Triumphrat

Old Scratcher · 10-20-2007

I had this posted in the Bonnie forum, but was asked to move it here. So here it is.
Here in tropical far north Queensland, we're fortunate to have four incredible range roads, which connect the coastal plain to the Atherton Tablelands, all within 150klms of each other. These allow for many interesting loop combo's when planning a day's ride.
There are two range roads within 20klms of Cairns city, The Kuranda & The Gillies. The Kuranda Range, 10klms north of Cairns CBD, is 12klms of tight but well cambered curves, which can be an excellent ride, but is usally ruined by the huge ammount of traffic on it (especially trucks) & is conseqiently heavilly policed. However The Gillies Range, 20klms south of the CBD, is 19klms of peg-scratching bliss, with over 270 bends to negotiate, before breaking out from underneath the jungle's canopy & into the wide open dairylands of the tablelands. There's still a bit of traffic to cope with, & the cops run anti-bike ops on all the ranges (usually on weekends). but it's a lot better than Kuranda. I've been totally obssessed with it for the last 35 years, & that shows no sign of abating soon.
Of the other two ranges. The Palmerston Hwy, 60klms south of Cairns, is the main truck route out of the tablelands, so it has long sweeping bends & lots of overtaking lanes on the many steep sections, to let you blast around the trucks. It's best (fastest) section is the climb out of Millaa-Millaa to Ravenshoe, which is just mind blowing!
The Rex Range, 80kms nth of Cairns, is the shortest of the range roads (8klms). But due to some badly cambered bends at the bottom of it (the engineer was sacked) it's the most dangerous of all, & has killed a lot of riders. So it's quite a buzz to get it right.
There's a fifth road to the coast that was illegally built through a national park by a real estate developer in the 1990's, & has been closed by the govt ever since. This can only acsessed by going down 20klms of bush tracks, to get around the locked gates at either end (having a Scrambler helps here), but once there, you've got a 25klms unused (& unpoliced) four lane highway to nowhere. The surface is starting to suffer from 15-16 wet seasons & no maintanance, & you have to stay alert for trees down & wildlife, as it's beyond mobile phone coverage. So you're really out there on your own. But it sure is a lot of fun!
The coast road from Cairns to Pt Douglas is one of Australia's most famous scenic drives. So it's chocka's with tourist coaches, rent-a-cars & coppers. But there's 35klms of really sweet bends to be enjoyed, if you judge your times right (early mornings on weekdays are best) & are prepared to do the over-taking. It's also the quickest way to the Rex Range & the Daintree River. So it's unavoidable, if you're heading up that way. The tablelands are also criss-crossed with many connecting roads, of many differing standards, from heavily-policed highways to barely policed farm roads (usually single lane bitumin), that are a lot of fun on a sunny day.
Oh yeah, all the roads have stunning views back out over the coastal sugarcane fields, with the Coral Sea beyond, as a backdrop, & the Great Barrier Reef gleaming in the Sun, with lots of places to pull over & enjoy the scenery (if that's your thing).
So, I hope to see you up here sometime. & give us a hoy if you do, as I'm always keen to show my favourite roads to another Triumph Tragic.
P.S There's pics of both the nthn & sthn loops further down this thread
PPS There are video's of the ranges at the bottom of P.2 of this thread

zadok_oz · 10-20-2007

I'd love to ride around that neck of the woods sometime. Me and the misses were over there last year on holiday (no bike) and loved the roads up to Kuranda, Moreeba, Daintree etc. I kept saying to her "Wish we had the bike". Maybe one day.

pabonne · 10-21-2007

Sounds like a blast, Scratch. Nice post.

Trigger11 · 10-21-2007

Have been planning to do some of those places for a while now. Plan is to make it a 3 day event as I would be leaving from TSV. Probably stay at Trinity and take a few routes from there. Thanks for the tips on which routes to take and I'll be keeping an eye out to say Gday.

Old Scratcher · 10-22-2007

I just rode the southern loop today. So here are some pics of to get your juices strirred.
The first one's taken at Robson's Track Lookout, about 1/3 of the way up the Gillies.
The second shot's taken above Heales Lookout, about 2/3 of the way up the Gillies.
No. 3 is the top of the Gillies.
N0. 4 is an example how bad the traffic can get on tableland back roads. & with back roads like this, why would you ride on the highways?
The last shot was taken from the top of the loop (Milla Milla Lookout 1200 metres above sea level). It's of the Plamerston Highway as it snakes up Gentle Annie, between Millaa Millaa & Ravenshoe (the best bends are just up-hill, out of shot) But that lower half is definitely the fastest downhill road in Nth Qld. & is the only place that my Scrambler can break the 200kph mark (theoretically, of course Constable).
I'll be doing the northern ranges later on in the week, so I'll post some more pics then. & if anybody would like me to point out the pot holes to them, I'm real easy to talk into a ride (especially with another Triumph) so just give me a PM through this site, if you're riding through here. & I'll try to fit you into my schedule.

Catenaccio · 10-22-2007

Nice report. Wonderful area. (I wish I had the resources to travel every road posted on this site.)

plowboyzzt · 10-23-2007

Nice job...and I'd love to see more pics of the Aussie riding possiblilities. The boss will eventually let us get there, but we're saving it for when we no longer care to deal with countries where we don't speak the language. South America coming up next fall.
Keep up the great work.

Old Scratcher · 10-24-2007

Finally found the time to do the loop & take some pics. Unfortunately the battery on my camera ran out before I got to the Kuranda Range Lookout. So I've included another shot of my bike on the Cairns to Pt Douglas Rd (Capt. Cook Hwy).
The pics are
1. Yule Point on the Capt Cook, with Wangetti Beach in the distance.
2. Above Pretty Beach looking over The Coral Sea (I had to reduce this to a thumbnail to get it small enough to fit. Hope you can see it)
3. The Lookout at the top of the Rex Range, looking northwards towards Mossman with the Daintree & Cape Tribulation in the distance.
4. Black Mt. Rd. Jullaten. If you & your bike can cope with 20klms of this (& worse)
5. You'll eventually get to ride this. The Quaid Rd. (with Black Mt. in the distance) The road that was illegally built by real estae developer George Quaid in the early '90's, & has been closed by the govt. ever since. Although there are no signs saying you can't ride it, hardly anybody does. I'm unsure what our legal responsibilities are here, but I'm fairly certain that Qld road rules don't apply, & I'd certainly fight any ticket I got, all the way to the High Court.
Whatever it's status, I think you'd have to agree that this is one of the emptiest 25klms of bitumin the world. I feel blessed to be able to ride it, & I'm glad to share my guilty little secret with you. Just don't tell too many people, or it might get ruined.
This finally ends my road report. I hope you enjoyed it. & more importantly, I hope I've inspired a few of you to come & give them a try.

Rhodie · 10-26-2007

Great Stuff - pix & report.
Thanks for sharing.
I can see why you want to configure the Scrambler
for long distance rides & camping.
Looking forward to reading more.
Cheers

JasonS · 10-28-2007

I loved being out on the road on my bike... it was a high point in my life.

Here is a link to a small book that is a great read on touring. It promotes lightweight, seat of the pants touring. WHen you place a significant order they toss one in your shipment for free.

Link to Lightweight Touring Book

I bet if you asked, they might just mail you one...

... heck if I can find one laying around, I'll mail it to you... I know I have had at least three of them from orders... I never had to buy one