This ride is designed to allow riders to get to Gympie by train the day before, stay overnight in Gympie, meet at Polleys bus depot at 06:00hrs, Monday June 15 for your transportation, including your bike to Kilkivan. From there we ride the whole KKRT and BVRT finishing up at Walkuraka station where you can catch a train to get home.
Option
Due to the limited number of seats available on the Polleys bus from Gympie to Kilkivan a number of riders will now join the group in Yarraman at 10:00hr on Wednesday June 17. Those riders will need to organise a way up to Yarraman as well as organise their own accommodation. Out There Cycling provide a shuttle service from Walkuraka to Yarraman for riders and their bikes. See Out There Cycling If you want to use the Bag Transport Service mentioned below, Trevor Bond will be in Yarraman at that time to take your bags.
You can bring along your tent and camp or stay in accommodation. It is the riders responsibility to organise, book and pay for their own accommodation. Each night we will meet for a meal at a local hotel.
If you are bringing an e-bike make sure you bring your charger and make sure your accommodation has charging facilities. It is also a good idea to bring a bike lock as a precaution.
You do not need to carry your luggage from stop to stop, if you choose, as our very own Trevor Bond will have his SUV available to take luggage to the next stop. Trevor will also have his bike so he will do part of the days’ ride with us. For example he may drive to one of our planned stops for the day, then ride back to meet us and enjoy part of the ride. If you utilise this bag carrying service, we ask that you kick in $15 (even more if you wish) to Trevor to help fund some of his fuel costs, after all it makes your ride much more comfortable.
Generally speaking, aside from the Monday morning, we aim to depart from a town at about 08:30hrs. We will meet at the start but riders can travel the route at their own pace or join the ride leader.
Our Planned route
Sunday June 14 Arrive Gympie and stay overnight
We will leave it to you to organise this yourself. A rail service leaves Roma Street and takes just over three hours to get to Gympie North Station. The Gympie North rail station is 6.8km from the Polleys Coaches Bus depot. A few of us may catch up at a local hotel or the Gympie RSL for dinner that night.
Monday June 15 Gympie to Kilkivan by bus then ride to Wondai
We have made eight (8) advanced bookings with Polleys Coaches in Gympie to get transported, with bikes & luggage, on the school bus out to Kilkivan. It will cost $7.50 p.p. which will need to be paid in CASH to the driver. It leaves early and must leave on time as it is a school bus.
The first 8 people registered will get seats on the bus.
Please note the ride organiser gets an email when someone registers so we have a record of the first 8.
Some riders are currently talking about arriving on Sunday and riding to Kilkivan that afternoon. The route is around 75km but keeps the rider off the Wide Bay Highway. Please contact the organiser if you are considering this as we may be able to get a group together and even lighten your load by taking some luggage to Kilkivan for you.
The bus arrives in Kilkivan at approximately 07:15hrs, we will meet up with any that rode in the previous day and anticipate leaving at 07:45hr to go to Wondai
A good overview of the Kilkivan to Kingaroy Ride can be found on the Bicycle Queensland site here at KKRT route
Monday June 15 - Kilkivan to Wondai is 58 km. It is 45k to Murgon and it is anticipated that we stop here for a coffee and or some lunch before heading off for a further 13k to Wondai. Overnight in Wondai and dinner is a local hotel
Tuesday June 16 - Wondai to Nanango is 66km . The first 32k to Kingaroy is paved and then 34k to Nanango. We stay overnight in Nanango and meet for dinner at a local hotel
Wednesday June 17 - Nanango to Linville - 63km According to Kerry Preston, the first 21k to Yarraman can utilise a new route which avoids the deep, rough creek crossing of the Old Stock Route. We will check this option out. A coffee at Yarraman, then 20k to Blackbutt for lunch followed by 22k downhill to Linville. Dinner will be at the Linville Hotel.
Thursday June 18 - 55km. Linville to Esk - 55km This section of the BVRT is probably familiar to a lot of riders, with the first 36k to Toogoolawah where we will have a coffee and lunch then 19km to Esk. Dinner will be at the Esk Grand Hotel.
Friday June 19 - 64km. Esk to Wulkuraka. This is on the BVRT with the first 44k to Fernvale and then 20k to Wulkuraka. We will rendezvous with Trevor and our bags at a set time and then free to catch a train home.
Accommodation
You will need to organise and pay for your own accommodation whether you are camping or staying in a hotel.
Bag Transport Service
As mentioned previously Trevor Bond will take bags to the next location. You will need to pick up bags from Trevor at a central location in each town. We will advise that location as we get closer. No doubt there may be an opportunity to drop bags off but we will need to discuss as we get closer.
Costs
If you use Polleys Bus to get you and your bike to Kilkivan - it will be $7.50 cash provided to the driver. Please assist by having the exact money as they really do not have change readily available.
If you use Trevor’s luggage transport service we ask that you kick in $15 for his fuel costs.
Trains from say Roma Street to Gympie and from Wulkuraka to Roma Street - you will need to review the Translink website at https://translink.com.au/ to find a suitable train and cost.
Lastly we will set up a What’s App group so riders can share photographs, comments about what they have seen and to generally keep in contact with each other. If you choose to, you can adjust your settings in What’s App to share your location with others in the ride group. We can sort out those details when the group comes together.
Those members registered will get any updates by email as we get closer to the event as well as a reminder a week before the event.
Should have any question please contact the ride leader.