Now each time I’ve been out to Kenilworth it means going past the turnoff to the Obi Obi, and each time I’ve thought about how long it’s been and how nice the scenery is. So this Monday it was time to change course.
After a bunch of chainsaw work on Sunday I wasn’t feeling at my best, but after stopping to chat to a mate in Cooroy I perked up and was determined again.
Straight away I was delighted I’d stuck to it, it really is a gorgeous place. I ticked along well up the valley despite the increasing headwind.
Now the thing about the Obi is it’s steep. Really steep.
Steep enough that the TALLEST gear I’ve ever cleared it with was 39x32, and that’s when I was 12 years younger and about 10kg lighter.
I had thought 34x30 would be quite sufficient (it’s 29.7" compared to 31.9" for 39x32 and 26.2" for the 28t triple with 28t I mostly used) but halfway up the steepest pinch I had to pull the pin.
At somewhere north of 25% it’s hard enough work just walking up it. The little lookout at the top is a good distraction while recovering.
All that struggle is well worth it, because after a few mild kms you pass through Mapleton and the descent is on. I’m not a fan of the first drop down Mick Jeffs Spur, the more so on this occasion as I was following a truck crawling in low gear.
I was so hard on the brakes to keep to that speed that I had to stop halfway down to spray water on the rims, but there was no interruption for the good but a few km later. From Dulong lookout the road goes through a fantastic series of twists and drops that make me think of the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. The grade is steep enough for plenty of speed but gentle enough to have complete control and it’s a barrel of laughs to carve through.
Though Nambour and on to Yandina and I decided to splash out on a can of coke and meat pie at the servo as a change from gels. There was still a long way to go and some extra sugar certainly wouldn’t go astray for the climb up Eumundi Range to Cooroy.
That climb went a lot easier than I expected, and after topping up my water at Cooroy I couldn’t resist drafting a truck along Elm St and sprinting past as he turned for Noosa.
That was not a good idea. With 125 very hard kms already in the legs I immediately felt bloody awful, and while I recovered ok it still took another can of coke in Pomona to get me right. I finally rolled back into Kin Kin after 152km, ready to order a new 32t cassette so I can go back again 
