About the BBTA - Brisbane Bicycle Touring Association

About the BBTA - on this page

Ride Information
Our Rides Explained
Ride Grading System
Touring
Leading a Ride
History
Meetings
Resources

Ride Information

We conduct recreational day/night rides and cycle tours catering to all levels of fitness, ability and desire. Our rides and cycle tours are socially oriented and rated by a pace and gradient classification system – see later in this page for details on this.

Ride Calendar – overview

Our ride calendar is available on-line, so any member may add new rides and tours at any time. It’s a good idea to check the calendar regularly for updates.

Please let the Rides Coordinator (rides@bbta.org) know if your ride is being cancelled or changed so a snippet can be added to the website or emailed to members.

All members and potential new Ride Leaders are most welcome to come along to the Club’s social events to discuss possible new rides, or contact the Rides Coordinator (rides@bbta.org).

How to enter a ride onto the calendar

Any logged in member can add rides to the calendar by clicking the Add Ride link at the bottom of the calendar. Please contact the Rides Coordinator at rides@bbta.org or Website Coordinator website@bbta.org if you need any assistance.

Our Rides Explained

Introductory Rides

BBTA regular rides are the ideal way to get started. These are generally held weekly within the greater Brisbane area. All you need is a maintained bicycle, command of your bicycle, adequate equipment (in case of a puncture), reasonable fitness, enthusiasm, and to know and abide by the QLD Road Rules (as they apply to cyclists). Our experienced riders are always keen to assist in the education of less experienced cyclists. Everyone is welcome, and these rides are conducted so no-one can be left behind along the way. . .a perfect way to get back into cycling! Check out our regular Saturday arvo ride at 3pm for our regular ride for new or returning riders, or one of our mid-week rides.

Day Rides

BBTA day rides range from: easy leisurely suburban cafe and restaurant rides along bikeways and suburban streets; road rides throughout the city, suburbs, and countryside; all terrain mountain biking and rail trail rides in the bush. Ranging in distance from 10km to 200km, BBTA day rides are held during the daytime or evening, on weekdays as well as on weekends, throughout the entire year in and around the Brisbane region.

Weekend Trips and Tours – discover our beautiful Australia!

Experience the adventure of cycle touring – load up your gear and discover our region’s countryside. BBTA cycle tours are regular weekend or mid-week trips that take the adventurous cyclist touring through South East Queensland, the Darling Downs and Northern New South Wales, or beyond…

Sometimes there will be a small fee for participating in a weekend or longer tour – to cover administrative costs. This is payable directly to the Ride Leader.

Need more information?

Check out the upcoming rides and tours on the Ride Calendar. For more information refer to the ride calendar, contact the Rides Coordinator, or the Ride Leader assigned to the ride for the particular day (details in the calendar).

Ride Grading System

BBTA rides and tours are graded by the Ride Leader accordingly to our grading system of classification of the pace and the terrain. The pace and terrain code is as follows:

Pace grading

L = Leisurely pace (speedo average up to 15kph)
S = Steady pace (speedo average 15-17kph)
M = Moderate pace (speedo average 18-20kph)
B = Brisk pace (speedo average 21-23kph)
MF = Moderately fast (speedo average 24-26kph)
Q = Quick (speedo average 27-29kph)
F = Fast pace (speedo average 30kph plus)

Hill grading

1 = basically flat (uphill stretches are few and far between)
2 = some hills (more than 2/3 of the ride is on flat terrain; steep climbs are short, and few and far between)
3 = moderate hills (up to 1/3 of the ride is uphill; may include long or steep climbs, but not long and steep)
4 = serious hills (mostly hills AND/OR includes one or two climbs comparable to, but not more difficult than – Mt Coot-tha)
5 = challenging (contact ride leader for details)

Touring

During the course of a year the BBTA holds many weekend, midweek and several multi-day tours. These tours are either self- supporting (you carry your gear), or supported (your gear is carried for you). BBTA tours range in difficulty from the very basic ‘Introduction to cycle touring’ weekends to multi-day self-supported group tours. Tours are usually graded on the same pace and gradient rating system as the single day tours, and include the daily distance covered. Typically, BBTA tours attract from 10 to 20 cyclists (on occasion up to 50).

If you’re new to cycle touring, it’s probably best to start with a short weekend tour and work up from there. You’ll need to be able to ride the stated distances each day so you might need to do some pre tour training if you haven’t covered the quoted distances before. Tours are for BBTA members only or associated touring club members. You should consult the tour leader as much as possible before the tour, so you know what to expect.

There are two distinct types of touring:

The first type is generally referred to as ‘credit card touring’. You carry very little: basic tools, a few changes of clothes, some emergency food supplies (using perhaps one standard set of pannier bags on the rear, or a backpack). The trip is planned around staying in accommodation at night. You buy your nights food, pay for the lodgings and maybe lunch for the next day. Then put on a change of clothes and do it again the next day. It’s the easiest way of touring, (probably the most expensive though!) and relies on being able to find accommodation. As you’re not carrying a significant load any maintained bicycle can serve to meet your needs. A majority of club tours are now of this type, with or without support by luggage transfer.

The second type is “self-supported touring”. Panniers or bike packing bags are filled with changes of clothes, pots, pans, food, water, tools, tents, sleeping bags, all loaded on a touring or mountain bike that has probably seen thousands of touring miles. These are the people that might camp along the road side, in a park somewhere, or sometimes in a caravan park. They’re quite happy to ride all day, stop where they want, cook some food that was stored in their bags and sleep away the night camped beside some placid lake staring at the stars. Sounds good? Well it is, and you’ll find many people willing to tell you all about it.

The Club offers both types of tours so check out the details on our ride calendar and talk to the Ride Leader to see what suits you.

Leading a Ride

BBTA Rides and Tours are hosted by volunteers who create, plan, and conduct each outing. Our leaders are experienced Club riders who follow the Club handbook in respect of how their outings are conducted.

Ride leader tools

QLD Road Rules

Brush up on your Road Rules as they apply to cyclists at Transport Queensland’s Road Rules for cyclists web page.

Checklist

If you are new to leading a ride, you might like to look at a checklist that highlights a few things you need to address.

Ride leader checklist

BBTA Ride Planning Form

Use this sheet to plan the details of your ride and transfer this information onto the BBTA ride calendar.

Ride Signup and Indemnity Form

This is the official register form every rider needs to fill out before going on a ride. Our insurance requires we record who is on club rides. Participants will be asked for their full name, their signature, a mobile phone number (en route, if they have one), an emergency contact number and whether they are a member. Non members will be asked whether they are on one of their three free (tryout) rides. The forms are to be forwarded by the ride leader to the Rides Coordinator and will be kept for 12 months. Alternatively, riders can register for a ride using this web site or the BBTA phone app and the ride leader / coordinator can record their attendance on the web site or app.

This information is used only for club purposes, (management of the ride by the leader mainly) in accordance with the Privacy Act. It serves to indemnify our Association with regards to the participant acknowledging that they ride at their own risk. With regards to personal liability we recommend participants arrange their own personal liability insurance.

History

The BBTA has been around for nearly 40 years! We have grown from a small club offering a few bicycle tours and rides to a 220 strong member base offering many regular weekly rides plus numerous weekend tours throughout the year.

In August 1983 a group of keen cyclists – Peter and Christine Brandis, Peter Muhling, Ken and Lee Sampson, Hazel Lombardo, Bob McQueen and Peter Behan – saw the need for a bicycle touring group in Brisbane and started the wheels turning. ‘Interested in Cycle touring’ leaflets were handed out at the Heart Foundation Cyclethon on Sunday 21 August 1983 and, under a large hand-painted sign (courtesy of Ken Sampson), about 50 names were collected from interested cyclists.

Thirty-five cyclists attended the foundation meeting on 22 August and the Brisbane Cycle Touring Association was born. The name was later changed to the Brisbane Bicycle Touring Association Inc when it became incorporated. Of the original committee only Ken and Lee Sampson remain members of the BBTA. In 1998 as part of the club’s 15th Birthday celebrations Ken and Lee were awarded life membership of the BBTA in recognition of their outstanding efforts in helping to found the club and their ongoing active involvement.

The first newsletter for October-December 1983 included a calendar of organised tours (rides) graded to suit different cycling abilities. Many of these rides listed below still make regular appearances on the BBTA calendar.

Shorncliffe to Redcliffe
Brisbane River Circuit
Mt Mee via Samford and Dayboro
City to Wellington Point
City to Brookfield around the foothills of Mt Cootha
Stradbroke Island (with the option of riding from the city)
Around Lake Manchester

Meetings

While most of the activities of the BBTA occur on a bike – either on a daily ride or a longer tour – we do have some scheduled meetings. These occur fairly regularly, in fact.

Social Events
Social events are held at various locations from time to time. Keep an eye on the Calendar for more information.

AGM
This is normally held on the first Tuesday in March, at the Grange Library Meeting Room , and sees the annual election of the new Committee. Reports are also presented by the Treasurer, President, and other Committee members.

Committee meetings
These are held usually 6 times a year, typically in the following months: February, April, June, August, October, and December.

Resources

Here you can find quick links to each of the club PDFs available on this website.

BBTA Club Rules
BBTA Ride Planning Form
Ride leader checklist
Ride Signup and Indemnity Form

Bicycle Queensland

Bicycle Queensland offers a range of benefits to its members including insurance tailored specifically for cyclists and a number of cycling events throughout the year. Check them out at https://bq.org.au/