Mountain biking is BIG right now and in South East Queensland, there are plenty of tracks and trails to choose from.
From Daisy Hill to Hidden Vale, and north to Beerburrum on the Sunshine Coast.
Just over 70 kilometres from Brisbane, you’ll find Hennessey Hill. The track runs parallel to Beerburrum Woodford Road, so it’s a great one for shuttling if you don’t feel like the uphill battle.
Michael Datta knows this area well. He heads up the Bare Coffee MTB team.
“It’s a real mish-mash of ex-professional riders, current age riders and just a really good group of people,” he said. “Mountain biking just started taking off about 18 months ago and I thought to myself I love mountain biking so I thought why not put a good group of people together and go and have some fun and it’s turned into being a Bare Coffee Race Team.”
The trail looks daunting, but Michael says it’s suitable for most experience levels as long as you take it easy.
“There are a lot of fantastic berms and jumps but there’s enough there for beginners as well so you can take either the A-line for the more advanced rider, or you can also do the B line,” Michael said.
It’s a great example of the vast and varied trails this region has to offer.
“We’re very lucky here on the Sunshine Coast,” Michael said. “We’ve got great trails from Teewantin near Noosa then down to Caloundra there at Sugar Bag and here we are at Beerburrum you know at Mt Hennessey.”
“It covers all skillsets for everybody. We can ride an e-bike to help us up those hills a bit or we can ride a classic analogue non-e-bike so it suits all fitnesses and all ages.”
This sport is about so much more than fitness though.
“It’s about having fun and with fun comes a whole bunch of positive outcomes,” Michael said. “Mental health is a big thing and one of the great things about mountain biking.”
“I’m like a little kid out there. I might hit a few trees on the way but I’m having a ball and it’s just mind cleansing and a load of fun.”
Head along to Hennessey Hill to carve the trails up for yourself!
The Isuzu MU-X can get you there. Head to Isuzu Ute Australia to take one for a test drive or to check out the rest of the Isuzu range.
Although the video here mentions conquering off-road tracks by 4WD, visitors are reminded that plantation forests are not 4WD adventure parks and vehicles are required to remain on formed roads at all times. Formed roads are the maintained roads around compartments of plantation trees that are constructed for through traffic and have drainage. Fire breaks and tracks through the plantations, like the one driven in the video, are not formed roads. Visitors to plantation forests are also reminded that the usual road rules apply to help ensure MTB riders, 4WDers and all plantation visitors have a safe and enjoyable experience. You can find more tips about responsible recreation in Queensland’s plantation forests at www.hqplantations.com.au
