Riding in the goldcoast

That's a no-brainer. Plenty of trail info and videos on the interwebs and lots of Strava traces to check out. I believe one of the local bike stores (the Specialized store?) does a Saturday arvo group ride once they shut their doors for the day. I believe they welcome all comers if you say hi at the store before they start.

There is plenty of fire trail to get you from one part of the forest to another and more hand made single track than you can shake a snake at. I believe that a good portion of it may not be legal, but follow the locals and at least you can't be accused of not trying to do the right thing. Surface is mainly hard packed fine brown dirt or shale type rocks of various sizes. Lots of trees right on the sniggle and some quick sections so pay attention.

There are two MTB-only loops that are signed at the main entry to the trails near the criterium track. I've heard some people say that these are the only MTB legal trails, but I believe that is not the case. They might the only "MTB-only" trails, but there is other single track in there that is very well used by locals all day long, everyone knows about it and no-one seems to stop them.

I believe you can enter the forest from a few places, but I can only vouch for access, parking and helpful locals at the crit track. That's where I parked at Christmas last year.

Another place that I didn't get to was Hinze Dam. I believe there is a local club out there that maintains a trail network adjacent to the dam. Again, there is good info on the interwebs.

With the Commonwealth Games coming up in a few years there are lots of bike lanes appearing on the roads. Given that most of the Gold Coast is reasonably flat until you get into the hinterland, you can ride a lot of places with fewer traffic hassles if that floats your boat.

Where are you staying? I was born there and lived there and Brisbane for over 30 years before coming to Sydney. There are lots of trails around Brisbane as well that are not that hard to get to.

I've got family at Sanctuary Cove

If you want to just stretch your legs to put in a lazy 40kms then you could ride to the Coombabah Lake Nature Reserve where there's plenty of ziggy zaggy flat fire trail and a short piece of sniggle in the upper left hand corner. Most of the 40kms is from making random 'left or right' decisions within the nature reserve. The rest is the ride to and from Sanctuary Cove. Watch out for kangaroos.

I grew up in Runaway Bay. If you want to sit by the water and watch the world go by with some OK food close by you should head for Paradise Point. Your mate would know where it is. Lots of good places at Sanctuary Cove (they do come and go though as rent isn't cheap), but if you want somewhere a bit more lively then the Grand Hotel on Marine Pde at Labrador is OK for a variety of restaurants and watering holes in the evening.

Given you'll be at the northern end of the Gold Coast it is seriously worth considering a trip towards Brisbane if you feel like looking around for some trails. I've heard about and read about lots of great places, but never had the time to get there myself since I've had the bike.

Cheers,

Jason.

I lived near there a few years
back and there are numerous single tracks with wooden bridges,skinnies and nicely banked berms all over the place,definately worth a look