Today was snake day. I passed a snake lying on the road, warming itself in the sun. Another slithered away from the side as I passed. From then on I heard rustles of leaves everywhere. It’s good having snakes around. It means the road is not busy. Quaid Road from the coast up to the tablelands was closed to traffic, and I was the only one there, cycling through the forest.
Thanks to the Cairns Cycling Group Rides Facebook group for recommending Quaid Road to climb out from the coast. It was a beautiful bitumen road passing through the dense rain forest which, over time, opened out into savannah landscape.
It joined the main road at a beautiful swampy lake, and from there was a rather uninspiring main road.
Five km out of Atherton I was looking at my map when a young lady came up to me and said she was also a cyclist. She recommended I take the Atherton Rail Trail into Atherton which followed an old train line. It was much quieter and pleasant.
At dinner I met some more people that like cycling. I have a nice lunch option for the day after tomorrow at a bio dairy.
arctic-cycler.com 