Recumbent tour of the South Burnett Rail Trail and Brisbane Valley Rail Trail May 21-27 2021

The South Burnett Rail Trail is an abandoned railway line that commences in Kilkivin , west of Gympie, to Kingaroy. It passes through the small towns of Goomeri, Wondai and Murgon. It is sealed and is high quality from Murgon to Kingaroy, however is fairly rough from Kilkivin to Murgon.

There is a published link route that proceeds via Nanango to Yarraman, the starting point of the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, this more established trail passes through small towns of Blackbutt, Linville, Moore, Harlin, Toogoolawah, Esk, Lowood, Fernvale and ends at Wulkuraka train station west of Ipswich.

This ride, I suspect, is a first- 2 recumbent bikes and 1 recumbent trike- a completely bent rail trail tour!

To start the ride we caught the train, part of the suburban network, to the town of Gympie, arriving about 12.40pm.

Our route to Kilkivin avoided the Wide Bay Hwy as much as possible, riding via Glastonbury and Widgee, before joining the highway for the last 20km into Kilkivin. We stopped for a lunch break prior to getting into serious riding, unfortunately the hamburgers we ordered took about an hour to make and eat and we lost valuable daylight time which would bite us on the bum a bit later on .

Car traffic was surprisingly high and quite unpleasant, mostly they were well behaved, but there was the occasional close pass. Fortunately by Widgee the traffic had thinned out considerably. It was very undulating with numerous short steep climbs and equally fast short downhills.  A mostly slight downhill run from Widgee to the intersection with the highway was most appreciated. Turning onto the highway at dusk, with 20km to go on a Friday afternoon......not ideal.

There was a small shoulder but traffic was quite heavy  and unpleasant, we arrived into Kilkivin well after dark and were very happy to give it away for the day at our booked accomodation at the Kilkivin Hotel.

A good meal, bottle of red between us, early to bed in readiness for the rail trial.

Kilkivin to Wondai

Early get up, coffee's, pack up and we're on the trail, perfect weather, track fast. The trail quicky changes to two single tracks, ie car tracks, which is fine for the 2 wheel bents, but a problem for the trike. Long grass and tufts made the going difficult for the front wheels of the trike, Matt had to expend a whole lot more effort negotiating the trail here.

After a few kilometres we come to a creek crossing that required shoes off, and carrying the bikes across to the other side. And so the day went on, steep descents to dry creekbeds ( mostly) and steep climbs back up to the trail, this was where the railway bridges once spanned these culverts. 

The most exasperating part was the continual gate passages, we quickly established a routine whereby first person arriving at the gate waited and held it open for the rest of the party when they came along, the second person would continue to the next gate and repeat the procedure.

Quite a bit of climbing ensued, at least it was at railway gradients, 2- 2.5%, so wasn't too bad. Again Matt on the trike now had the additional difficulty of uphill and rough track to contend with. For the 2 wheeled crew, we were able to follow the single track ok and were rolling quite well.  Occasional patches of sand or larger rock, made it more difficult and required concentration to avoid losing the front wheel from under the bike. 

We rolled into Goomeri for lunch at the local bakery. At this point Matt, sick of being pummelled on the trike, elected to ride via the highway to Wondai, our stop for the night. It wasn't long before the track deteriorated with larger rocks making the going difficult for my 20 inch wheels on the Grasshopper and at a road crossing, I headed for the highway as well, caught up with Matt and we rode into Murgon together, leaving Josh on the rail trail. From Murgon on, the trail is sealed, yes!! After a rest and drinks break we continued on to our overnight stop at Wondai.

Wondai to Kingaroy

After a night at the Wondai Colonial Motor Inn and dinner at the their Ivory Restaurant with live piano music, we had an easier run into Kingaroy. The sealed trail was a godsend for Matt on the trike and we arrived for lunch at the Kingaroy RSL, before checking into a nearby motel. The next days ride was to Yarraman along the infamous link route from Nanango to Yarraman.  

A more pressing matter was finding accomodation at Yarraman, everything was booked out, Matt eventually found an AirBNB and booked that, but we didn't actually get confirmation until 10.30 am enroute to Yarraman!

Kingaroy to Yarraman

We ended up travelling via the highways to Nanango, which was fine, little traffic, and good shoulder when required. The next section started off well, but quickly degraded to a heavily rutted goat track, almost impassable for the trike. There is a signposted 2km stretch of very poor track, lots of hike-a-bike/ trike here, gradually the trail begins to improve again and the last few kilometres into Yarraman was good.

Our AirBNB was 'eclectic' with many interesting adornments, but was bery comfortable and cosy.

Yarraman to Toogoolawah

On the BVRT now, the good news was today was mostly downhill. A reasonably comfortable trail for the 2 wheeled bikes, but not so for the trike- this was becoming the pattern. Perhaps the Greenspeed GT3 with 16in wheels was not the ideal choice for this trip, but kudos to Matt he continued with it to the end.

We had a good downhill run through Benarkin, Blackbutt to Linville, on to Moore for lunch. Then an undulating run on better quality trail to Harlin before a beautiful late afternoon run to Toogoolawah and the Exchange Hotel, our bed for the night. A very solid 76km for the day.

Toogoolawah to Wulkuraka

Last days riding, started off foggy in the valleys with lower cloud, but this would quickly burn off into a lovely day. Reasonable quality trail, apart from a 5km section being worked on by council road crews, saw us arrive in Esk for morning tea at the Nash Gallery Cafe. Once caffinated, we set off for Lowood via Coominya, once again nice track for 2 wheels, not so great for 3- Matt courted with getting a lift at Esk, but in the end chose to continue on....again, award for perserverance to that man!

Into Lowood, had some lunch, then onto Fernvale. Josh left us here and made a beeline for the station at Wulkuraka. Matt and I continued on and finally hit the tarmac with 8km to ride to the station. Minimal wait for the train to Ipswich, change platforms to the train to Brisbane- who should we find on board? Josh, reunited we enjoyed our journey back to Brisbane again.

Observations

The BVRT has been a great success for the small towns along its length, the popularity of the trail has had quite an affect on the local economies.

The South Burnett Rail trail is a story in 2 halves. the South Burnett Council have invested in their part of the trail, the Murgon to Kingaroy section, it is sealed and attracts numerous riders of all abilities to the trail. The Gympie Council are responsible for the Kilkivin to Murgon section and have presumably chosen not to invest to the same degree. Consequently limited numbers ride this section, it is rough and hilly and difficult to access except by car. 

The recumbent bikes handled the conditions with little problem. The level of concentration required was probably higher that a normal bike, but they completed the trip with no punctures or mechanical faults.

In contrast, the trike, with its 16in wheel was a struggle for it's rider, 2 of the 3 wheels where mostly in the rough, low clearances and it was difficult to push uphills when required . Kudos must be given to Matt for not giving the tour away after the first day on the trail, he completed the tour with 1 puncture and dodgy rear derailleur that was easily fixed when he got home.

All in all, it was a great tour, perfect weather, good company and a first for recumbents!