90 riders descended on Dimbulah on Sunday on 2 April 2023 to tackle the 55km Dimbulah Loop.  Our fabulous volunteers, Kim, Mundi and Jenny were waiting in the darkness with brevet cards ready for the hoards of cyclists that suddenly took over the normally quiet township. The ride headed along the quiet back roads of Dimbulah into a misty sunrise, before stopping at the midway point in Multchilba.  And our volunteers were there waiting with yummies for the crowd. 

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Up to this point, the ride had been easy, following a slightly uphill meander along well maintained bitumen and dirt roads, with just a small stretch of main road riding.  We were treated to an awesome sunrise across the foggy paddocks and almost no traffic to be seen. Everyone was keen on the second half of the ride, where they had been promised a mostly downhill cruise along the private Sunwater dirt roads beside the irrigation channel.  There may have even been an assurance that there was no technical stuff. 

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Big disclaimer about the buckets of rain that fell the night before, which had chased us in from our camping sit-arounds and provided a spectacular lightning show. However, it also managed to turn parts of the route into sucky mud-piles and slow the whole “roll downhill along the gravel” thing completely. And apologies for that slightly techy rocky hill right at the beginning of the channel road – I’d forgotten about that bit.  And the “just climb through the gates – we don’t need them officially opened”. Didn’t realise that security had been ramped up considerably since my last visit. Or the “dry” creek crossings – that gave our bikes and legs a thorough wash down along the way. Thankfully the Audax crew are a robust lot.

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Everyone arrived back in Dimbulah without any major dramas, and some even managed to stay remarkably clean and unscathed.  Great work to the Audax FNQ crew.

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And, for the best look at how things operate on an FNQ Audax ride, check out Jimmy’s great video.

(10 April 2023)