The local council advertises a number of loop rides around Warwick on its website
Cycling-southern-downs and our riders checked out two of them. The first, on day 1, was a loop ride out to Pratten and back while day 2 saw a ride out the Junabee road, across Mapes road then back into Warwick via the Killarney road.
in 2022 the ride leader had found a beautiful coffee shop in Pratten with a view of the Condamine River with scones, jam and cream to boot. This was going to be the rest stop for the day 1 ride. Fortunately a few riders checked up on the leader and found that the coffee shop was permanently closed. Oh no!.
So we decided to ride the route in reverse and have coffee a little later with some lunch at the Sandy Creek Hotel.
This hotel is famous for "
Thoroughbred Pig Racing", my goodness this will be interesting. But it was our only option! The ride leader had visited the pub the day before and noted that food would be available along with beverages except esspresso coffee. There were no scones, jam and cream but there were indeed huge servings of hot chips, hamburgers and pies but only a few salad leaves to go around. We had no choice, a 70km ride without sustenance? So we gave it a go. Little did we know that there were more challenges to come.
We headed north out of Warwick, past the airfield and along Boney Mountain where they were getting ready for their annual country music festival. Along the road we were able to see for miles and the flood plains were certainly green. It was not long before we crossed the Condamine river and headed up towards Pratten for a short break - without coffee! We would have about 20km to the Sandy Creek Hotel and with a tail wind we would be feasting by midday.
Within 5 kms of the Sandy Creek Hotel we were confronted with and end loader, traffic control and a railway bridge under repair. Our lunch was less than 5kms away and we did not want to turn back. Fortunately Peter Damm and Suzanne were in front of us and had successfully negotiated the bridge crossing. We were waved through by traffic control but stopped by the bridge workers undertaking the repair. They had chainsaws, drills, hammers and were balancing a few new timbers. They were aware that the pub was just within reach and guided us through an alternate route over the railway line.
Lunch was just down the road at last! Will we see the pig racing?
We only had another 10km to go so lunch was very leisurely.
Gaylenes's partner, Ronnie, was waiting for us at the Hotel and took a few photos of the riders coming into the hotel. These photos along with other photos from the ride can be found in this link to the photo album
2024 Warwick Loop Rides A few riders snapped photos with the giant pink pig in the carpark - unfortunately your correspondent does not have a copy of one yet.
The rest of the ride that day was uneventful - thank goodness.
By 6pm we had gathered in the Warwick Hotel to recount our adventures of the day. This time four riders had their partners with them so in all we had about 18 people for dinner. The food was very good and there was plenty of laughing about the day's adventure. The route for the next day was very simple, only 33km and there were no obstacles to plan around.
The next day was "picture perfect" with clear blue skies, a very light breeze, warm conditions and very few cars. We planned to return to Warwick for a coffee.
About 4 kms out of Warwick along the Junabee Road, a "friendly" magpie encouraged us to go a little faster.
We stopped on the side of the road taking photos of the landscape. A further 2 km down the road we would turn right and head along Mapes Road, The end of this relatively straight road was a T junction where the peleton would regroup. No cars, perfect riding weather, a smooth road encouraged our riders to have a blast .... and they did!
A regroup at the intersection to the Warwick Killarney Road brought everyone back together for the final leg back to Warwick.
A final coffee (and cake) at
Warwick Gardens Galore was a great way to wrap up the two days riding.