hit by the wind buffeting from the cab.
The scenery from Kingaroy was mostly farmland, then the further out of town I went, the more just empty rural land there was...
Farmland started again and the road started straightening out as I closed in on Dalby, turned left and headed towards Toowoomba on the Warrgeo Highway. 90km's of roadway with 6 bends fully describes this section of highway...
Fueled up, grabbed a bite to eat and rode to a good spot to eat. The photos are looking down from the Toowoomba Range...
Headed back down the range for the final leg of the days journey back to Brisbane. Four lane highways with heavier traffic and a lot of police activity made this section pretty boring bringing me back to Brisbane just in time to get stuck in peak-hour traffic.
Days run ended up being 585kms, found some new places to explore for furture runs and had a good days riding.
Headed NorthWest out of Brisbane, fueling up on the city outskirts then heading out towards Samford. It was about 10am so the traffic was fairly light. From here continued on through Dayboro and started up Mt Mee (See my other post on this area). I knew there wouldn't be much in the way of curvey roads or twisties the route I had planned, so made the most of the mountain. Turned onto the Daguilar Highway to travel West, this would be my road for the next few hundred kilometers. Passed through the town of Kilcoy, 100km's from my starting point and where I'd normally turn South and ride around the dams and mountain ranges, but not today. The highway continued on west following the terrain with long gentle curves following long straights, roadways here well kept and pretty smooth. There was a mountain range that needed to be crossed, mmm corners (yay!). Continued on to the town of Black Butt. Was a few places that seemed interesting to visit, but most places were closed early in the week, so made a mental note where I would visit on future trips.
My plan originally here was to head south to Toowoomba, but felt good on the bike so decided to head further out NorthWest towards Kingaroy. I hadn't stopped the bike or put a foot down since fueling up, so pulled up and grabbed a drink. The scenery looked like a tunnel of green going down the road...
Continued on through Nanango, seeing a road off to the side with a big sign 'No trucks, buses or cars with trailers'... mmmm I'll have to explore that later! Entered Kingaroy around midday and it was time to fuel up. 212km's on the clock since last fill up, and the bike only took 12 liters of go-go juice, fuel economy a lot better than I had seen before. Cost of petrol even outside of the main city was a cheap $1.06/l for premium, more reason to be riding. From here, got back on the bike with the next main goal being the town of Dalby.
Rode out of Kingaroy headed SouthWest on the Bunya Highway. This highway was a bit more narrow and I had a new experience while riding... Road Trains! Semi trailers with 2-3 trailers which seemed to be mostly filled with cattle, so I tried to keep a nice distance when coming up and following them. One ran over the carcass of a dead wallaby which barely moved the trucks suspension, I doubt the driver would notice if I got run over by one of these things. Overtaking was also interesting, as you would be riding beside them for so long, then get hit by the wind buffeting from the cab.
The scenery from Kingaroy was mostly farmland, then the further out of town I went, the more just empty rural land there was...
Farmland started again and the road started straightening out as I closed in on Dalby, turned left and headed towards Toowoomba on the Warrgeo Highway. 90km's of roadway with 6 bends fully describes this section of highway...
Fueled up, grabbed a bite to eat and rode to a good spot to eat. The photos are looking down from the Toowoomba Range...
Headed back down the range for the final leg of the days journey back to Brisbane. Four lane highways with heavier traffic and a lot of police activity made this section pretty boring bringing me back to Brisbane just in time to get stuck in peak-hour traffic.
Days run ended up being 585kms, found some new places to explore for furture runs and had a good days riding.
