I had an opportunity to do some riding whilst on a recent stop over on the Gold Coast on my way up to Cairns for a Half Ironman.

I was a little concerned at being able to find somewhere good to ride whilst staying in Surfers Paradise as its a busy place and like everything, local knowledge is required to find the quality experiences.

I put the word out on a Triathlon forum and came up with a few suggestions to head out to the Currumbin Valley and Tomewin Mountain Rd so I thought this would be the go.

After tackling sticking to the coast as much as I could from Surfers I was eventually forced onto the Gold Coast Hwy. It wasn't too bad and had a bike lane for most of the portion I was on. A few sketchy patches but not as bad as I thought.

I stayed on the Hwy until crossing the Currumbin Creek bridge in Currumbin and headed off inland on the Currumbin Creek Rd. This winds through some nice suburbs then semi rural areas very similar to Adelaide. The best bits start at Tomewin Mountain Rd where your greeted almost instantly by a sign saying 14% gradient.

This was a great climb. The 14% flattens off to 10% gradient but just keeps going which makes it interesting. Climbing through some beautiful country side all the way to the NSW border. The ride carries on for as long as your keen on. This day I chose to keep it to 90Km and was a great escape from the hustle of the Gold Coast.